Sermon Tone Analysis

Review:

Review:

Theology-Study of God

Reconciliation-Ministry of Reconciliation

Unity-Unity in the body

Transformation-This is a HS work

Humility- Dependent on God

Introduction:

Stand up and Read

Explain context of this Parable

Definition of Humble— “Lowly”---This is has nothing to do with your actual external situation.

It has more to do with your heart condition.

Meaning a person could be poor as dirt(looking humble) and yet be proud and arrogant.

Conversely a person could be well-off, and yet be humble & meek.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon said it best “Humility is to make a right estimate of oneself.

It is no humility for a man to think less of himself than he ought.”

Charles Spurgeon

True Biblical Humility-Is to recognize where your abilities stop and God’s began.

It is to recognize that Man is made in the image of God, and worthy of honor.

Man is blessed with wonderful abilities and talents capable of great accomplishment, but at the same time man is finite and contingent.

Totally dependent on God for mental acuity, physical strength, and emotional stability.

Even at our best we could do nothing of any value without the Lord.

-Prayer is one of the Spiritual disciplines that manifest an attitude of Dependance on God.

Prayer says “I need you Lord” I cannot do it on my own.

-Notice the humblest person to ever walk the earth.

Every reason to be proud, and yet he walked in humility:

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What pattern do you see from our Lord in his prayer life?

-Endowed with power, strength and authority.

He was God in human flesh, he could walk on water, heal the sick, exorcise demons, and raise the dead, yet he would:

(v.16)

He would “often” slip away and get alone with Lord.

He needed his time.

Don’t forget in his humanity he was absolutely dependent on his Father.

What kind of attitude or mind does Paul tell us to have?

(v.3

(v.3) Always have pure motives when you serve.

Humility is to see the needs of others as more important than yourself.

Jesus tells a parable in That helps us to see what kind of attitude really pleases him:

I.

The Pharisees Prayer Attitude

(v.9)

In this Parable Luke tell’s us what Jesus’s intent was in telling this story:

Luke 18:

-There were some people in his audience “who trusted in themselves, that they were righteous”

What does it mean to trust in yourself?

-This is to live a life believing, that in yourself is the solution to all of life’s questions and difficulties.

God is not central in this person life.

God is an afterthought.

Jesus is telling this parable to a whole bunch of religious folks, so don’t make the mistake of thinking I am talking about people from the world.

-They also had another problem “and viewed others with contempt” Contempt-To treat with scorn, or despise.

They treated them as if they were beneath them.

(v.10) “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a Tax Collector” Interpreting Parables involves us identifying the participants of the parable.

a. Pharisee-Those who were the religious leaders(preachers) these men were meticulous(every detail) followers of the law of God.

b.

Tax Collectors-These were those that collected taxes for the Roman Government.

They collected taxes for Rome from their own people.

They were despised, considered unclean, and filthy rich off the backs of their own people.

-Both went up to the Temple to pray.

Both recognize the need to pray.

Prayer by it’s very nature implies that “I need God” but we have to be careful, not all people pray with the right motives.

(v.10-11)

Both men went up to pray: Folks prayed corporately at two separate times 9:00am or 3:00pm and they could go up and just pray at any times, but the 9 & 3p times seemed to be corporate prayer times.

(v.11) “The Pharisees stood and was praying this to himself” NASB The best rendering of this phrase is found in the NIV “11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed” Rather than stand on the midst of broken people he went to the front and stood away from the group to pray.

II.

The Publicans Prayer Attitude

11 The Pharisee stood by himselfp and prayed

Luke 18:

p ;

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), .

(v.11) Now listen to the Pharisees prayer: “God I thank you that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector”

-The Pharisees even gave “thanks” to God.

What did he thank God for?

-He thanked God by listing those people who he was glad that he was not like.

Swindlers(Thieves), unjust(unrighteous), Adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

-(v.11)

Notice Luke grammar:

-The central focus of the Pharisees prayer was himself, and his accomplishments.

The one thing that is also lacking in his prayer is a petition.

Not once did he ask God for anything.

-A petition(request) implies that there is something in my life that I cannot supply or do on my own.

Lord I need your strength, Lord I need your hand of mercy, Lord I need your forgiveness, Lord I need some provision, Lord I need wisdom because I cannot navigate this life on my own.

-Lord I am unable to lead your sheep in this church.

I do not have the wisdom, knowledge or strength to carry this load.

Please help me........This man did not make one petition to the Lord.

Then in (v.12) he goes over his resume

(v.12) “I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get” The Jewish law did not require fasting.

And the Jewish law only required the tithe on earnings.

This man tithe on things that he got as gift.

This once again is middle finger to God.

This says God your law that you gave Moses was insufficient, so I have added places of obedience that I can accomplish.

You see this man’s pride/arrogance was growing because of his ability to live this outwardly clean life.

Can you imagine the pride that must come from believing that you have keep all of God’s 611 OT laws, so that you even needed to add more to up the challenge.

-This was a man never confessed any of his sins, or transgression.