Summary: <br> The Gospels: Full of Grace and Truth<br> The Pharisee and the Tax Collector<br> Luke 18:9-14<br> <br> And he spake this parable with regard to certain people (Luke 18:9)<br> <br> <br> How CLOSELY do you read God’s word?<br> Did he speak “to” certain people, or “about” certain people?<br> <br> Show me your view of the Bible and I will show you how effective it will be in your life<br> Genesis 1-11 - Pre-scientific?<br> Biblical Prophecy - apocryphal<br> Heaven and hell - metaphorical<br> Contradictions or no contradictions?<br> Culture of the day or relevant to us?<br> <br> <br> Do you take the Bible “seriously?”<br> <br> I have found that nothing is in the Bible by accident<br> Numbers<br> Colors<br> Names<br> Symbols<br> <br> <br> <br> The deeper you dig, the more you will find<br> Prepositions<br> <br> <br> <br> <br> <br> And he spake this parable with regard to certain people which trusted in themselves, trusting that they were righteous, and despised others: (Luke 18:9)<br> <br> <br> <br> PRIDE or DESPAIR<br> <br> <br> <br> “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed this way with regard to himself,” (Luke 18:10-11)<br> <br> <br> WHO are you praying to?<br> Does your God speak Elizabethan English?<br> Does your God only respect the prayers of the Puritans?<br> Does your God only answer prayers said having the right posture?<br> Is your God only pleased if you say what he wants to hear?<br> Are you praying for the benefit of others around you?<br> Are you only interested in material answers to prayer?<br> <br> <br> “God, I thank you, that I am not as other men [are], extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.” (Luke 18:11)<br> <br> <br> Except by the GRACE of God go I<br> <br> There’s one sense in which this is not a bad prayer<br> The heart behind the prayer makes all the difference<br> <br> <br> When you see a good man seek to emulate him. When you see a bad man, thank God for his grace<br> <br> <br> <br> “I fast twice per Sabbath,” (Luke 18:12)<br> <br> <br> <br> The role of FASTING<br> <br> <br> <br> Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? [is it] to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes [under him]? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? [Is] not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? [Is it] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when you see the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? (Isaiah 58:5-7)<br> <br> Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which sees in secret, shall reward thee openly. (Matthew 6:16-18)<br> <br> So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do. (Luke 17:10)<br> <br> “I give tithes of all that I possess.” (Luke 18:12)<br> <br> <br> The role of TITHING<br> Leviticus 27<br> <br> <br> <br> But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. (Luke 11:42)<br> <br> <br> The Pharisee presents his resume before God, and you can almost hear God, Jesus
