The Pharisee and the Tax Collector

Truth For Life Daily Program

Alistair Begg

Religion & Spirituality, Alister, Truth, Bible, Parkside, Allister, Begg, Truthforlife, Teaching, Alistair, Christianity, For, Life

4.8 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 10 October 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“Don’t judge a book by its cover.” This saying warns against making assumptions based on external factors. On Truth For Life, Alistair Begg examines Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector to point out how this is also true within the church.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Thank you. You probably heard the saying, don't judge a book by its cover.
0:29.7	It warns us about making assumptions based on external factors.
0:34.0	Today on Truth for Life, we'll learn how this is true within the church as well.
0:38.7	Alistair Begg is examining Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector found in Luke chapter 18.
0:51.4	I found somebody who has been able to contemporize the story for me in such a way that it kind of drives it home.
0:59.2	Because after all, none of us are familiar with Pharisees that engage in life as is described here.
1:05.8	So we're reading a story that is from another time and another place.
1:13.6	It doesn't make it any less relevant. It's just more challenging in finding that we're confronted by its impact. One of my friends rewrote
1:20.7	the story in this way, and I want to read it for you. You can sit and relax now and listen
1:25.8	as he addressed it in this way. Jack and Joel went to church one evening.
1:36.8	Jack knew his way around. He'd been brought up in the place. He'd gone to Sunday school since the
1:41.7	age of three and all that.
1:45.3	He knew, too, that his parents would be there sitting in one of the other pews, watching him proudly.
1:50.5	He wanted to make sure that they saw him.
1:54.1	So he walked right up to the front and sat in the front row.
1:59.3	He bowed his head.
2:00.3	He shut his eyes for a few moments.
2:02.2	He'd seen his dad do that, and he knew that it looked holy.
2:07.0	Jack, you see, took his religion very seriously.
2:09.8	He carried a big Bible, and he knew all the latest songs.
2:13.7	He liked the image of being a highly principled young man, too.
2:19.8	Unlike many of his peers, he never consumed alcohol, never smoked, did no drugs. He was also extremely self-righteous about sex.
	...

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