Two Questions and a Parable

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus' authority?

The Bible teaches that Jesus’ authority is derived from His divine nature and mission to fulfill God's will. In Matthew 21:23-32, the questioning of Jesus' authority by the religious leaders underscores that His authority is not based on earthly credentials, but rather on His divine mission and power. He came to do the Father's will, demonstrating that His ministry was backed by God. Despite the attempts of religious leaders to discredit Him, they could not refute the truth of His teachings or the miraculous works He performed. This underscores that true authority in spiritual matters is found in divine calling, not human validation.

Q: Why is baptism important for Christians?

Baptism is important because it symbolizes a believer's repentance and commitment to follow Christ. Baptism holds significant theological meaning in the New Testament as an ordinance established by God. In Matthew 21:25, Jesus affirms the divine origin of John the Baptist's ministry, emphasizing that baptism is a divine ordinance tied to repentance and faith. It symbolizes the believer's identification with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:3-4). Receiving baptism signifies not just an outward act, but an inward reality of one's faith and commitment to follow Christ, solidifying the belief that it is intended for believers who profess faith in Him.

Q: How do we know Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies?

Jesus fulfills Old Testament prophecies through His birth, ministry, and sacrificial death, confirming His messianic identity. Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies by embodying the characteristics and missions foretold by the prophets. His role as the Lamb of God, as proclaimed by John the Baptist, emphasizes that He is the fulfillment of the sacrificial system and God's promises (John 1:29). The miracles He performed, such as healing and restoring lives, align with the prophetic indications of the Messiah's work, establishing Him as the awaited Savior. This connection not only affirms Jesus' messianic identity but also demonstrates the sovereignty of God in orchestrating redemption through Christ, fulfilling His covenant promises.

Q: Why must we repent to be saved?

Repentance is essential for salvation as it reflects a turning away from sin towards faith in Christ. Repentance is a foundational aspect of coming to faith in Christ, as illustrated in the parable of the two sons (Matthew 21:28-32). Jesus emphasizes that true repentance involves acknowledging one's sinfulness and turning to God, ultimately leading to faith in Him. This aligns with the biblical teaching that God commands all people to repent (Acts 17:30) and that true repentance is linked to faith and obedience, signifying a transformation of heart and mind. Without genuine repentance, one cannot truly accept the grace offered through Christ's redemptive work, as it involves recognizing one's need for a Savior.

Q: What does the parable of the two sons teach us?

The parable illustrates that genuine repentance and obedience to God are what truly matter, rather than outward appearances or claims. In the parable of the two sons presented in Matthew 21:28-32, Jesus teaches about the nature of true obedience and the heart of repentance. The first son initially refused to obey his father but ultimately repented and went to work in the vineyard, while the second son claimed he would go but did not. This demonstrates that it is not mere verbal assent that pleases God, but active obedience stemming from a repentant heart. Jesus uses this parable to contrast the publicans and harlots, who recognized their sin and repented, with the self-righteous religious leaders who failed to accept John’s message of repentance. The parable serves as a reminder that God values authentic responses to His call over superficial compliance.

Let's turn together to Matthew chapter 21 verses 23 through 32. Matthew 21 verses 23 through 32. Now this passage that we have before us begins the last three days of our Lord's earthly ministry prior to his arrest in Gethsemane. It is simply astonishing to consider all that our Lord crammed into those last three days if you compare the various gospel narratives. Everything that's recorded from Matthew 21 verse 23 through the end of chapter 25, all that is written in Mark chapters 11 through 14, and in Luke chapters 20, 21, and 22, And all the events described in John's gospel from chapters 12 through chapter 18 were crammed into those last three days. Everything written there.

What an example our Savior gives us to follow. As one who saw the days are evil, he redeemed the time. He bought up the opportunity and crammed as much as he possibly could into the days he had in service of his God and of our God. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to do His Father's will and demonstrates clearly that it was His meat and His drink to obey His Father and do His will. May God give us grace to follow His example.

Now in the verses of our text we have before us two questions and a parable. And in these verses we see the priests and the elders of the people the religious leaders of the day attempting to ensnare the Lord Jesus Christ, attempting to discredit His ministry. These bitter enemies of righteousness, these bitter, envious, insecure religious men swarm like bees around the Son of God, seeking some weakness in Him that they might exploit and use to their own advantage. They sought to entrap Him by a question But our Lord Jesus turned their question against them, and he took a question to give them, by which he silenced their quibbles, and at last he gave a parable by which he forced them to confess their own condemnation. Now let's look at these three things this evening. First, read verse 23 with me.

And when he was come into the temple, the chief priest and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching. How rude, how disrespectful, how utterly contemptuous. He's in the temple of God, he's teaching. He's expounding to men and women the things of God and these religious fellows come in the name of God while he's teaching and they just abruptly interrupt him and they said, by what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority? And so they raise a question. Now this question is recorded here by the Holy Spirit for our learning and our admonition, and it is recorded plainly to teach us this fact.

Satan's strategy never changes. It never changes. It has always been, from the beginning of time, Satan's constant and most favorite weapon against Christ and his people to use slander to discredit God and to discredit His servants. Eve, Lindsay read to us in the office back there a little bit ago, Eve was seduced by the serpent's slander, and he slandered God's character to her, so that when Eve was seduced by the serpent, she was persuaded to call into question the character of God. And once he began to question God's character, she was taken. She was in despair. Satan had his way.

Whenever it is impossible for Satan to disprove the work of God or to deny the truth of God, his weapon of choice is to discredit the messenger of God. You mark it down. Whenever it's impossible for him to deny the work of God or the truth of God, his weapon of choice is to slander the messenger of God.

These hell-inspired religionists could not refute our Lord's doctrine. They had no choice but to acknowledge that what he said was so. He backed it up with the word of God. They didn't like it, but they could not refute it. They could not deny his power. He came by the fig tree and he said, you're cursed. And they saw the fig tree withered. It was just withered away. They couldn't deny it.

Our Lord Jesus came and spoke with power the very words of God and taught the people concerning prayer and worship. He's in the temple now teaching them the things of God. And these men come along as men who who cavalet his doctrine, who cavalet his every word.

They could not accuse him of anything evil. He had done nothing evil. They could not point anything to any aspect of his life or even of his followers at that time and say, look here, now this is what this leads to. Oh no. All they could do was attempt to discredit him by casting a slander upon him.

And so they come to slander his authority. They come to defend themselves, and they come to justify themselves in their unbelief, and in their rebellion, and in their opposition to the Son of God, and they do so by simply casting a slander on Him. After they slandered the Savior by His association, or often they slandered Him by His association with sinners, but here they attempted to discredit His authority. It seems a strange thing they should do so. They ignored the good that he did.

He healed the sick. There was no question about it. He fed multitudes. Hungry folks, he fed them in a public manner that no one could deny. He caused the dead to live. Widows received their sons back to life again. Our Lord Jesus certainly did much good.

And yet they quibbled about his authority to do what he did. J.C. Ryle said too many care nothing for the manifest blessings of God upon a man's work. So long as he is not sent forth by their own sect or their own party, they dispute him. So long as he's not sent out by our church, so long as he's not sent out under our authority, if he doesn't go in our name, then he certainly can't be doing right.

These religious leaders had all the right credentials. They were trained up in the proper way. These were the elders and the scribes and the priests of Israel. They came from the right pedigree. They came from the proper priesthood. They came from the proper line of elders and scribes. They had been trained and taught and educated in all the proper schools.

They had the right credentials, but they knew nothing of the power of God. They knew nothing of the things of God. They knew nothing of the scriptures. They didn't know the truth of God, nor the power of God, though they were very religious men. Our Lord Jesus had no earthly credentials.

He didn't come from the right schools. He didn't have any training. He didn't come with the right influence. He didn't have anyone backing Him. He didn't come out of the right religious circles, though everybody who was anybody in the religious world turned thumbs down on Him.

But our Lord Jesus Christ came manifestly in the power of God, and all they could do was slander him. Now this is shocking news to some folks. I didn't realize until just recently just how shocking it is to folks who really ought to know better. I've been asked this question so many, many times in the last several weeks.

But where does a man have to go to school? Where do you get They didn't put these words, but the message of the question was this. Where do you get credentials to preach in your church? Where do you get the right training? Where do you get the right background? Where do your preachers come from?

Understand this. In the kingdom of God, in the church of God, among the people of God, credentials are meaningless. They're meaningless. Utterly without meaning. When I was in school at Piedmont and Western Salem, they told me early on that I would have to change my doctrine and sign their doctrinal statement denying the efficacy of Christ's atonement, or they wouldn't graduate me from school. And I tipped my hat and said, well, I won't sign.

You can do what you will. Later on, I decided that maybe I ought to get a little more training, so I signed up to take some courses in a master's degree program. And I spent a little time doing it. But after just a short while, my conscience was smitten distinctly and clearly of God. Why are you doing this? Why on earth are you doing this? Trying to impress me? Trying to make a way for yourself? Trying to open doors for yourself? And that's exactly what it was. That's exactly what it was.

I gave it up not because of a lack of ability. I don't think it takes too much to get the degree. You don't have to be too smart to get a degree. I gave it up because I'm God's servant, buddy. And if God opens the door, he'll open it. I won't open it. I gave it up because this man and any man who speaks for God, and I'm not suggesting, please understand me, I'm not suggesting that it's wrong for a man to have the degrees. I'm not suggesting that at all. I'm simply saying it's wrong to seek to make a way for yourself by earthly credentials. That's what's wrong. It's altogether meaningless.

Several years ago, there was a rather large congregation down south. We called Brother Mahan and asked him about recommending me to pulpit there. They caught Henry on a, I don't know if it was a bad day or a good day, I'll let you decide, he didn't speak for himself, but they said, well, where did Brother Fortner go to school? Henry said, I think he went to one of them reform schools down in North Carolina.

And that was the end of that recommendation. But the fact is, credentials in the kingdom of God are meaningless. They're meaningless. Is a man called of God? Nothing else matters. Is he gifted of God to minister the Word of God? Nothing else matters. When I'm dead and gone and you go looking for a pastor and you seek a man to come minister to you, don't look for earthly credentials and recommendations. Look for a man with a message from God. Nothing else is of significance. Any man who is being used of God, can expect, just exactly like our Lord here experienced, to become the object of hellish slander and scorn.

Wolves never attack painted sheep. They never attack those little stick sheep folks have sitting out in their lawns, making them look like pretty little sheep. You'll never see a wolf chew on one of them. They only attack living sheep. Sheep that are alive and pretentious preachers, imaginary preachers, artificial preachers, are not spited and persecuted by the men of this world. But faithful ones, you can count on it. They always will be. Always have been and always will be.

I read today with A good bit of interest, encouragement, and humor. An event in the life of one of my favorite characters in church history, Martin Luther. Many things as I would have to differ with Luther about, and he and I probably would lock horns, I respect man. He was a man. He was 100% man.

When Luther could not be silenced, on one occasion the Pope offered to make him a cardinal, if he would just be quiet. Just don't preach this doctrine anymore, we'll make you a cardinal." Luther refused. The men called him a proud fool. And Luther responded by saying, let me be counted a fool, or anything, but I will not be guilty of cowardly silence. When the papists couldn't control him, they said, Luther's an apostate. And he replied, I am an apostate, but a blessed and holy apostate. One that has fallen off from the devil. And when men said, Martin Luther is a devil, he replied, so he is. Luther is a devil. But Christ liveth and reigneth, and that's enough for Luther. What he's saying is, your slanders are meaningless to me. Your tables are meaningless to me. Your accusations are meaningless to me. I will not allow myself to be judged of you, or of any man's judgment.

I stand before God. And you and I must do the same thing. We must do the same thing. It used to bother me. I used to get upset. I'd hear things so-and-so said such-and-such. Did you hear what this fellow said or that one said? And honestly, I've almost gotten over it. Sometimes you catch me on a bad day and I might tend to retaliate a little bit. But for the most part, I've gotten over it. It just doesn't bother me anymore. And when I get nasty letters, I generally respond.

With this statement, with me it's a very small thing that I should be judged of you or of man's judgment. Yea, I judge not mine own self. We'll leave it in God's hands. It's in God's hands. And that's exactly where it is. Let us not be deterred from our work as the servants of God in this town, in this society, in this generation. Let us not be deterred by the slanders and the tables of men. The most common areas of slander by which God's servants are attacked today are the very same areas that were used against our Lord and have always been used against His servants. They attacked His religious authority. Where did you go to school? What degree do you have? Who gave you authority? And then they charged him with antinomianism. That is, they charged him as being a man who was opposed to the law of God.

Nothing could have been further from the truth, but the slander was given. And they made suggestions of wickedness there. They didn't say, they didn't say, now your master sleeps with harlots. But they did say, we saw him with a harlot the other day. He likes to be in the company of publicans and harlots and sinners. What's wrong with that? He must be a glutton and a wine giver. After all, he turned water into wine at the marriage feast. This man can't be respected.

And so they made slanderous innuendo against his character. Not anything that was seen, not anything that was observed, for he did no sin. No evil was found against him. And when Pilate had examined him thoroughly, he said, I find no fault with this man. And yet he was constantly the object of men's slander. Nothing in this world is more base, more vile, more hellish, more demonic than gossip and slander.

See to it that you don't participate in it. See to it that you don't embrace it. See to it that you don't share it. Slander comes from an evil heart. It is characteristic of the devil. He is called the slanderer. That's his name. Slanderers are wicked, base hypocrites. They're addicted to slander whose hearts are hypocritical.

Slander inflicts deadly wounds. A man who is attacked in his character A man who is attacked in his reputation, a man who is attacked in his name, has a wound inflicted upon him which, while he lives in this world, he cannot be free of. Don't ever do that to another man. Slander stirs up strife. and separates chief friends, the wise man said. Slander causes discord among brethren. The tongue of slander is described in scripture as a scourge, destructive and venomous. So be warned against slander.

Now secondly, our Savior's question by which he confounded these religious quibbles clearly teaches us something about believers' baptism as the ordinance of God. Read with me beginning at verse 24. Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, just one thing. That's a pretty good deal. Which, if you can tell me, just answer one question for me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. Now, it seemed to be a fair enough proposition because they didn't quibble about that at all. Just ask away. I can almost picture, while we can answer any question, you shoot our way. He said the baptism of John.

Where'd it come from? Which was it? From heaven or of men? That's simple enough. They do say from heaven or from men. So it either comes from God or came from man, one of the two. And they reasoned with themselves. That is, they got off in a corner and they kind of kicked this thing back and forth a little bit, and this is what it said. If we say from heaven, if we say this thing's of God, He will say unto us, Why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say of men, We fear the people. That's a good basis of interpreting scripture. We fear the people. For all hold John as a prophet.

And when they answered Jesus and said, We cannot tell. And he said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. Now if they had been honest men, the question which our Lord put before them would have been very simple to answer. But they weren't honest men.

Like most preachers, like most religious leaders, today and in all other days, today is not really much different from any other day, like most preachers, like most religious leaders, these men were men pleasers. And men pleasers are like politicians.

They never say anything. They never commit themselves to anything. I don't care whether you're talking about the conservatives or the Republicans. The conservatives are the liberals, the Democrats are the Republicans. It doesn't matter. They never commit themselves to anything. They never take a stand for anything until they find out which way the wind's blowing.

What do folks want me to say? What do you want to hear me say? What do you expect me to do? And then they'll let out, jump in front and say, this is what we're leaving you. That's exactly the way with most preachers. Men pleases. They want to know what it'll cost them, and they want to know what you want.

These fellows said, if we say this thing is a man, All the people believe John, and they'd be against us. So we can't say that. So rather than being honest and giving an obvious answer to the question, these men said, well, we can't answer that. We don't know the answer to that question.

Obviously, our Lord could easily have answered their question. He had already told them many times. where he came from. He had told them many times what his authority was. He had, in fact, in referring to John the Baptist, he is directly pointing them to the witness of John the Baptist who said, I'm the Lamb of God. John the Baptist said, this man's come to take away the sin of the world. This is he of whom the prophets spoke. This is he who shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

He could easily have answered them. But he acted altogether indifferent to them. Our Lord seems to have contemptuously shaken off the dust of his feet against them. He showed his contempt for them in a public manner because they were public men. He showed his contempt for them publicly because men were sitting before him who heard the question and who heard the innuendo of their accusations. Now several things need to be learned from our Lord's behavior here.

We must certainly always be ready to give an answer to everyone who desires to know the reason of our hope. Be ready at any time to give a reason for the hope that's in you with meekness and fear. That's what Peter says. You be ready at any time to give an answer of the hope that's in you. We ought never to shrink from any honest inquiry from people who are seeking to understand what we believe or what we practice.

I urge you to do this as you witness to folks as you try to To minister to folks, do not attempt to persuade men of things you're not persuaded of yourself. Don't attempt to convince folks of things you're not convinced of. Do not attempt to teach other people what you cannot defend from the Word of God. Don't do it. Folks will make a fool of you, and you'll make a mockery of your religion. Don't do that. Only defend that which you can defend from the Scriptures. Only teach that which you can defend yourself from the Word of God. Don't be a hypocrite about this thing. Somebody asks you, sir, why do you believe this? Why do you believe that? You say, well, I don't know what you're talking about. This is what I believe. And you show them what the scripture says.

But we have no obligation, no obligation whatsoever, to answer the tabling quibbles of those who oppose the gospel. We just don't have any obligation to them. I spend a good bit of my time answering questions from people, both Personally and by correspondence, folks contact me about various things and ask questions. I spend a good bit of time trying to explain to men and women the truth of God, the basis for our doctrine from the scriptures themselves.

And I don't object to anybody, anywhere, anytime asking me why I believe anything. If I can't show you why I believe it, I'll deny it flat out. If I can't show you why I practice what I do from the word of God, I'll quit practicing it. I'll make you that promise.

But I long ago quit debating with cavaling, quibbling, picky people. I'm choosing words as nice as I can. I just long ago quit debating with them. And I'm very much inclined just to walk away. Just walk away. Our Lord, by his apostles says, Those that cause division, mock them and avoid them. Just mock them and avoid them. Stay away from them. Get out of their way.

They're up to no good. Just leave them alone. And it doesn't take long to find out. Some fellows, they think you're so dumb, you can't understand leading questions. They'll ask you a question, say, oh, now I've got you. And that gets me a little upset. I'm not quite that dumb. I can see what you're trying to trap me into when you ask me a leading question. But those things, just like our Lord dealt with his fellows, are to be looked upon by us with contempt. Just ignore them. You don't have to have an answer for everybody. You don't have to answer every fool's questions. You just don't have to. And don't be embarrassed not to.

However, our Lord's primary instruction in this question is intended for those who are his disciples. It is intended for the benefit of believers. He's talking about the ministry of John the Baptist. Particularly, he's talking about John's practice of immersing those who profess repentance toward God. And it tells us that this is a matter that we need to understand. You see, it was a matter of great controversy in John's day, just as it is in our day, as to who should be baptized, how, and why. And here our Lord Jesus teaches us that John's baptism was heavenly in its origin.

That is, it was of divine origin. It came from God. These disciples, or these men who asked this question, and the men to whom our Lord asked his question, says, tell me of John's baptism. Is it of men, or is it from heaven? He's saying, now you answer me this question. Is this the work of God, or is it the invention of man? By baptism, or by John's baptism, John Gill says, our Lord means the ordinance of water baptism, which was first administered by John.

Now he stresses that in his comments on this verse, because no one ever administered water baptism until John the Baptist. It was not an ordinance of the Old Testament. It was something altogether new with the life and ministry of John the Baptist. Now, there were many who practiced various kinds of washings and various forms of ceremonial cleansings, but no one had ever performed an ordinance in the name of God conditioned upon repentance toward God called baptism until John came along. And John came baptizing men in the name of God. Many today, many today Talk about baptism as though it were a matter of choice or a matter of indifference. But neither is true.

Believer's baptism is a divine ordinance, and as such, it must be looked upon as a matter of essential worship to the Lord our God. We come to God and we obey him in his worship in all the details of his word. Baptism, as it's taught in the New Testament, now give me your attention for a minute one more time as we talk about this.

I had a letter from a fellow just yesterday, I tried to answer it last night, on this subject of baptism. Baptism, as it is presented in the New Testament, is for believers only. You remember when the Pharisees came out, all of Judea was coming out to be baptized of John in Matthew chapter 3, and the Pharisees came and said, we've come, won't you baptize us too? And John said, who commanded you to be baptized?

You go and bring forth fruit, meat for repentance. Then come and I'll baptize you. But not until then. That is, you come and confess faith in this Christ whom I am preaching. Then I'll baptize you. But not until then. When Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch came to water, in Acts chapter 8, the eunuch said, Here is water. What doth hinder me from being baptized? And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest.

In the New Testament, No one was ever baptized who was not personally themselves a believer. No one was ever baptized except upon his own sincere, honest, forthright confession of faith. In other words, there's no such thing in the New Testament as infant baptism. There's no such thing as a man standing in room of his son and saying, I will believe God for him and therefore will sprinkle a little water on his face. Baptism is for believers only.

I made this statement once in a Presbyterian congregation. Well, there were a lot of reasons why I made it there. Normally, I probably wouldn't have, but I said, now if you fellas can show me anywhere in this book where anybody ever baptized a baby, I'll start doing it tomorrow. We'll baptize every baby in the church. Just show me in the book. That's a good enough proposition, isn't it? Just show me one example. But if you can't show me, then you ought to quit.

Because we believe the book to be the word of God. Secondly, baptism is by immersion only. Turn to Romans chapter 6 for a moment. Hold your hands here in Matthew. I've talked about this for just a minute Sunday morning, but here in Romans chapter 6, the Apostle Paul is describing for us what baptism symbolizes. And it tells us in verse 3, Know ye not that so many of us, as were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death? Baptism, then, has connection with the death of Christ. Is that clear enough?

Verse 4. Therefore, we are buried with him. Buried with him. Underscore that word, buried. That's how baptism is always referred to in Scripture. We have a baptistry here in which we bury people, symbolically, in a watery grave. Now the reason for that is clear. Baptism has a symbolic reference to the death of Christ. It is a picture of the gospel. It's a picture of our death, burial, and resurrection with Christ.

Baptism is not a picture of regeneration. Baptism is not a picture of circumcision. Baptism is not a picture of spiritual renewal. Baptism is not a picture of spiritual cleansing. Baptism is a picture of redemption. And the only way you can be redeemed is by the death of a substitute. And when Christ died, we died in Him, we were buried in Him, and we have been risen with Him, even now we walk with Him in the newness of life. That's what baptism symbolizes.

Anything then that is not immersion, anything that is not the immersion of a believer, is not baptism in the New Testament sense of the word. Thirdly, in the parable about the two sons in verses 28-32, our Savior teaches us that the Lord our God graciously saves every penitent sinner, even the most vile and base among men. Read the parable with me, verse 28.

In my vineyard, he answered and said, I will not, but afterward He repented and went. Underscore those words. Repented and went. And he came to the second and said likewise, and he answered and said, I go, sir, and he went not. Whither of them twain did the will of his father?

They say unto him, the first, Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, that is, he came to you preaching righteousness, not his righteousness and not yours, but the righteousness of God in Christ. And you believed him not, underscore that word, believed. But the publicans and the harlots believed him, and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward that you might believe him. Now let me show you four things here. in this parable, and I'll quit, I'll wrap this up.

First, understand this, all people belong to God. A certain man had two sons. Just like in the parable of the prodigal son, a certain man had two sons. Those two sons represent all men. All people in this world are divided into two categories, either lost or saved, either God's elect or reprobate, either sheep or But all belong to God. All belong to God.

He is not the father of all men in a covenant way. God is not the father of all men in the way of a mediator God. He is not the father of all men in the covenant of redemption and grace. Oh, no. But insofar as the creator of all, he's the father of all.

That is to say that all men and women owe their existence to God and belong to God. And that means, Lindsay, God Almighty can do with you and me, with our sons and daughters, exactly what He will. It's right for Him, too. We belong to Him. And it's right for God to have mercy on whom He will have mercy. And He does. Some of the fallen sons of Adam, God has chosen to save. And some of Adam's fallen sons and daughters, He passes by because He says, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and whom He will, He will have mercy on. That's God's prerogative. All men, all men, are commanded when the gospel is preached to repent and believe God. God commandeth all men everywhere to repent.

That's what Acts 17.30 says.

And Acts 17.31 tells us that you're responsible to do what God commands you to do. And that means that when a man or woman hears the gospel, they are commanded of God to repent, to believe on Christ. And being commanded of God, you're responsible to do it, and God will judge you accordingly. God will judge you accordingly. In other words, those who have heard, and believe not the gospel who have heard, and refuse to obey the gospel who have heard, and will not bow to Jesus Christ, shall be held in the greater condemnation, because they would not believe.

Thirdly, I told you to underscore those words as we read the parable. I want you to hear this now. Repentance, obedience, and faith are synonyms. Did you get that? They are all synonymous terms. Most people seem to think somehow that a person works himself into a position of repentance so that he feels sorry for his sin. He has a feeling of remorse and he mourns his sin.

And then he comes to faith in Christ and then he obeys Christ as Lord. None of that's true. None of it's true. Faith in Christ is a man or woman turning to God from himself. That's repentance. Turning to Christ in submission to do the will of God. That's what faith is. Faith in Christ is no more and no less than the surrender of my life to the rule, dominion, and will of Jesus Christ as my Lord.

That's the reason our Lord says, if you'll save your life, you're going to lose it. You want to maintain control of your life, have your way, do your own thing, go ahead and go to hell. Save your life, you'll lose it. But he that loses his life for my sake and the gospel's. That is he who surrenders to me. He'll find his life and he'll save it. The last thing is this. The Lord our God is infinitely willing and omnipotently able to save every sinner who bows to his dear Son in true repentance and faith. It matters not how bad you've been. Aren't you glad?

He specifically identifies publicans and harlots. He takes the two most degraded professions in the Jewish world at this time, the two most despicable characters. And he said, publican and harlots, come on into the kingdom of God. Come on in. And they'll come in for you, too. They'll come in for you, too.

It matters not how bad you and I have been. All who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are saved by God's free grace. Our believing, obviously, is not the cause of our being saved. Our believing is the result of being saved. Our believing is the result of God's grace, not the cause of God's grace. But as far as our experience is concerned, we believe! And God says, you're saved. You have eternal life. And it matters not how good you think yourself to be. Oh, I would to God I could get the ear of every imaginary good person in the world. It doesn't matter how good you think you are. It doesn't matter. If you do not acknowledge your sin, confessing Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior, if you don't trust the Son of God, you'll perish forever under the wrath of God.

Our Lord says to these elders and chief priests, the scribes and Pharisees, sitting in the temple. Imagine! Sometimes I wonder, if maybe I say things too strong, but my soul—our Lord is sitting in the temple at And here are the elders and the scribes and the chief priests and the Pharisees. I mean, these were the head honchos. These were the big wheels. They were somebody. Here they come in all their religious garb and all the people with every eye fixed on Him.

He said, fellas, publicans and harlots will get into the kingdom of God for you and for you to be saved. Too good for grace. too good for somebody else's righteousness, too good for blood atonement, too good to bow before God Almighty as an empty-handed, helpless, bankrupt sinner. Republicans and harlots will come into the kingdom of God before you will. In the day of judgment, I'd rather stand before God as a Republican, a harlot, or anything other than a self-righteous Pharisee. Because God hates self-righteousness. He hates it. Above all things, He hates self-righteousness.

When you're slandered, don't let it have any effect on you. Our Lord seemed not to have allowed it to bother him in the least. Don't let it have any effect on you, except to drive you into the arms of your master. If you would be saved, you must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You must bow to him, trust him as a guilty sinner before God. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And if God saved you, if he's given you faith in Christ, confess it.

Publicly identify yourself with it. Line up with the Son of God. And the way you do that is this humble, simple ordinance called Believer's Baptism. You've got to get in the water. You've got to be buried. You've got to rise up out of that watery grave, lifting your hand to God and to all the world, and saying, from this day forward, I'm His. I walk with Him in the nearness of life. Let's stand together for prayer.

God bless your word according to your purpose for the good of your people. Give us grace that we ever seek unity and peace and harmony with our brethren, and grace to be faithful to your word in all things. Grace to expose that which is contrary to truth for the good of your people, not to not to exalt ourselves, not to lift ourselves up, not to cause men to look to us and follow us, but, O God, to lift up Christ and lift up your truth and cause men and women to look to him and follow him. We ask that you will use us according to your will for the glory of your Son. And we commit our lives to you. and the lives of our friends going through so many trials and troubles and heartaches.

God be gracious to them. We ask for the mayhems and coffins that your hand of mercy be upon them. Thank you for your wise and good providence, and we ask that you will be pleased, our Father, to bless your children with comfortable knowledge of your presence, your providence and your grace. We ask for Brother Ken and Mary that your hand of mercy be upon them as they seek to serve you where you have placed them. Thank you for them. We ask that you encourage their hearts. We ask for Doug and Karen that your special grace be with them. Thank you for them.

For Jim and Nancy and Tyler, we pray your blessings upon them. We ask that you will gather such as you have to hear your word and make your word effectual. Give the word free course. We ask for Walter and Betty and Cody and Winna in Mexico, that your spirit will give them comfort, strength, sustain them and bless them in their labors for Christ. And we ask for Bill and Evelyn. as he endeavors to preach the gospel of your grace in so many, many places, as you open various doors, give him strength and bless his labors for Christ's sake.

We pray for your special blessings upon the Acts commentary as it comes out. If it can please you to use it for your glory, we will give you praise. You can serve the interest of your kingdom by it. We'll thank you and be honored by your goodness. Father, make us faithful. Make us faithful to you. Faithful to one another. Faithful to the gospel of your grace. Now we ask for those of our number who carry heavy burdens, that you'll strengthen them. For our sons and daughters, we commit them to your hands. Like all other men, they belong to you. They have no claim upon you. Like all other men, like us, they fully deserve your wrath. But we plead with you, for Christ's sake, if it can honor you, if it can please you, have mercy upon them. Do for them what they cannot do for themselves and grant them life and faith. In Christ our Redeemer. Amen.

Two Questions and a Parable

What does the Bible say about Jesus' authority?

Why is baptism important for Christians?

How do we know Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies?

Why must we repent to be saved?

What does the parable of the two sons teach us?

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Two Questions and a Parable

What does the Bible say about Jesus' authority?

Why is baptism important for Christians?

How do we know Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies?

Why must we repent to be saved?

What does the parable of the two sons teach us?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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