IS MY ATTITUDE RIGHT?

                                                           Luke 18:9-14 (770)

  Introduction

     A.  The reason Jesus gave this parable.  V9

     B.  Jesus said that two men went to the Temple to pray.  V10

     C.  Let’s take a close look at these two men and their prayers.

  The Two Men

  I. One man was a Pharisee.  The name Pharisee means “the separated one.”

     A.  They engaged in hypocritical practices.  Matthew 6:5, 23:5-6

     B.  The Pharisees kept the “tradition of the elders.”  Matthew 15:1-3 (716)

     C.  They believed they were good and that everyone else was bad.

II.  The other man was a tax collector (Publican).

     A.  They were despised by the Jews because as Jews they collected taxes for the Roman

           Government.

The Two Prayers

I.  The Pharisee’s prayer was one of self congratulation.

    A.  He thanked God that he wasn’t like other men and was proud of what he didn’t do.

          V11

    B.  There are people today whose religion consists to a great degree of prohibitions. 

          1.  Matthew 7:12 (708):  The negative form is don’t do to others what they

               don’t do to us.  Examples:

          2.  As Christians we must also obey the positive form of this principle:  do

               unto others as we would have them do to us.  Matthew 25:31-40 (726)

                           

    C.  The Pharisee was proud of what he did (Luke 18:12).  His mistake.  Titus 3:4-8 (882),

          Ephesians 2:8-9 (864), Romans 6:17-18 (833)

II. The tax collector’s prayer was an expression of his spirit of repentance. Luke 18:13

    A.  His disposition:  v13

    B.  His simple prayer: “God be merciful to me a ________________.”

    C.  Two attitudes are necessary to have relationship with God: 1) a sense of our inadequacy                  

          (Jeremiah 10:23) and 2) a sense of our sin  (Romans 3:23,6:23).

  Question:  Is my ___________  right with God?     YES or NO