In this first parable we are told that men ought to pray always and
everywhere; that prayer should not be left to a few in the churches, but
all men ought to pray.
Jesus gives us a picture, so that we may understand in what spirit we
ought to pray.
Two men went up to the Temple--one to pray to himself and the other to
pray to God.
I think it will be safe to divide the audience into two bodies, and put
them under these two heads. However, whether we divide the audience or
not, we come under these two heads--those who have the spirit of the
publican and those who have the spirit of the Pharisee.
You can find that the entire community may be correctly divided into
these two classes. The spirit of the prodigal and the spirit of an elder
brother are still in the world; the spirits of Cain and Abel are still in
the world, and these two are representative men.
One of them trusted in his own righteousness and the other did not have
any trust in it, and I say I think all men will come under these two
heads. They have either given up all their self-righteousness--renounced
it all and turned their backs upon it--or else they are clinging to their
own righteousness; and you will find that these self-righteous men that
are ever clinging to their own righteousness are continually measuring
themselves by their neighbors.
“I thank God that I am not as other men are.”
This was the spirit of that Pharisee, and this is the spirit today of
one class in this community, and the other class comes under the head of
this other man.
Let us look at the man Christ pictured first.
It is evident that he was full of egotism--full of conceit--full of
pride; and I believe, as I have said before on this platform, that is one
of the greatest enemies the Son of God has today, and I believe it keeps
more men from the kingdom of God than any thing else.
Pride can grow on any soil, in any climate. No place is too hot for it,
and no place is too cold for its growth. How much misery it has caused in
this world! How many men here are kept from salvation by pride!
Why, it sprung up into Heaven, and for it Lucifer was cast out; by pride
Nebuchadnezzar lost his throne. As he walked through Babylon he cried:
“Is not this a great Babylon which I have built?” And he was hurled from
his throne.
How many men that have become drunkards, who are all broken up--will
gone, health gone--and yet are just as full of pride as the sun is of
light! It will not let them come to Christ and be saved.
A great many live like this Pharisee--only in the form of religion; they
do not want the wheat--only the husk; they do not want the kernel--only
the shell.
How many men are today just living on empty form! They say their prayers,
but they do not mean any thing.
Why, this Pharisee said plenty of prayers, but how did he pray? He prayed
to himself. He might as well have prayed to a post. He did not pray to
God, who knew his heart a thousand times better than he himself did. He
thought he knew himself; he forgot that he was a sepulcher, full of dead
men’s bones; forgot that his heart was rotten, corrupt and vile; and he
comes and spreads out his hands and looks up to Heaven.
Why, the very angels in Heaven veil their faces before God as they cry:
“Holy, holy, holy!”
But this Pharisee comes into the Temple and spreads out his hands, and
says:
“Lord, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are. I fast twice a week.”
He set before God what he had done in comparison with other men, and was
striking a balance and making out God to be his debtor, as thousands are
doing today; and then he says: “I give one-tenth of all I possess.”
I suppose if he was living in Chicago now, and we had gone to him and
asked him for a donation to help put up this Tabernacle, he would have
said:
“Well, I think it will do good; yes, I think it will. It may reach the
vagabonds and outcasts--I do not need it, of course--but if it will reach
that class it will do good. I will give $50, especially if you can get it
in the morning papers--if you can have it announced: ‘John Jones gave $50
to build the Tabernacle.’”
That is the way some of the people give donations to God’s cause; they
give in a patronizing way. But in this manner God will not accept it. If
your heart does not go with your gift, God will not accept it.
This Pharisee says: “I give one-tenth of all that I have; I keep up the
services in the Temple; I fast twice a week.”
He fasted twice a week, although once was only called for, and he thought
because of this he was far above other men. A great many people nowadays
think because they do not eat meat on Fridays, but only fish, they
deserve great credit, although they go on sinning all the week.
Look at this prayer! There is no confession there. He had got so bad, and
the devil had so covered up his sins, that he was above confession.
The first thing we have to do when we come to God is to confess. If there
is any sin clustering around the heart, bear in mind we can have no
communion with God. It is because we have sin about our hearts that our
prayers do not go any higher than our head. We can not get God’s favor if
we have any iniquity in our hearts.
People, like the Pharisee, have only been educated to pray. If they did
not pray every night their consciences would trouble them, and they would
get out of bed and say their prayers; but the moment they get off their
knees, perhaps, you may hear them swearing.
A man may just as well get a string of beads and pray to them. It would
do him as much good.
This Pharisee’s prayer showed no spirit of contrition; there was no
petition; he did not ask any thing from God. This is a queer kind of
prayer:
“Lord, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are--extortionate, unjust,
adulterous--or even as the poor publican.”
Not a petition in his prayer. It was a prayerless prayer--it was
downright mockery. But how many men have just got into that cradle and
been rocked to sleep by the devil!
A short time ago I put this question to a man:
“Are you a Christian?”
“Of course I am; I say my prayers every night.”
“But do you ever pray?”
“Didn’t I tell you I prayed?”
“But do you ever pray?”
“Why, of course I do; haven’t I said so?”
I found that he prayed, but he only went through the form, and, after a
little, I found that he had been in the habit of swearing.
“How is this?” I asked. “Swearing and praying! Do your prayers ever go
any higher than your head?”
“Well, I have sometimes thought that they did not.”
My friends, if you are not in communion with God your prayers are but
forms; you are living in formalism, and your prayers will go no higher
than your head.
How many people just go through the form! They can not rest unless they
say their prayers. How many are there with whom it is only a matter of
education?
But this Pharisee trusted in his own righteousness; he ignored the mercy
of God and the love of Jesus. He was measuring himself by his own rule.
Now, if you want to measure yourself, do it by God’s law--by God’s
requirements.
A great many people have a rule of their own, by which they measure
themselves, and by that rule they are perfectly ready and willing to
forgive themselves.
So it was with this Pharisee. The idea of coming to God and asking His
forgiveness never enters his mind.
While talking to a man--one of those Pharisees--some time ago, about God
and the need of Christ, he said to me:
“I can do without Christ; I do not want Him. I am ready to stand before
God any time.”
That man was trusting in his own righteousness.
Now, take a good look at this Pharisee. You know, I have an idea that the
Bible is like an album. I go into a man’s house, and, while waiting for
him, I take up an album from a table and open it.