Today we continue in our study of the teaching of our Lord Jesus in the parables of Luke. Again I need to say to those of you who are here with us for the first time that we systematically expound the teaching of the Lord Jesus from week to week. And we have been studying the parables of our Lord Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. And today we have come to Luke chapter 18, verses 9 to 14. Luke chapter 18, verses 9 to 14.
And this is how this passage reads. "Jesus also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank Thee that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner.'"
I should point out to you that the translation is "the sinner," not "a sinner." But the article has been lost in the translation. "The sinner" is very important. He does not regard himself as just one sinner among many, and therefore God can say, "Well, you are just one sinner. After all, there are a million sinners. Who worries about another one?" No, no. He is under such deep conviction of sin that he says, "I am the sinner. I am the sinner par excellence. I am the worst sinner of all. Nobody is a sinner like me. I am the sinner." And very much this expresses the sentiment of the great Apostle Paul: "I am the chief of sinners." The Apostle Paul says, "I am the chief of sinners." Not "I was the chief of sinners." "I am the chief of sinners, because I persecuted the church of God." The Apostle Paul, before he became a Christian, was an enemy of the church. And in fact, many Christians lost their lives at his hands. He never forgot that, even if God forgave him that. And he knew he was forgiven. But he never forgot what he had done. "I am the sinner." And this is what the tax collector is saying.
And then the Lord Jesus says in verse 14, "I tell you, this man, this tax collector, went down to his house justified" — that is, forgiven of his sins — "rather than the other," that is, the Pharisee. "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled" — that is, humbled by God, what is known as the divine passive, humbled by God — "and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted" — that is, exalted by God.
Now this passage, I am sure, superficially seems to be well known to us. And those who went to Sunday school would say, "Oh yeah, in Sunday school we know that picture. We know that story." The question is not whether you know the story, but whether you know what it means. What does it mean? Essentially, this parable is about attitude. Attitudes of the heart. And that is what we shall study together today.
There is nothing so important in life as the right attitude. I say that again. There is nothing so important in life as having the right attitude. Attitude is of the greatest importance in life. You see, it is not so much the event in life that we have to face — and everybody has to face different kinds of events, different circumstances, different problems — it is not so much the event that matters as the way we deal with those events. That is, what is our attitude to those events? I wonder if you grasp what I am saying. Let me put it to you like this. Two people facing exactly the same situation can have an entirely different attitude towards that situation.
Let's say there are two people — and how many people there are like this — but let's say there are two people who have lost everything they have. They have lost everything, say, through war, through personal disaster, through sickness. Many people lose everything they have in this life. That is not an uncommon experience. I lived through a couple of wars. I was a small boy during the Second World War, and I also lived through the War of Liberation when the Communists came. I have seen people lose everything. Everything. We used to have big houses, big cars, and they went out with nothing. Nothing but the clothes on their back. I also came out with nothing but the clothes on my back, and a small, small suitcase.
Now, given the same situation, you can have two distinct attitudes. One person loses everything, and he is left with the clothes on his back, two dollars in his pocket. And the one says, "I am finished. I am finished. This is the end of me. I have lost everything. I have only got two dollars left. I am in despair. I am in ruin." The other person looks at the same situation and says, "I have lost everything. But, I am still alive. But I still have two dollars." One says, "I have only got two dollars left." The other says, "I still have two dollars." It's not the end. "I still have two dollars. Oh yes. And I still have my life." Now, that is exactly the same circumstance, but two distinctly different ways. One is broken and finished. The other person is still with it. He is still hanging on.
Now, last week we studied the parable just before this, the parable of the unjust judge. And we saw that the right attitude of the Christian, no matter how adverse, how hopeless the circumstance seems, the Christian hangs on. He is not going to give up. He is not going to give up. But, I don't see all Christians behaving like this. I see so many Christians, when they face a difficult and admittedly very bad situation, they just crack up.
Now, a non-Christian can say, if he's still an optimist, he can say, "Well, I'm still alive. It's true. I've lost all my houses. I lost my house, my possession, my land, my cars, whatever. I've lost everything. It's true. I'm still alive though. And I still have two dollars maybe." But look at the Christian. He is not only still alive, he not only has two dollars. He's still got everything that's worth having. He's got God. No non-Christian can say that. "I still have God." And when I have God, I am always rich. I never lose anything. I have God. Even if I don't have two dollars, even if I don't have a cent, I still have God.
Now you might say to me, "Okay, okay, you can talk like this. What do you know about it?" I tell you, I know a lot about it. I have been many times penniless. I have shared with some of you. Many times I've been penniless. I am not talking through my hat. I talk from experience. And I have rejoiced. Many times I put my hand in my pocket and I could not pull out one penny from my pocket. No, not so much as one penny. But I had God. And so long as I had God, I knew I was all right. Why? Because God is my Father. So long as I have my Father, what do I worry about?
You say, "Is that realistic? Are you not just living in some kind of a dreamland, in a fool's paradise?" Oh no. If I were living in a fool's paradise, I would not be preaching to you today. It is because I have seen that it is only in adverse circumstances that God's power begins to be manifested — only in adverse circumstances. Take it. Is that not true? If you have a wonderful circumstance, where does God have the chance to do anything for you? You have wonderful health. Your bank account is healthy too. Your house is also healthy. It's not going to fall down tomorrow. Your car is running all right. Where do you need — what is God going to do for you? You can get on famously without God. Who needs God? Who needs God? But, when you are in trouble, when you are in adverse circumstances, when you are in difficulty, that is the time that you can see whether your God is real or not. Whether God cares for you as He says He cares for you. Does He care for you? There's your chance to see. So what are you groaning about?
Somebody asked George Muller, "Don't you ever save up any money?" No, George Muller gave away everything he had. He gave away everything he had to the poor in following God. And every time he got some money, he promptly gave it away again. So his account regularly stood a little bit above zero. How many Christians dare to live like that? How many dare? But you know how many millions of dollars passed through George Muller's hands to help the poor and to help the missionaries? When he died, he had no money. But in his lifetime, some eight million dollars passed through his hands. He distributed it all over to the poor and to the missionaries.
The same with Wesley. When he died, he had one pound something to his account. He had given everything away. But when somebody asked George Muller, "Don't you ever save anything in your account? I mean, isn't it dangerous to live with no money in the bank account?" He said, "Oh no." He said, "If I had a big bank account, I would never have the chance to experience through these 40 years what God can do." Has ever eight million dollars passed through your hand? Passed through his hand. Oh, it's wonderful what this man could do for God. Why? Because he trusted in God. How many times he came to the time when there was no food to put on the table, and he was as peaceful as ever. He didn't worry about it because he had God. He had no money, but he had God. And God never let him down.
It was reading George Muller that spurred me. I was a young Christian in China at the time and I said, "If God can do it for George Muller, maybe He might consider doing it for me too." And so I launched forth in the same way, through years having nothing but trusting in God. Now that is why I say that any Christian who does not have this attitude of joyful praise in the midst of adversity really doesn't know his God. You don't know who God is. Why do you want to bother to believe in God for? Why do you need God for? Your God is not even real.
There are two kinds of attitudes. Let me come to the general and then I'm going to narrow it back again to the Christian life. The same attitude I find so much. It is not the circumstances that determine your life. It is your attitude to those circumstances that determines your life. Never say, "Oh, other people have it better than I." Feel sorry for the guy who is better than you. Feel sorry for the guy. Why? If he has it better than you, if he has more money than you — where is he ever going to experience the reality of God? No chance. No chance. That is why the Bible often constantly speaks of woe on the rich, pitiful for the rich. They don't know what they are missing in terms of spiritual reality. And you were wanting to be rich — you don't know what is good for you.
Now let's continue to look at this situation. Take a person who is crippled by a disease. Maybe a Christian is crippled by a disease too. Supposing a person is crippled by a disease — let us say poliomyelitis. Polio is a dreadful disease. Polio, if it strikes you and you survive it, will cause you to be paralyzed. And say you are paralyzed in both legs. You can never stand on your feet again. You can never walk again. What would your attitude be?
Well, again, two people can have very different attitudes to the same situation. One person can say, "I am finished. I love sports so much. Now all I can ever do for the rest of my life is to roll around in a wheelchair. I am going to be a burden to other people. I am going to be a cabbage from now on. I can never make my contribution to society. Why does God treat me like this? Why don't other people get polio? Why do I get polio?" But there is another person who looks at the same circumstance and says, "Okay, I am crippled now, but I still have my mind. My hands can still move. My mind is sound. I can still make my contribution. I can still work, for after all it is the mind that is important. I can still overcome this circumstance."
And I am sure you might think of an example. Can you think of who is an example of this? I am sure you will know, for example, that that is exactly what happened to Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt was crippled with polio, crippled in the middle of his life, at the height of his career. He was 39 years old, high up in government, great prospect. He was a great sportsman. He was very athletic. He was a very active man. And he was hit by polio. He went down, and he was fighting for his life. And when he recovered, he was paralyzed in both legs, never to walk again, never to stand again on those two feet, except with metal braces and a cane. Never to enjoy the sport that he enjoyed so much before. Crippled for life, in the middle of his life.
Now he could have broken up and said, "Why should this thing have happened to me? I am finished for good." No. Roosevelt looked at the situation and he pulled himself together and said, "Okay, I am crippled for life, but that's not yet the end of me. I'm still alive. I still have my mind and my wits about me. I can still go on to make a contribution in life." And he did. He went on to become the 32nd President of the United States, as you well know. And he held the office of President longer than any other American President — for four terms. No other President has gone beyond two terms. Roosevelt held it for four terms. And he died in office, being President for 12 years, dying at the beginning of his fourth term. It was he who helped so much to bring America and, in that sense, the world through the Second World War, who, because he himself had this fighting spirit in the midst of adversity, was able to inspire the American people with the same spirit and say, "Look, it's bad, but we are going to pull through this thing together." And people knew that he was the kind of person who could pull through. After all, look at him. And therefore, whenever you see a picture of Roosevelt, what do you see? He's always going in a wheelchair. He's always a cripple. But does he ever look despondent? No. He went through.
But I have seen so many people who have become sick, had a bad experience, became crippled a bit, or even crippled badly, and they become like cabbages. They are broken in spirit, not just broken in body. Their attitude. You see, two people look at the same situation, but what a world of difference in the attitude. What a world of difference. We know other people. Two people become blind, but how different is the attitude to the blindness. Helen Keller, we all know, was struck with blindness, most dreaded disease. We're all afraid to lose our eyesight. I mean, we might lose anything else, but not the eyesight. Helen Keller was blind, and she became so great a help to millions of people around the world that they never forget, especially what she did for blind people. Or Beethoven. If you became deaf, what would you say? "Why does God do this to me? Why should I be deaf?" Beethoven didn't bother with complaining. The great composer just went on composing music. He even tried to conduct the music when he was deaf, which is something fantastic — how you manage to conduct without hearing the music. You see, that is the difference. And yet, I see some people who suffer some ailment, and you talk to them, and the Christian is broken. I say to this kind of person who doesn't know his God — even a non-Christian can pull through. Where is the Christian today?
Now, we call one kind of attitude the attitude of the pessimist, and we call the other kind of attitude the attitude of the optimist. The pessimist is the person who sees dark clouds even when the sky is blue. You look at the blue sky and you say, "Wonderful, look at the blue sky." And the pessimist says, "Yeah, but do you see the cloud over there?" That's the pessimist. And the optimist is exactly the difference. When you point out to him, "Look how dark the clouds are," he says, "Yeah, but look how beautiful is the silver lining." You see, the pessimist only sees the dark cloud. The optimist sees the silver lining. "It's going to be good again. It's okay."
Of course, we must not just be optimistic as Christians, but we also have to be realistic. If you see a silver lining in a dark cloud when really there is no silver lining, then you can only say, "This guy is living in cloud-cuckoo land." You look at it and study the cloud, and there is, by the life of you, no way you can see a silver lining. And yet he keeps saying, "You see the silver lining?" I say, "No, I don't see any silver lining." And he keeps saying, "Oh yeah, there's a silver lining there." I can only say this guy must be living in his imagination. He's living in a fool's paradise. Now, we want to be optimistic, but we must have our feet standing firmly on reality.
And so here I come to the fact — pessimism we can leave out altogether. For Christians, there's nothing. Anyone who's a pessimist is not so much as a Christian. We don't have to bother to talk about it. But there are also two kinds of optimism. And this is what this parable is about. You see, you can be an optimist and then feel very satisfied with yourself that you're an optimist. That's not good enough yet. You say, "What, there's more to it?" Yes, there's more to it. You've got to be an optimist who stands on reality. And this now brings us to this particular parable. Why? Because the Pharisee was certainly an optimist. But he was an optimist out of touch with reality. He lived in a fool's paradise. How so?
Well, to illustrate what I mean, I'm going to take us back into the Old Testament first. And we're going to look at two different kinds of attitudes. And I'm going to ask you whether you think that it's realistic or pessimistic or optimistic. You see, in Numbers chapter 13, Moses sent out spies into the land of promise. Moses sent spies into the land of promise. Do you know how many spies he sent into the land of promise? Twelve. Twelve spies he sent into the land of promise. The Israelites — God delivered them out of Egypt. He took them across the wilderness and He was going to bring them into the land of promise. But of course, before any army strikes, you need to scout out the land. You need to know what the situation is. And so Moses sent twelve spies into the land of Canaan before he went in to take the land.
So the twelve spies went into the land of promise, the land flowing with milk and honey. They found huge clusters of grapes. They found fruit. They found luscious fields, beautiful land. Oh, this was the place. But, as they expected, people who lived in such good circumstances tended to be very tall, strong, athletic. And they thought to themselves, "Wow, these are giants, men of great stature, strong people, and we by comparison are as grasshoppers. I mean, we just don't stand a chance against people like this."
And so when, after forty days, the twelve spies returned to report to Moses and to the people of Israel, ten of them said, "We can't go into that land. Oh, it's true, it's a land of promise. It's true that there's wonderful agricultural potential there. The fields, the land is so rich and fertile. It is true. You see, look at these big clusters of grapes. Look at this fruit, beautiful fruit. But you see, people who live in those circumstances, feeding on milk and honey, are going to grow very tall, six-footers all of them, and we are all only five foot two. I mean, look at these guys. How are we going to fight them?" So these ten of the spies reported negatively. "The land is good, but we can't take it. They are too strong for us. No way we can fight these people."
Out of the twelve, only two — that is, Joshua and Caleb — only these two said, "It's true, not only is the land rich, but the people are big. They are strong. But our God is with us. God is with us. We shall prevail. Let us go forward and take the land."
Who was an optimist? Who is a pessimist? Who is a realist? Well, you say the ten spies were realists, weren't they? I mean, they did see the people were so tall and strong, and they did realize the circumstances were difficult. Now Joshua and Caleb, the other two — they were outvoted, of course. The majority is always right? You think so? In the Bible, the majority is always wrong. Have you ever realized this? The majority, ten to two — the two are completely outvoted. And not only outvoted, the whole multitude, of course, accepted the report of the ten and rejected the report of the two.
Now, were these spies realistic, those ten spies? They were realistic. They were realistic. It is true what they said. So what was their mistake? They left out one factor: God. Now, did they believe in God? Of course they believed in God. They were Israelites. They were of the people of God. They had received the covenant. They were Israelites. Sure, they believed in God. And this shows you the two different characters, the two different types of Christians also today. The one looks at the problem and gives up. Does he believe in God? Sure, he believes in God. So what's the difference between his believing in God and the believing of God of the other two, who said, "No, our God will give us the victory"? You say, "That's optimistic, but out of touch with reality. I mean, since when can five-foot-two people fight six-foot-two people?"
So, what is the distinction between these two attitudes? The distinction is this: that though both of them believed in God, the one group simply received God as a factor. They believed in God as one factor among many factors. And when God is only one factor in your life among many other factors, that is a very dangerous situation. Very dangerous situation, as we are going to see from the attitude of the Pharisees. But for Joshua and Caleb, the minority — always — God was the determining factor, not just one factor among many, but the determining factor.
Now, I wonder which group of Christians you belong to. It's here that you're going to sort out the wheat from the tares. And because of the report of those ten spies, you know what happened? They destroyed the whole of Israel of that generation. They destroyed Israel. That generation perished in the wilderness because they listened to these ten spies. They took the same attitude as those ten spies and they did not want to go into the Promised Land. They said, "No, we cannot fight them. Didn't they tell us they are so tall, they are so strong? It's no use." And then what did they do? The next chapter, chapter 14 in Numbers, says they began to grumble and murmur against God. "Why did God bring us out of Egypt? I mean, we were slaves in Egypt, it's true, but at least we had enough food to eat. Now we are here stuck in the middle of the wilderness and we cannot go into the Promised Land because all that will happen to us when we go into the Promised Land is we'll be chopped down. They'll make mincemeat of us. They're too strong for us. Did God bring us out of Egypt to kill us here? Either to kill us in the wilderness or kill us in the Promised Land? All He wanted to do was to destroy us."
They murmured against God and they murmured against Moses, and in fact Moses was in danger of his life, and so was Joshua and Caleb. They wanted to stone Joshua and Caleb as well if God hadn't intervened. But because of their attitude — notice the word: not the events. You see, the ten spies and the two spies, they looked at exactly the same event, but their attitude to those events was entirely different. The result was that because the majority took the attitude of those ten spies, they perished in the wilderness. They never entered the Promised Land. In fact, only Joshua and Caleb of that generation entered the Promised Land. All the others perished in the wilderness.
I say again, it is not the events that will determine your life, but your attitude to those events as a Christian. It is so important to grasp the situation. It is absolutely essential to grasp the situation. These ten spies — remember this again, I say to you — they all believed in God. They all belonged to the covenant people, the chosen people. And they were hand-picked, mind you, chosen to do that job. But for them, God was just one factor among many. One factor among many. Not enough to turn the balance of their life. Not enough to make a difference to the balance of their life. Only when God becomes the determining factor of your life will you be able to persevere in the face of adversity. He determines my life. He is the one factor that counts. And when God is the determining factor in your life, oh, the difference is incalculable. I look at the same situation and I look at God and I look at the situation again and I look at God and I say, "It can be done." Am I a realist or am I not a realist? That answer depends on whether God is real to you or not, isn't it? God is a reality, or is He not a reality?
Now I say to you, if God is not a reality, don't bother to go to church. Forget about Christianity. Forget about religion. That faith will in the end be more damaging to you than be helpful to you. There are some people who only have enough faith to make them feel good, but not enough faith to make them be good. The world is different. If your faith is simply an opium to make you feel good, you better do without the opium. Forget it. Just drop religion, drop Christianity. I preach as straight as that. I don't mince my words. I don't fool around with religion. I have no time to fool around with religion. We are talking about reality. Is God real or is He not real? If God is not real, then we don't need religion. No need for religion. Who wants to live in a fool's paradise? Who wants enough religion just to make you feel good, and when the bubble bursts, it's a very bad letdown. Anyone who goes on drugs knows this situation. It feels good while the drug is working. But when you come through again, you will feel awful. You will feel awful. No, no. We don't want that kind of Christianity. We don't need this kind of religion. We don't need God if He is not real. Build your faith on reality.
But that raises the question: how do you know whether God is real or not? How do you know? Now that's exactly what the parable is telling us. The path of how you come to know God as reality. How do you...
# The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Part 2) — Luke 18:9-14
Forget about Christianity. I say to you, I beg of you, forget Christianity. We don't need that kind of Christianity that makes people proud, that makes them feel they are better than other people. They are superior beings that walk around in this world self-righteous. Who needs that kind of Christianity? That is opium. I would agree with Lenin. That is opium. Who needs this? All that you have produced is an arrogant people. A people who are just outwardly pious but rotten inside. Who really are no better than anybody else, except that they feel better than everybody else. That is what I mean. It makes you — you have enough religion to make you feel good, but not enough to make you really good. That kind of religion we can do without. What is the kind of religion you have today? Is your kind of religion the kind that makes you just feel good? That is all you want? Dangerous.
And so you can look down on all these non-Christians, these inferior people, these irreligious people, while you stand high up there, thanking God. "I am not like those people out there. I thank You, God, I go to church twice a week. I thank You, God, that I give my money in the offerings. I am not like those publicans, those sinners out there." That is religion that makes you feel good. Oh, I am sure this Pharisee felt wonderful as he stood there, sticking out his chest in front of the temple there, right up there by the holy place, as near to the front as he could get, so that all this mediocre crowd at the back could admire him standing there, praying with his head lifted high, his hands there. "I thank You, God." Oh, yes. What kind of Christianity? What kind of religion is this? Who needs religion if it produces arrogant, unbearable people of this sort? We don't need that.
He is out of touch with reality. Why? Because for him, God is a factor, but he doesn't understand God. If he had known his Bible, if he had read in the Old Testament, he would know that God cannot tolerate people who behave like this. Doesn't he know his Bible? He goes to the temple every day, and he doesn't know his Bible. Has he never read Psalm 51 and verse 17? What does Psalm 51, verse 17 say? "A broken and a contrite spirit, O Lord, You will not despise." And what does Isaiah say? Isaiah says this: Who does God live with? With whom does God dwell in His holy place? With him who is of a broken and a contrite spirit. Does he not read the Bible? "God resists the proud, but receives the humble." And here is this man talking this kind of thing to God. He's out of touch with reality. He doesn't know what God is like. His God is not real. It's not the God of reality. He has invented a God for himself to worship. And this God is the one that makes him feel good.
You see, he is an optimist, yes. But he is an optimist out of touch with the facts. The fact is, God is not like that. I wonder what kind of a God you worship. Is the God that you worship the God of the Bible? Or have you created an idol for yourself that you worship? What you worship is not the God of the Bible. It's not reality. So it's not enough just to know God. It is important to know God correctly. That God is the God that is being revealed to us through Jesus Christ. So you can see. Reality is not just the fact that God exists. It is true that God exists. But that's not all of reality. It is what kind of God exists. That is the next question we have to ask. How do we come to know a God like this?
And so here we find the diversity of attitudes. There are only two main kinds of attitudes, even among Christians. The one attitude then is the attitude that God is a factor. And I see so many Christians — they believe in God. But their life does not impress anyone. Because when you look at their life, you can see God is not that real. As Bertrand Russell said, and I have quoted it more than once before, Bertrand Russell said that if those Christians really believed what they say they believe, their life would be awfully different from what he sees them to be. And I think that is the verdict of so many non-Christians. They look at Christians today and say, "Well, that doesn't strike me as being very much there. Not much there."
And so in the same way, we find that today Christians stand up before the non-Christians, and the verdict is negative. But of course, this does not mean that the non-Christian comes off too well either. I have talked to many non-Christians, and what do they say? In fact, their attitude turns out to be the same as the Pharisees'. They say, "Well, you know, I don't commit any big sins. I don't think I am worse than those Christians. I think maybe I am better than many Christians. And because I am better than many Christians, if the Christians will be saved, then I will be saved too, because I am no worse than they are, and maybe better than they are." Do you realize that your attitude is exactly the same as the Pharisees'? You are congratulating yourself because you think that your life is not worse than the Christians'. My answer to that is very simple. First of all, not all those who are called Christians are going to be saved. Remember that. And therefore, comparing yourself to the Christians is not going to help you very much. You might be comparing yourself with the wrong kind of Christians. And those kind of Christians are not going to be saved anyway. So that is no consolation to you. Secondly, God looks upon the heart. Remember this vital principle. It is God — He does not look at what you do, He does not look at what you say, but He looks at what you are in your heart. That is what the Pharisee forgot.
He keeps pointing to the things he did. He fasts twice a week. He is a good fellow. You know, the law prescribed only one fast, and that was on the Day of Atonement. We see that, for example, in Leviticus chapter 16, verse 29. Only one fast was prescribed. Of course, a Jew could fast more if he wanted to, but there was only one required fast in the year. Once in a year only. But the Pharisees were going to fast two times a week through various times of the year. So he would outperform the requirements of the law. Well, that is good. And it says here too, in verse 12, "I tithe all that I acquire." You have to be a Jew to understand what that means — a Pharisee to understand what that means. You see, the tithes — the law required that you give one tenth. The tithe is one tenth, one tenth of all your earnings. But the Pharisees tithed one tenth of all that they acquired. What does that mean? That means to say, for example, if they bought a basket of fruit, they would tithe that basket of fruit. Why? Because they were afraid that the person who sold the fruit had not tithed it. And therefore the basket of fruit was not clean because it hadn't been tithed. Therefore, to be on the safe side, even though it might have been tithed, they tithed not only what they received of their income and earnings, but they tithed also what they bought, to be sure that it was clean. Well, that is religious zeal carried to the maximum. That is really religious zeal. But it is a zeal out of touch with reality. Because the reality of the matter is that God looks on your heart. It is good to give tithes. It is good to fast. But you have to do it with the right attitude. And the Pharisee's attitude was wrong. God is not a determining factor in his life. God is one factor there, an important factor, but not the determining factor.
What makes the difference again? Let me give another example from the Old Testament, facing the same situation, two different attitudes. I see that all the time. In Job, the book of Job, chapters 1 and 2. What a striking situation we see there. Job suffered in a way that very few other persons, I should say, have ever suffered. He lost all his sons, he lost all his daughters, he lost all his property, he lost everything, including his health. He was in such a bad condition that there was not one piece of whole skin left on him. Boils from the top of his head to the sole of his foot. So that he could hardly sit down, lie down, or stand up. He didn't know in what position he was going to be. Such was the condition he was in.
Now his wife was, of course, in the same boat as he was in. Because if he lost everything, of course his wife lost everything. His children are his wife's children. He lost all; she also lost all her sons, all her daughters, all the property. She had one advantage though: she still had good health. She had not lost her health. But the attitude to those same events between the two of them was entirely different. Entirely different. Job lost everything, and his reaction was this: "Yahweh gave, Yahweh has taken away. Blessed be the name of Yahweh." He is still praising God. He still gives God the praise. Why? Because God gave everything in the first place. God gave me my life. God gave me my health. God gave me everything I have, because I have my life and my health. So everything I have belongs to God anyway. "I came into this world naked," Job says. "I had nothing when I came into this world. When I go out of this world, I will have nothing too. I also go out naked. Yahweh gives, Yahweh takes. Blessed be the name of Yahweh." He was not going to be broken. He was still in praise. His attitude was unbreakable.
What is his wife's attitude? His wife's attitude was exactly the reverse. She said to Job, "Will you still hold your integrity together? Will you still have faith in God? Curse God and die. Curse Him and die. It's finished. I am finished with God. A God who treats me like this, I am not going to worship Him. He doesn't please me, therefore I am not going to please Him. It's tit for tat. You smack me, I smack you back. God, You gave me a smack, I smack You back. You take everything, I take everything back. I don't worship You anymore."
You see, did Job believe in God? Did Job's wife believe in God? Certainly she did. But you see what happened with her faith? She believed in God. That is why she wanted to curse God. You see what I mean when I said that it's better that you don't have any faith at all? Since God is not a reality, not the determining reality in your life, you might have just enough faith to end up cursing God. Oh, better off is the non-Christian if that's the faith you have. Who needs that kind of thing? If you didn't believe in God, you wouldn't curse God, right? How would you curse God? You don't even believe there is a God. So why do you bother to curse Him? Of course you don't waste your time. But she had enough faith to believe in God, but enough faith to curse Him because she believed in Him. Dreadful. That is why I said to you so strongly, if God is not the determining reality in your life, you are better off with no faith at all. Either you commit yourself totally to God, or you don't bother to believe in Him at all. That is the position.
But was Job a realist, or was he living in cloud-cuckoo land after all? Was he just being pious in that situation? Was he still in touch with reality? Job was very much in touch with reality, because he knew God is the one to whom we owe all that we are and have. You see, it is this: God gave us all we have, our very existence. He has the right to take it back. But if He takes it back from us, will He not give it back to us again, sometime perhaps, if He pleases? You see, He had come to know, as most Christians do not know, that God is — whether you accept Him or not — He is the determining reality. You are not believing in Him as the determining reality. It makes no difference to the facts. And this point I have also said to many of you before: your faith does not change the facts. Your faith changes you. If you don't believe in a God, it doesn't mean that God doesn't exist because you don't believe in Him. It only means that your attitude to this reality will be different. It changes you. You think that if you don't believe that Australia exists, that Australia doesn't exist because you don't believe in it? Your faith doesn't make any difference to the facts. Does it? If you don't believe that Jesus came into this world, does it mean that Jesus didn't come because you don't believe in it? No. No facts have changed. Your faith changes you, not the facts. And your unbelief changes you. It doesn't change any fact either.
So the important thing is to realize that God is, in fact, the determining reality. You don't believe it; it doesn't make any difference to that. Is it not a fact that we wouldn't exist if God hadn't created us? He determined our existence. You don't believe it; it doesn't make any difference. Is it not a fact that He gave us all that we have? Did He not create the flower of the field, the bird of the air, the food that you ate for lunch today? Did you make it? You earn the money to buy it. You didn't make the food. And when there is no food to buy, all the money in the world wouldn't fill your stomach unless you are good at eating paper. No. These things God created. The delicious melon that you ate — you didn't create that. You didn't flavor it. It is God who determines these things. One of these days, you will die and there is nothing in the world that anybody can do about it. Nothing. Not the greatest doctors, not the greatest surgeons, not the greatest scientists — nobody can do anything about it. You will die when the time comes. He determines it. Our times are in His hands. When He said to the rich fool in that parable, "Tonight your life is required of you," there was nothing in the world anybody could do about it because God said "tonight" and that's tonight. He is the determining reality. You don't believe it — it makes no difference.
Now, the question though is, you say, "You say He is determining reality. How do you know? How do you know the facts? Is it impossible to know?" No. This is what the parable is about. You will know the truth if you come with the right attitude. If you come with the right attitude to find the truth. You see, attitude is so important for determining facts and realities. You have the wrong attitude, you will never know the truth because you have closed your mind to the truth from the beginning. I say to you today, make this choice. Make this choice. Either you are going to find out that God is the determining reality, or you just forget about Christianity and don't bother to go to church anymore. You say, "How can a pastor talk like that?" Because I love truth. I love truth. That is the reason why. If the gospel is not true that I preach, I should not be preaching it. I don't have the right to preach it. I should be silenced. I should be put out of here. Because I am making everybody live in a fool's paradise. The reason I preach it with conviction is because I know God is the determining reality. I know.
You say, "How do you know?" Precisely this key in the parable. I say to you that every person — this is what the Lord Jesus is saying — who comes to God in the way that this tax collector here comes to God, if you come in this way, you will know God as the reality and as the determining reality. But many Christians don't come to God in this way. They don't have this kind of attitude. And that is why they never know God in the way they should know God.
I talked to a person the other day, only two or three days ago. He told me he became a Christian. I think maybe I was a little hard on him. But I wanted to be sure that he knew what he was doing. I asked him when he became a Christian. He said, "Last summer." I said, "How did you become a Christian? Will you mind telling me?" And he said, "Yes, you see, I had lots of doubts in my mind, but I went to this summer camp and when I went to this summer camp, those doubts were answered in my mind." I said, "What doubts?" He said, "Well, doubts like did Jesus rise again from the dead? Is the Bible reliable?" And I said, "Well, how then were these questions answered?" He said, "Well, I listened to the speakers and I found that, yes, yes, it is very, very likely that Jesus rose from the dead. After I listened to these preachers, they convinced me that Jesus rose from the dead. They convinced me the Bible is real."
I said, "I see." I said to him, "Do you know what the Lord Jesus meant when He said, 'If any man come after Me, he must take up his cross, deny himself, and only so will he be My disciple'? Do you know what that means?" He said, "Well, it is very difficult, that text." I said, "It is not only difficult; it is essential for you to know what it means." I said, "Do you know what it means?" He says, "Well, I am not too sure what it means." I said, "You are a Christian, and you do not know what it means?"
Why was I saying this to him? Because I realized that there was a change in his mind. He changed his mind about certain things. He did not believe that Jesus rose from the dead, but now he thought about it, and he thought, "Yeah, yeah, I think Jesus did rise from the dead. I think it is very true. It is very convincing. The facts are convincing." Anybody who reads Frank Morrison's "Who Moved the Stone" may find it very convincing. Yes, it is true, when you think about all the facts, Jesus must have risen from the dead. There is no way out of this. There is no other way to explain the facts when you come to think about it. But his mind was convinced. Yes, the Bible is true. It is reliable. But you see, what has happened is this. There was no fundamental change in his attitude. Nothing had changed as far as his attitude was concerned. That is why I realized that he had not really become a Christian. Becoming a Christian is not merely mental conviction. It is a change of attitude.
I hope you understand what I am saying here, because if you don't understand what I am saying, if you don't understand what the Lord Jesus is saying here — the Pharisee, did he believe in God? Of course he believed in God. Look at his zeal, how much money he gave. A tithe of everything and a tithe even of what he bought. You know how much that costs financially? Of course he believes in God. Nobody is going to put out this kind of money who doesn't believe in God. Nobody is going to fast twice a week — two whole days not eating in every week — if he didn't believe in God. Of course he believes in God. You think he just likes to punish himself? Of course not. He did these things because he thought God was pleased with this. But he was out of touch with the facts because he did not realize that God looks upon the heart and there must be a change of heart, a change of attitude. You are not going to know God as reality and as the determining reality of your life if you don't come to Him with the right attitude. Right attitude.
This is what makes the class — the difference of class — between these two Christians. Job's wife: her attitude showed up in such a wrong way because she started with the wrong attitude. Job himself ended up with such a right attitude because he started with the right attitude. If you have not yet started with the right attitude — I don't care if you are a Christian or not — if your attitude has never been one of a humble, broken spirit before God, and not just once in the past but a continuing attitude like this, then you are standing on very dangerous ground. You are living like the Pharisee in a fool's paradise.
And one last word and we must close. I am very frightened about one thing among Christians — the thing that is called assurance. Assurance. I think this doctrine of assurance is going to get more people into hell than any other doctrine that has so far come up in the Christian church. And you say, "Well, that's a very strong statement to make." And I make that statement only after pondering it for years — not for a few hours, not for a few days, but for a few years. Look at this Pharisee again — the picture of assurance. Verse 9, the first verse of this parable begins like this: "He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous." They had a trust in themselves that they were righteous. The word that is here translated "trusted" is the perfect tense of a Greek word which always has this meaning in the perfect tense: of confidence, of certainty, of being sure. They were sure in themselves that they were righteous. They were confident. Oh, he had assurance. That's the trouble with him. He had assurance. But his assurance was badly founded, like so many Christians. They have assurance when they should not be having assurance. To have assurance when that assurance is out of touch with reality is disaster.
Look at his assurance. His whole behavior was one of assurance — assurance within himself, and in himself. Now if you say that his assurance was not in God but in himself, he would have strongly protested that. He only believed in himself? Oh no. A Pharisee believes in God. A Pharisee believes in God. And Paul admits that. He says of the Pharisees, and he says of the Jews, "I grant them that they have zeal." But a zeal without knowledge — that is out of touch with the facts. Out of touch with the facts. The Pharisee had great assurance. He had confidence. This word translated "trust" appears in many places elsewhere in the New Testament translated as "confidence." He had confidence that he was righteous, therefore he was saved. To be righteous is to be saved. He had assurance of salvation as nobody else had. That is why he was able to say, "I thank God. I thank God for my assurance. I thank You, Lord, I'm not like those people." Dreadful assurance. Dreadful. And he went away from the temple, of course, doubtless satisfied with himself, fully satisfied with himself. He struts away from the temple after this prayer. And he prays — sure he prays. He prays three times a day. Every Pharisee prayed three times a day. That's why he was in the temple.
What about the publican? What about this tax collector? This tax collector didn't dare to raise up his eyes. He had no assurance. He dared not even lift up his eyes to God. He bowed his head down. He dared not come to the front of the temple. He stood way out at the back. He beat his breast. "O God, God, have mercy upon me, the sinner. Nobody is as bad as me. Lord, I'm not fit to be standing here in this temple. I'm not fit to be talking to You. But please, have mercy upon me. Have mercy." And was anybody there to give him assurance? Was there any priest who said to him, "Your sins are forgiven. I pronounce absolution upon you"? Was there anybody to say, "Okay, you have been forgiven. You know, you should have assurance"? Nobody said anything to him. Doubtless this poor man, after beating his breast, looking up, pleading with God for mercy, he slowly crawled out of that temple through the door and disappeared into the crowd. Did he have assurance? Did he think that God heard him because he had the right to be heard? Maybe he had no assurance at all. But he still said, "Lord, have mercy. Have mercy."
And the Lord Jesus says in verse 14, "I say to you" — not to him. Jesus didn't say anything to him. If Jesus said something to him, he might have assurance from that moment. But He said, "I say to you, you disciples, that this tax collector, this sinner, went back to his home justified." Even if he didn't know it, he was justified, forgiven. But not that assurance. On what principle? The principle is this: "He who humbles himself, God will exalt. But whoever lifts himself up, God will bring down."
Oh, I hope that you understand this message, because your eternal welfare depends on it. There is no question in this life more important than the question of the reality of God. There is no question more important than that. Whether or not tomorrow they discover a cure for cancer — it will be very exciting to know — but even if that question could be answered, there is no question more important. And if you are not facing up to that question, you are not facing up to reality. If you are not a Christian, you must make it your business to find out: is God real or not? I don't think you have to be very intelligent to realize that if God is real — if God is real — you better square your life up with Him. Because you can run away from that reality today and tomorrow and the day after, but it's going to catch up with you. It's going to catch up with you. Even if you're not a Christian, think carefully. If God is real, what's going to happen to you? You may not believe in Him. That doesn't matter. You'd better have enough sense and enough intelligence to say to yourself, "I better find out the answer to that question." I'm amazed how foolish some people are. They don't bother to find out the answer to that question, and one of these days it's going to be too late. There is no question more important than this. It's going to affect every facet of your life.
But if you are a Christian, don't congratulate yourself. Don't say, "Oh yes, yes, yes, I believe in God." That's not good enough. The Pharisee also believed in God. What you need to ask yourself is: do I know God as the determining reality? Am I in touch with the reality of God? Is the God that I worship the God of the Bible? Or have I made an idol for myself that is not the God of the Bible? And is this God that I am worshiping — am I only making use of Him to make me feel good, but it doesn't change me, it doesn't make me good, it does not change my attitude?
So finally I say to you this. I know for a certainty — whether you are a Christian or not a Christian, the principle applies exactly the same — if you come to God with the attitude of this tax collector, you will come to know God as a reality. That tax collector may not have had assurance when he left that temple, but sooner or later he will have assurance. You know why? Because nobody who has this kind of attitude will be out of touch with God for very long. God will come to you. He will speak with you. He will commune with you. And you will begin to know what Romans chapter 8 is saying when it says there in Romans chapter 8, "The Spirit of God witnesses with my spirit that I am a child of God." That is the truly wonderful reality. Romans chapter 8, verse 16. Anyone who comes to God with that attitude will meet with God. He will meet with God. That is a promise. That is a promise from God. "Knock, and it shall be opened to you. Seek, and you shall find." And I know it is true. That is why I preach the gospel. That is why I preach the gospel. Preaching the gospel doesn't make me rich. I preach the gospel because it's true.
And I challenge every person today, whether you're a Christian — I say to you, make this choice. Either God from now on becomes the determining reality of your life, or you just pack up and forget it. I will not blame you at all if you don't come back to church next week. I will have utter sympathy and understanding for you. But if you really want to be a Christian, you say, "I am going to get to know God as the determining reality which He really is. I am going to come to God with a new attitude. I am going to come like this tax collector, saying, 'Lord, forgive me that I have been so proud before, that I have used religion as a means of dulling my conscience, of clouding my understanding. I have misused religion. Forgive me, I beg of You. I come to You now realizing that I am nothing, that You are the eternal God. Have pity upon me. Up to now I have kept thinking that I am better than everybody else. Now, Lord, I come realizing that in Your sight I am as a filthy rag, not fit to be seen, not fit to be accepted. But Lord, have pity upon me. Have pity.'"
If you can come with a genuine attitude like this — now, many people come with no sense of need. This Pharisee had no sense of need. Notice his prayer: "I thank You, God..." He rambles on and on. He asks nothing spiritual from God, and he gets nothing from God. He has no sense of need. Do you know why a person has no sense of need? Because he is out of touch with reality. He doesn't know his true situation. He has not yet woken up to his real situation. You may have cancer in your body today, right now, but you are feeling fine. You don't even know that the cancer is there working and is going to kill you one of these days. But you don't know it. So you don't worry. You don't bother. You don't take any precautions. You don't go out and take some exercise. You don't see that you eat the right kind of food. You don't breathe good air. You don't worry. "I'm feeling okay."
You know, when I stopped breathing properly and taking exercise, when I realized that my life was at stake — by that time it was a bit late, isn't it? A person must come awake, realize what your situation is in God's eyes. Realize this: your situation is pitiful. Realize how weak I am. Realize how unholy I am really. Then I can only come to God like this tax collector: "Lord, have mercy." If you will do that, I say one more time, you will come to know God. That is a promise of God. Just as it happened to this tax collector — he experienced God.
Let us be quiet before God in prayer.