“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.”

Matthew 23:27

There is no substitute for humbling yourself before God

2 Characters: Luke 18

• Pharisee
• Tax collector

“Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Luke 18:14

” To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 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. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

Luke 18 :9-12 9

Pharisee talk today: Things we say or think:

1. “You’re not talking to me that way”.
2. “I’m not going to be the one to apologize. If they want to apologize to me, fine. I’m not going to be the one to apologize.”
3. It’s not me; it’s you. It’s not my problem; it’s their problem”.
4. Um, I don’t need help. I don’t need help.”

All = pride

1. He focuses faith on outside.
2. Started comparing himself to others.
3. He put confidence in accomplishments instead of in Jesus Christ. ( What He does)

Tax collector: Shows us the way

1. Stands at a distance.
2. Doesn’t look to heaven.
3. Beats chest, “have mercy on me a sinner “.

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’14 “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.”

Today’s Truth

There is no substitute for humbling yourself before God.