Lost and Found

Introduction

If you have your Bibles this morning, please take them and find Luke 18:9.  I want to share a message with you entitled, “Lost and Found.”

 

I suspect most of you are familiar with a “Lost and Found.”  It is a place at school or church where lost items and kept and hopefully, eventually found by their owners.  We’ll come back to that idea in just a moment.

 

Last week, Jesus told us the parable of the unjust judge or the persistent widow.  We are to keep praying and don’t give up.  Don’t get discouraged.  Don’t lost heart.  Don’t get tired.

 

Today, we are continuing in Luke 18 with the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, and it is unique to Luke.  Even though it speaks about prayer, it is not primarily a parable teaching about prayer.

 

In today’s message, I am going to outline our text into 8 parts.  They all begin with the letter P.

 

 

Exposition

First, this is parable about a proud Pharisee and a publican.  That is the KJV word for tax collector.

 

Remember that a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.  According to verse 9, Jesus spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others.

 

More than likely, this was directed at the proud Pharisees, and they were close by.  See Luke 17:20.

 

20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation.

 

Second, verses 10-11 introduce us to the proud Pharisee and the publican or tax collector.  They both went to the temple to pray, which was generally at 9 AM and 3 PM.

 

In verse 11, we are reminded of their positions.  The Pharisees were Jewish religious leaders known for their knowledge of the Old Testament and their spiritually.

 

The publican or tax collector was also Jewish, but he worked for the Roman government.  Therefore, he was considered to be a traitor.

 

He was generally dishonest.  He collected the tax that he turn paid to the government.  However, he also collected some for himself, and he was despised by his countrymen for his position.

 

Third, verse 11 speaks not only of their positions, but also of their posture.  The proud Pharisee stood and seemed to pray loudly so that others could hear.

 

When the text says that he “prayed thus with himself,” that literally means that he prayed to himself.  His posture was also one of pride as he prayed listing his resume.

 

However, the publican or tax collector’s posture was just the opposite in verse 13.  He stood far off away from others.  He didn’t feel worthy.

 

He also beat his chest.  This was a sign of contrition and deep sorrow. 

 

Fourth, notice their prayers.  The proud Pharisee listed his resume of how he kept the OT laws of fasting and tithing. 

 

The OT required fasting once a week, and he fasted twice.  He also tithed of all that he possessed.

 

There is no debate.  He had been obedient. 

 

BTW…Brothers and sisters, as follower of Christ, we should be obedient to God’s word. 

 

In John’s gospel, Jesus said that if we love Him, we ought to be obedient.  See John 14:15.

 

15 “If you love Me, keep My commandments.

 

Then John said in 1 John 2:3 that obedience can assure us of our knowing Christ.  

 

3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.

 

Not only did the proud Pharisee list his resume, but he also spoke negatively of others including the publican or tax collector.  He thanked God that he wasn’t like extortioners, the unjust, adulterers, and this tax collector. 

 

On the other hand, the publican or tax collector’s prayer was seven words.  He called out to God for mercy as he was a sinner. 

 

The proud Pharisee’s prayer was self-righteous and judgmental.  The publican’s prayer acknowledged his need and stayed in his own lane.

 

Fifth, what was the problem with the proud Pharisee’s prayer?  His standard for living was other people.

 

Sixth, what was the positive with the publican’s prayer?  His standard for living was God, and he knew that he fell woefully short.

 

Seventh, this parable contains a major paradox.  Look what Jesus said in verse 14. 

 

He was pointing to the publican when He said, “This man went down to his house justified.”  For the first century listener, this blew their mind!

 

Justified means to be made right or even saved.  Jesus just said that this good man was not saved even though he had done all of this stuff.  On the other hand, this dishonest publican was saved.  This didn’t make sense.

 

Eighth, so what is the point of the parable?  Again, it isn’t primarily about prayer.  However, it can teach us to pray with humility like the publican instead of self-righteous pride like the proud Pharisee.

 

The main point of this parable is about salvation and that no individual can be found by God until he or she realizes he is lost without God.  In other words, no one can be saved until they realize they need to be saved.  Finally, you can’t have personal saving relationship with God until you realize that you need one and don’t have one unless you make that conscious, personal decision.

 

Paul affirms this key theological truth and reality in Ephesians 2.

 

1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.  4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

 

 

Conclusion

Listen to that again.  If you have never made a conscious decision to recognize your need for a savior and call on Jesus, you are spiritually dead in your sins.  The devil is your boss, and he is the one who is calling the shots.  You are by nature a child of God’s wrath.

 

You must understand that you are lost.  You must understand that you need to be saved.  Today, I invite you to be saved and found by God.