If you will, turn back in your
Bibles to Matthew's Gospel chapter 21. Matthew's Gospel 21. You
can follow me in your pastor's outline as well. We'll be working
our way through the portions of Scripture that are set before
us in Matthew chapter 21. The title of our message, which
is the third installment on the subject of the will of God, and
I trust that you have been learning some things about God's will
relative to your life is entitled which son did the father's will. That's a good question, isn't
it? Which son did the father's will? But more important to that
question is the context in which this question is being raised. We have already been exposed
to the eternally crucial subject of the will of God. The Lord
Jesus is in fact the one that has talked about his father's
will or the will of his father or the will of God more than
anyone in the New Testament. It seems that for the Lord Jesus
the father's will was the big issue in his life. And in terms
of others knowing the will of God, for Christ There was no
greater purpose or mission in life than for human beings to
know the will of the father How important was it in Matthew's
gospel chapter 7 verse 21. He says no one Will enter into
heaven Who does not do? My father's will now that's a
very important statement then if heaven or hell is determined
by whether or not we do the Father's will, shouldn't that be the one
crucial thing we give ourselves to? Our Lord makes that abundantly
clear. And in our context, it's just
absolutely fascinating because He uses this parable that He
is bringing alongside of His instructions, which He does frequently
to press home this matter once again and it's coming in the
context of a very important dialogue or even conflict or debate if
you will between the Lord Jesus Christ and the rulers of the
church if you notice in chapter 21 Matthew's gospel chapter 21
our Lord dealing with them they raised the question over in verse
20 Three, and when he was coming to the temple, the chief priest
and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching. In the middle of his teaching,
they interrupted him, raising this question, by what authority
do you do these things? And who gave you this authority?
Now, ladies and gentlemen, if this were the opening scene of
a movie, What you would be dealing with is a group of leaders who
are viscerally hostile towards Christ. And the one question
they are going to raise to try to catch him is around authority. Now this is not the word for
power. That is to say strength or might or ability. This is our Greek term exousia
from which we get the term right or privileged or as is rightly
translated, authority. Who gave you the right to do
what you're doing? Who gave you the right to say
what you're saying? Who gave you the right to come
into the middle of the temple and start teaching all these
people without coming through us? That's really what they're
saying. Who gave you the right? Now again, the question that
we are dealing with here in our text did not start right here. It started way back before Jesus's
ministry. In fact, it goes back to his
cousin's ministry. This is the reason why Jesus
is going to use his cousin as a starting basis for his argument
against them. Remember, it was his cousin who
was also doing the same thing that Jesus is, bringing the kingdom
of God to men and women. Bringing the kingdom of God to
men and women and calling them to repentance and faith in Christ
And the rulers came to John saying the same thing who gave you this
authority What our Lord Jesus Christ knows fully well in our
present situation in the scenario That's before them is that they
really don't want him to answer that question They really don't
They really don't. And so our Lord does not answer
the question because they are not sincere in their question.
I talk to our saints about this frequently in our evangelism
class when we work on methods and approaches of talking to
people about the gospel. Always use a biblical ethic.
Don't be so hungry to talk to people about Christ that you'll
give yourself over to conversations that will lead nowhere. You know
how some people want to talk in circles and never get to the
real issue? And they'll have you way out
in Timbuktu talking about things that have nothing to do with
eternity? Well, if you are the kind of person that is glutton
for debate, then you'll find yourself there. But there's an
ethic to dialogue between the Christian and the non-Christian
or the debater. Here's the ethic. You only talk
to people about the things of God when they are really serious
about the things of God. When they are not serious about
the things of God, you do not cast your pearl before swine.
You do not waste your time talking to people who have already drawn
a conclusion contrary to the gospel. You do not share the
word of God with people who are going to simply take your words
and rend them and tear them apart and distort them and use them
as a basis of cudgel against you. Are you guys hearing what
I'm saying? So then our Lord being Socratic
as he is, hyper Socratic, perfectly Socratic, he answers their question
with a question. Now in logic, when you answer
a question with a question, it's because you know the person that's
asking the question is merely begging the question. It means
that they really don't really want you to deal with the issue
at hand. Kind of throwing up a smoke screen.
Who gave you this authority? So what our Lord says is, I will
answer you if you will answer me. Now, did he know that they
weren't going to answer him? And therefore he knew he wasn't
going to answer them. But he would take this as a launching
pad. To do what prophets do. He would
take this as a launching pad to do what prophets do. His principle
is out of Proverbs 6, 26, verse four. You don't have to go there.
We learned this long ago. Answer not a fool according to
his folly Lest you be just like him. This is why Christian don't
get caught up in the debates with stupid people When you perceive
in a person not the lips of knowledge leave leave Your words are too
precious when they come from God to waste them debating with
fools. Are you hearing me? Don't debate
with fools leave fools to their folly. I But the proverb also
says, answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise
in his own conceit. What did Jesus do? He answered
them according to their folly so that he would prove to them
that they are wise in their own conceit. And he threw a parable
in their face. Now, when you cast a parable
before your antagonist, you are indirectly rebuking them. And that's what our Lord was
doing. He rebuked them with a parable, not answering their question
because they wouldn't answer his question, but inherent in
the parable will be the answer. And for those who are looking
for wisdom, they will find the interpretation in the parable
and they'll go, woo, Jesus is cold, man. Did you see that?
Cold, as he often did. I want to set the context for
you or else you're going to miss these three verses that give
us a very germane insight as to the question, who did the
will of God? Which son did the will of God?
So that I can raise the mirror up on you and me, because that's
what preaching is all about. Us examining ourselves to see
where we fit within the narrative. Our Lord Jesus Christ raises
the question and then he responds with a parable that he throws
alongside of his question. He says, this is the way I will
deal with you. And he says over in verse 24, these words, I also
will ask you one thing, which if you tell me in like manner,
I'm sorry. Yeah, that's it. If you tell
me in like manner, then I'll tell you. And he raises the question
of John's baptism. Was it from heaven or is it a
man? Now y'all know the answer, don't you? Was it from heaven?
And they reasoned within themselves, saying, now if we say that it's
from heaven, then he's going to ask, why don't we believe
him? Right? Because that's the point. That's
the point. But if we say not, then the people
are going to trip. Right? And that's the point again. Because
these leaders were nothing but politicians. They weren't servants
of the true and the living God. So what did they do? They did
not answer him a word. Now he opens up his parable by
raising the question, but how are you thinking? What are your
thoughts? That's what the term what thinking,
but what thinking means? What is your thinking then? What
is your thinking? And then he casts into their hearing the
parable of what two sons. Now, when Jesus does this, you
already know the rule because back in Matthew's gospel, chapter
13, when he started giving parables, his disciples raised the question,
Lord, why do you do this? Why do you throw parables alongside
of your teaching? Now, let me kind of square some
things away. Christ taught plainly all the
time. The only reason he would throw
a parable alongside of plain teaching is to divide between
the sheep and the goat. to separate the elect from the
non-elect. To separate those who are willing
to hear the truth, even hard truth, from those who did not
want to hear the truth. The parable then becomes an object
lesson by which if you are hungry for truth, you will get it. That
if you are not hungry for truth, it will rebuke you. Unto you
it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. But
for those that are without, all these things are done in what?
that seeing they may not see and that hearing they may not
hear that they might be converted and be saved. And therefore parables
really serve as a form of judgment. This is why you and I always
want the parable interpreted. Lord, interpret the parable for
me, because as long as I'm outside of the interpretation, I might
stand to be those who are not in the kingdom. It is given unto
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom. So as he casts it
alongside, he gives them actually, in this context, two parables.
Now, some will say that the parables were never understood by the
rulers. I would beg to differ. They were almost always understood
by the rulers. The problem is they didn't like
the interpretation. Matthew chapter 22, chapter 21,
verse 20, verse, let's see here. We'll find it in our next parable,
Matthew chapter 22, 21, I'm sorry, Matthew chapter 21,
the latter part of Matthew's 21 over in, I'll leave it, I'll catch it
later. The Lord Jesus Christ is, oh, verse 45, here it is,
here it is. He just, he gave two parables,
the one we're dealing with, and the second parable he gave as
well was a rebuke to them. And here's what we are told in
verse 45, are you there? when the chief priests and Pharisees
heard his what parables plural see it heard his parables they
perceived that he spake of them what did they want to do lay
hands on him but when they sought to lay hands on him they feared
the multitude because they took him that is the multitude to
be a what a Okay, let's continue to work with our context. It's
very important. The statement that they're raising to Jesus,
with what authority do you do what you do, is actually an outrageous
statement to be made. It underscores not only their
blindness, but their willing blindness. Think with me for
a moment. What day is this? This is Palm
Sunday. That's the beginning of the chapter,
Matthew chapter 21. And Jesus is coming into Jerusalem. And what's happening on Palm
Sunday? All of those who saw Jesus as the one Messiah that
was to come were celebrating His entrance into the kingdom.
They were laying out palm branches and clothes and they were calling
Him Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest. You guys remember that? Look
at the opening of this, I think it's verses 9 through 11 of chapter
21. Let's continue to set the context
so that we can understand the germane nature of the parable.
Verse 9, are we there? And the multitude that went before
and that followed cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David.
Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in
the highest. Do you see that? So what we have
in front of us is a massive celebration of Jesus as the one who is fulfilling
all the Old Testament scriptures, namely the book of Zechariah
chapter 9 verse 9. He will come in riding on a foal
and the ass of the coat of a foal, and he will be the one that will
deliver the people. And so there were multitudes
of people that were affirming him as king, were they not? He
was coming into his final stages of ministry and he knew that
he would be crucified in a week. And yet here we have in verse
nine and 10, this massive celebration, verse 11. And the multitude said,
this is Jesus, the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee. What else
was going on in this context for which you and I need to know
that the question that they raised was outrageous. He went into
the temple. Look at verses 12 through verse
13. And Jesus went into the temple
with this horde of crowds of people following him. You guys
follow what I'm saying? A horde of crowds of people calling
him Hosanna. Lord, save us now! That's what Hosanna means. It's
a praise, but it's also a cry and plea for salvation. You see,
all those in the Old Testament that were looking for Messiah
to come, they were hoping that he came to deliver them from
oppression to the Roman Empire. And when they said that Jesus
was the one, they are now appealing to him to deliver them. This
is a urgent cry on the part of the people. Deliver us, deliver
us. He takes them into the temple.
Now the temple was Herod's temple. This is the third temple built.
This is a massive temple. It's like a mall. If you go to
a mall, it's like a mall. Because in this temple, you had
all of the wares that the people were selling for religious purposes. So as the Lord goes into the
temple, this horde of people follow him into the temple. They're
calling him Messiah. These rulers are hearing it.
They are not liking what they hear. Then to add to the inso,
Jesus goes in and starts cleaning house. Stay with me, I want you
to get this. And when he went into the temple,
he began to cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple.
See it? And overthrew the table of the
money changers and the seats of them that sold doves. Now
that means when our Lord went in, he went in to be busy, right? He went in to demonstrate himself
to be the God man of Malachi chapter three, when it says,
now the covenant, the messenger of the covenant, when he comes
to his temple, he will purify the sons of Levi. He will purge
them of sorceries and idolatries and fornications and all of those
spiritual errors that dominated the church of that day. Was that
what Christ was doing? He was cleansing the temple symbolically. That's why they're raising the
question. Who are you, dude? He's cleaning the temple. And
then after he cleansed the temple, he left. He left. And when he left, his disciples
followed him. And guess what the next thing
he did? He passed up a sycamore tree, a fig tree on his way back. Look at what it says here over
in verse 17. And he left them and went out
of the city into Bethany and he launched there. Now in the
morning, as he returned into the city, because they're celebrating
the feast, right? As he returned into the city
in preparation for the Passover, he was hungry. And when he saw
a fig tree in the way, he came to it and found nothing there
on but leaves only and said unto it, let not fruit grow on thee
henceforth forever. Our Lord was serious over these
last two days, wasn't he? And that's because he knew that
he was about his father's business. And his father's business required
serious haste on his part. He curses the fig tree, it withers
right away. Verse 20 tells us, and when the
disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, how soon is the fig tree
withered? Now, those of you who know how to study your Bibles,
you know that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are what we call
synoptic Gospels, right? So that you gotta read Matthew
in light of Mark, and Mark in light of Luke, and when you understand
the three, you understand he cursed the tree today, but the
next day it actually withered up. So that when he came back
through the disciples saw that it was completely shriveled up
You tie the two together Because they are chronological in nature
So this is what's going on in our text and the disciples are
just amazed at why this he cursed it They went on about their business
And as he came into the temple, uh came out of the temple to
go back to bethany They saw that this tree was shriveled to the
ground. That's one thing to curse the tree And they say it's dead. But it's another thing to see
it dead the next day. They knew that a notable miracle
had been done, right? These are the disciples who are
observing. They're observing the Master being received by
these groups of people. They're observing the Master's
dealing with the fig tree the way that he's dealing with it.
They are observing the Master going to temple, cleansing the
temple. And I submit to you that what's taking place here is the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why our first point in
our outline says this. Look at it the they hated his
what? And this is what I meant by they
hated his coming When he came into the temple as we see in
sub point a coming the coming of the king the triumphal entry
verses 9 and 11 Underscored that all these people received him,
but the leaders didn't then he came and he cleansed the temple
in verses 12 through 13 as we have saw and the leaders were
appalled by what he did then he leaves the temple and he curses
the fig tree and the disciples are absolutely amazed are they
not and then when he comes back into the temple this is where
we have verses 23 through 27 where they are saying who gave
you authority to do what you did I wanted to show you again
as we close out point number one what's taking place a division
between the elect and the non-elect has just taken place a separation
between the blind religious people and who were trapped by their
earthly systems and those who were really looking for Messiah
had just taken place. See, there are two categories
of people here. You know who they are? They are the ones who
call him Hosanna, who follow him into the temple, who worship
him as the true and the living God, right along with the disciples. And then there's another group
inside the temple who were moved by him cleaning the temple. Do
you know who that was? The people who needed healing
of diseases. Look at what the text says. This
is Matthew chapter 21 around verse 15 or so. I'm in verse 14. After that he
goes in and cleanses the temple. In verse 13 it says, And he said
unto them, Is it written? It is written, My house shall
be called the house of what? But you have made it a den of
thieves, Hence he concludes that he's cleaning the house, that
it might return again to a fundamental place of priesthood ministry
where we pray for lost sinners. Verse 14, and the blind and the
lame came to him, where? In the temple. And what did he
do? He healed them. Are you with
me? We're building a big scenario of the master coming into the
temple with hordes of crowds of people worshiping him. He
comes into the temple, he cleans the temple up, and in cleaning
the temple up while he offends the rulers, he draws needy sinners
to himself. While he offends the rulers,
he is drawing the blind and the lame and the deaf to him. Some people are leaving him and
others are coming to him. This is the separation between
the elect and the non-elect at the coming of Christ. Are you
guys hearing me? And yet the rulers hated his
coming. Hence my first point is, do you
love or do you hate the coming of the Lord Jesus? That's a good
question, isn't it? Do you love or do you hate the
coming of the Lord? See, because the Lord comes all
the time, doesn't he? He comes in providence. He comes in power. He comes in the proclamation
of the gospel. He comes in our daily circumstances. And the
question is, are we willing to live with the Lord being such
a sovereign God that even in the midst of your mess, he separates
the sheep and the goats? He separates that which is His
from that which is not His. He even separates in your life
that which you shouldn't have versus that which you should.
Do you love His coming? Do you love the fact that the
Lord knows how to actually clean the temple of your house from
all the garbage that's in it so that your house can become
a house of prayer for all nations? Am I making some sense? Because
the rulers did not like the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and
yet he's fulfilling all sorts of prophecies. So points, sub
points A and B quickly, the love of the children and the sinners
are evidenced by them following him and those who needed healing
coming to him. You know, when you need the Lord
Jesus, you don't mind the Lord Jesus being the Lord Jesus. You
don't mind him handling his business as a sovereign Lord so long as
he's your Lord. Is that right? that's what I'm
saying these people who came to him came to him sincerely
and the rulers were complaining and our Lord says have you not
read in Psalm 8 how that out of the mouth of babes and sucklings
they will give God perfect praise see what I mean what I'm saying
is that the question by whose authority are you doing this
is actually an assault on the person of Christ because the
rulers out of all the people should have known who Jesus was. They never should have raised
that question. Are you guys with me? Out of all the people who
saw what Jesus did, the ones who should have never raised
the question are the rulers. Now, fascinating then is this.
The children don't raise that question. The lame people don't
raise that question. Guess who else does not raise
the question, but he's there. love this the Lord brought in
his entourage on this day y'all don't know it but in Luke John's
gospel chapter 12 you know what we're told Lazarus came with
Jesus to the temple now who is Lazarus that was his partner
that he loved and raised from the dead and in raising Lazarus
from the dead Lazarus now became the brunt of opposition on the
part of the leaders towards Lazarus because many people were coming
to Jesus because Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead So do you
see the entourage? All these children, all these
folks who got healed, and brother Lazarus, the ultimate miracle
of the resurrection. The Lord Jesus is proving by
his entourage whose authority he's operating out of. Do you guys hear what I'm saying?
He's making it clear by his evidence. If you don't know who I am, know
me for my word's sake. And this is the context of what
I call an outrageously insulting question that was given to the
master. How do you give such a question
to a man who is doing what he did? Don't you simply recognize
that he is the one of whom the scriptures have spoken should
come? He's fulfilling everything the scripture says. and yet they
are so blinded by their own interests and agenda that they have the
audacity to publicly stop him in the middle of his teaching
and raise the question, now why are you coming in this temple,
starting a Bible study in the midst of the temple and have
all these people coming around you and we over here all by ourselves? That's my interpretation. And here's the answer. because
he is the lord of the temple and it's all about him and everybody
is supposed to be looking to him anyway you guys see the context
and so when he when they raise the question by whose authority
are you doing this they have leaped over all of the evidence
of three and a half years of his ministry and three and a
half years of john's ministry And so they could not be, they
could not be God's authorized servants because they miss the
whole of God's testimony. So now he casts a parable before
them to help the larger crowd, that is you and me, get the lesson. Point number two, and I think
I've already addressed this, so I'll move to it quickly. The
coming of Christ separates the elect from the non-elect. Did
we learn that? Point number three. Here's the question that now
begins to occupy our understanding as well as our edification and
our rebuke. Which son is doing the will of
his father? Isn't that an interesting parable
to cast in the midst of this scenario? A very interesting
question, which again affirms what I said earlier, that the
one thing that was on the mind of the Lord Jesus Christ is this
thing about his father's will. Ladies and gentlemen, don't be
distracted. The one thing that encompasses
all that you and I are doing is whether or not it is under
the auspices of the Father's will. Are you hearing me? Don't
be distracted. Our Lord is not going to take
a piece of what's going on in the context of the temple and
talk about it. He's going to take it as a whole
and ask one large looming question. Are you doing the will of my
Father? And then he reduces it down to
a parable. And this parable now is going
to be the lesson for everybody in the class. Now remember now,
as we get into this, how many people are in the class? Thousands.
Little children. Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.
Healed lepers. Healed lame people. Lazarus is
back in class. You understand that? And then,
wicked and ungodly rulers are in class too. See, we don't mind
whoever's in class because the Spirit of the Lord, when He works
through the Word of God, He separates soul and spirit, marrow and bone,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. If
you or I are not right with the Lord, the Word of God is going
to cut you. But that's the role of the authorized Levite who
is called to preach the Word of God. And that's what's going
on here in our context. And so the question rightly raised
is, Which son is doing the will of God look with me then at verse
20 20 27 and following Verse 27 says and
then as they answered Jesus They said we cannot tell and he said
it to them neither will I tell you but what think ye verse 28
a certain man had two sons and he came to the first and said
son Go work today in my vineyard verse 29 and he answered and
said I will not I Sound like some of our kids, don't it? Now
watch this. I'll get to that in a moment. But afterwards,
he repented and went. And then he came to the second
and said, likewise, and he answered and said, yes, sir, I'll go,
and went not. The question is raised, whether
of them Twain, let me put this in English, which of the two
did the will of his father? And they said unto him, the first,
you see how he snared him? They went right into the answer,
didn't they? They got forced right into the net. Our Lord
is the most ingenious debater in the world, is he not? He drew
them right in, snared them, and their own words condemned them.
Listen to what he goes on to say. they said unto him the first
Jesus said unto them verily I say unto you that publicans and harlots
go into the kingdom of God before you and then here is the rub
for John came unto you do you see it for John came unto you
how in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him but
publicans and harlots believed him and ye when you had seen
it did not repent afterwards that you might believe And immediately
he threw another parable. Do you see it? He didn't stop.
He went into another parable. But this is where you and I are
stopping and we're going to learn some lessons here right now.
Do you understand that what's taking place in this question
of which son is doing the will of his father is that the Lord
Jesus Christ is exposing some things? Point number three, sub
point A, are you there? The unrighteous rebel son says
what? The unrighteous rebel son says
no. They're both sons. Are you hearing
me? But the unrighteous rebel son
says no. And we read what? The self-righteous
religious son says, yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. But does not go. What is our
Lord teaching? The hypocrisy of false religion
that has a form of godliness, but denies the power thereof.
He's teaching us how that there can be those who appear to be
obedient to the gospel, but nevertheless are far, far, far from God. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? He's making a distinction between mere religion and the
power, the power of grace in the heart of honest men and women.
I've told you this before. An honest person is not going
to hell. Haven't I said that? An honest person is not going
to hell. So let's see how honest you can be right now. Which one
of these two sons are you? Are you the first or are you
the second? If you put stock in your lineage,
If you put stock in your heritage, if you put stock in how many
years you go to church, if you put stock in how many Bible verses
you can quote, if you put stock in how much doctrine you know,
you are the second son. If you put stock in your being
able to quote the Bible, if you look good after the flesh, if
people think you are righteous by how you appear outwardly,
you are the second son. If you deceive people by a form
of godliness, because you can say, Lord, Lord, you are the
second son. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
You are the second son if you are deceiving people by a yes,
sir, religion. You are a second son. Contextually,
who is Jesus talking about here? The rulers. Is that right? And
all the people who follow after the rulers. Because the rulers
heard John, didn't they? But they didn't come to Christ,
did they? And then they finally heard Christ, and they still
didn't come to Christ, did they? Out of the mouth of two or three
witnesses. You're not going to get any better witnesses than
John the Baptist, his cousin, and the Lord Jesus. If you're
not coming to God through these two, you're not coming. And what
I love about the text on a grammatical level, let me just simply help
you understand how our Lord's parable was stinging. The Greek
term, yes sir, Ego curi is the Greek term and what that person
was saying was I recognize you with the dignity of a royal authority. I respect you as a lord. You
to me the one that's asking him to go out into the vineyard and
work are like a sovereign lord to me. But I Is our relationship
with God in a redemptive and saving way merely one of a legal
master over our life? Or is it one, watch this now,
is it one where the legal master over our life is also our father? Are you with me? See the second
son who said, yes, sir. Yes, sir. is very much like the
prodigal son, prodigal brother, who never left his father's house.
But always called him. Yes, sir. And in his own mind,
he always did those things that pleased his father. Do you guys
remember that? How he complained? Father, I
never left you. Father, I never did you wrong.
Father, I did all my work. Father, I cleaned up. I did what
I was supposed to do. But you gave me no fatty calf.
You didn't give me a ring. You didn't give me a robe. You
didn't celebrate over me. Why? Because that second son,
remember, we're dealing with two sons. That second son is
just like the rulers of the church here. Self-righteous. Standing
on the grounds of their performance. Standing on the grounds of their
lineage. Standing on the grounds of their own self-righteousness.
And what's absent, are you ready? What's absent is a filial love
for God as Father. All they see God as is a dictatorial
entity that lays down laws on them. And if they keep those
laws, then they're all right with God. Our Lord lays out in
this parable how that the rulers of the church do not know God
as father. And isn't that the way Christ
taught through the gospel of John? Had you known my father,
you would have known me because I came out from him. But because
you do not know me, you don't know my father either. Isn't
that what he's saying? Isn't that what he's saying?
And so what the parable is driving home, listen carefully before
we get to our final exhortation, what the parable is driving home
is the danger of slipping into a false form of godliness where
you look good on the outside and you got all your words right.
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Notice what it says. I will go.
Problem is he didn't. It's really interesting the way
this phrase works. Look with me. I'm going to show
you something exegetically in the text that I hope will actually
bring this home as well. When he says over in verse 30,
and he came to the second and said, likewise, and he answered
and said, go, sir. I go. Do you see it? I go, sir. But he what? Went not. Went not. this this language of went not
meaning he did not go the way of his father and yet he did
go a certain way because in the parable that we're getting ready
to deal with subsequent to this talks about how people went out
and they went out to do their own will jesus speaking in the
gospel of luke in the parable of him telling men and women
this is around luke gospel chapter 10 If any man's gonna follow
me, let him do what? Deny himself, take up his cross,
and follow me. And when Jesus was calling people
to follow him, there were some who said, Lord, I'll follow you,
but first, let me go and bury my father. So they went to bury
their father. And others said, Lord, I'll follow
you, but first, let me go try these oxen that I just bought.
I gotta make sure my business works first. Stay with me. Here's
what I'm saying. You and I are going one way or
the other. You and I are not standing still.
You and I are going either the way of the Lord or our own way. None of us are standing still.
Now we can all talk about going, but the reality is that if you're
going your own way, you're not going the way of the Lord. Isaiah
chapter 53 tells us that all we like sheep have gone to what?
We have all turned to our own what? That's exactly right. That's who we are by nature,
aren't we? And yet we can put on the facade of religion and
say that we're doing the will of God. And nothing could be
further from the truth. So the stinging rebuke before
we get to the first son and learn something about redemption is
this. Do you say you serve the Lord Jesus, but in reality, you're
going your own way. You're building your own life.
You're doing your own thing. You're wasting your time. That's
a good question, isn't it? Really, you heard the message
of the gospel. You've been told to come to Christ.
And in coming to Christ, there are things to do, aren't there?
And the question is, are you doing them? Are you like the
religious rulers who say, yes, sir? Yes, sir. I go to church on Sunday. I show
up dressed nice. I know all of the religious language.
People think I'm a Christian. But the rest of the days of the
week, you're doing your own thing. That's good. That's good, because
that's exactly what we have here in a contrast between the rulers
and the ones of whom the rulers said, these people not knowing
the law are cursed. All right, then let's deal with
our first son. This is so interesting. I love
this. Now, going back to point number three, which son is doing
the will of the father? Subpoint A says what? The unrighteous
rebel son says what? Didn't I say that's kind of like
our children? How many of y'all got children, you tell them to
do something, and they just don't do it? Their hands are slowly rising
up. Come on, let's burn some kinetic energy right now. Let's
make the food calorie. Now watch this, I wish I could
get a picture of y'all with y'all hands up. I wish I could, because
now watch this, watch this. You are that son. That's right,
you are that son. You and I are that son by nature.
Are you hearing me? You and I, the reason why you
in so much conflict about whipping your kids is because you just
like your kids. The reason you're in so much
conflict about disciplining your kids is because you're just like
your kids. Didn't you have that revelation when your kids were
young? I'm so glad my kids are grown now. Because I was guilty
as sin whipping my kids. Right? And you know, Lord, why
do I have to whoop them? Because I don't want them growing
up like you. So, you know, in your conflict,
you have to still discipline them, right? And once they're
old enough where you can give them to the Lord, you give them
to the Lord. Lord, you got to deal with them now because you
know that you are a sinner disciplining other sinners, hoping that they
don't turn out like you did. all right so now let's learn
some gospel truth here because this is absolutely magnificent
what I like about the unrighteous rebel son what I like about the
unrighteous rebel son is that the unrighteous rebel son is
honest with his daddy I told you honest people not going to
hell watch this the father comes to us and says I Son, go out
into the vineyard and work. Will you do that? And you know
what we say? No. I don't want to go. I don't have no desire to go. I don't want to do your will. In fact, I just want to do whatever
I want to do. Here's a virtue. They're being
honest. Are you with me? They're being
honest. Here is where the gospel can
now take place in the heart of a man or a woman. Because you
can shape and mold your children into two-fold more children of
hell by a false form of godliness, where they look like they're
doing the will of God on the outward, but in their heart,
they're saying no. And you will never get them to
grace so long as they are not free to say no in their heart
so that they can deal with the reality that they don't have
any desire to do the will of God. Are you guys hearing what
I'm saying? See, if you and I try to force
our children into the kingdom by external rules and regulations,
we're nothing but legalists pressing on them an external mode. If
we really knew something about grace, here's what we would say.
Son, I'm glad you're honest. Now I know what I got to do.
I got to go pray for you. Because the only way you're going
to end up doing the Father's will is if grace enters into
your life. Is that true? The only way you're
going to end up doing the Father's will is if grace. Now stay here
because I want to work this and close out as we deal with our
fifth point under here, our fourth and fifth point. This is so critical
because you and I will be people who understand grace, but we
won't implement grace in our children's life. Because we're
too scared that grace won't work if we don't strap them down with
rules and regulations. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
But there was a day in your life as a parent where you discovered
religion doesn't save our kids. That's what you began to discover.
Because you saw in those boys that Tasmanian devil rising up. And you saw in your daughters
that little harlot woman rising up. You saw it. You saw it. And
you knew, uh-oh, uh-oh, sin nature had dominion over my child. And
you thought about strapping them with more rules and regulations,
but you didn't have the ability to do it because you weren't
keeping them either. Am I making some sense? You weren't
keeping them and now you want your kids to try to keep them,
but they're saying I don't want to keep them. They're more honest
than you. What does the law drive us to do when we discover that
there's no power in the law to save our children? It drives
us to pray to God for Christ, doesn't it? It drives us to pray
to God for Christ. And here's what our Lord Jesus
is teaching. Go to the fourth point. Let's work this through.
Here's what our Lord Jesus is teaching in this parable. The
interpretation of the parable. Do you see it? The interpretation
of the parable. Verses 31 and 32. It's very simple,
contextually. And then let's see the gospel
as we close out for our time today. In verse 31, Whither of
the two did the will of his father? They said unto him, the first.
And Jesus plainly taught them, didn't he? Verily, I say unto
you that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of
God, what? Before you. Actually, what he
was saying is this. Verily, truly, truly, I say unto
you, you rulers, that the harlots and publicans go into the kingdom
and not you. That's really what he was saying.
What he gave in terms of the priority of chronological order
was this. that harlots and publicans, tax
collectors and sinners could hear John and they could hear
Christ when the religious rulers couldn't. And because they heard
John preaching the kingdom and preaching repentance, they entered
in. And because they heard Christ
echoing what John said, because Christ said nothing different
than John, they entered in. But the rulers did not enter
in. Simple interpretation, isn't it? Let's begin then to work
through what we call the gospel. Because the gospel is necessary
to be understood here, is it not? I know it sounds like we're
there at the gospel right now, but not truly. Because the gospel
would mandate you and I asking certain questions. Here is the
first question that the gospel would mandate us ask. Are you
ready? How is it that these unqualified, guilty, hell-bound sinners actually
entered in and the religious folk didn't? The answer is by
the grace of God. Now, when we answer it by the
grace of God, we now got to begin to deal with what we call, are
you ready? The doctrine of grace. Because the doctrine of grace
explains why a sinner in his natural native state will always
say no to God until God gets a hold of his heart. Only the
doctrine of grace explains that unless God comes along and gets
a hold of your soul, you will say no to God until you end up
in hell. Am I making some sense? Until
the Spirit of God enters into your heart and change your heart
and give you a new heart, you will always say no to God. And so the mystery of this parable
is that when they said no, they were being honest. And that left
room for the grace of God to enter, didn't it? When they said
no, you know what they were saying that they were? Sinners! And
the first work of the Spirit of God is to convince us of what?
See, and I'll tell you what, ladies and gentlemen, religious
people hate to be told they're sinners. How many of you guys
know religious folk who say, I'm not a sinner anymore? I'm
not a sinner anymore. I don't know what you are if
you're not a sinner still. Because unless you're glorified
or in heaven, you are a sinner. I don't care who you are. And
the moment you say you're not a sinner anymore, you are not
qualified for grace, because grace is only for sinners. And
honest sinners at that. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? See, the moment you say, no, I don't want to go, you're
saying, Lord, you got to give me help. Lord, you got to give
me grace, because right now I'm not even thinking about your
kingdom. I'm trying to get this money, Lord. Lord, I'm chasing this chick,
Lord. I've got this dude I want, Lord. The most important thing
in my life is my idol, Lord. I don't want you, Lord. If you
want me to enter into your kingdom, you got to remove this idol.
You got to change my heart. You got to turn my direction
around. You got to lead me in a path of obedience to you. Are you guys hearing what I'm
saying? So the parable is pressing home for those of us who are
interested in understanding how salvation works. Because what
was happening was this person was honest. I'm not going, I'm
clubbing. I'm not going, I'm partying.
I'm not going, I'm hustling. And then all of a sudden something
happened. Are you guys hearing what I'm saying? You know what
the something happening was taking place? We call it the butt of
God, right? But God, who is rich in mercy,
wherewith he loved us, even while we were dead in trespasses and
sins, quickened us together with Christ by grace. Are you what?
The Spirit of God had to come in and turn their will around. I like this. Do you know that
Christ said, but afterwards he repented and went? That the only
way you can repent is by the grace of god. Do you know that
second timothy chapter 2 verse 24? The apostle paul said that
those who labor in the cause of the gospel have to be patient
with men People opposing themselves being snared by the devil. You
know how folks are they got every reason not to obey god Well,
you and I can't change their mind by arguing All we can do
is lay out the truth and then pray. Is that right? So we have
to be patient with all men if peradventure God would grant
them what? Repentance to the acknowledging
of the truth. When a soul acknowledges the
truth, that's an act of grace. I love the way Jeremiah put it.
Turn in your Bible briefly to Jeremiah chapter 31. Show you
what I mean by this idea of God's grace working in our life. In the book of Jeremiah chapter
31, he underscores this. As we are dealing with the interpretation,
Jeremiah chapter 31, verse 18 and 19. Listen to this language.
Now this is Israel and her rebellion against God. And child of God,
even after you are saved, you can experience this. Because
there are pockets in your life where our maturity does not allow
us to readily do the will of God. Is that true? There are
areas in our life where we still have to be brought into conformity
to Christ. Is that true? So now what the
image of Israel here is doing is going to explain how they
discovered that they are by nature rebels and that God has to put
a yoke on them and break them and turn them around. Now some
of y'all know what I'm talking about, don't you? See, because
some of us are like wild asses. That's what the Bible says. Wild
asses. And we're used to running around
in the wilderness with nobody controlling us. Is that true?
Wild asses, just free, born free, running free, doing whatever
we want to do. And there's somebody going to
try to jump on our back and tell us which way to go. But here comes the grace of God
and a sovereign Lord who knows how to ride you because he made
you. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
Here comes somebody that knows how to jump on your back, strap
a harness on your head, tap you on the forehead, and say, we're
going this way. And you say no, and he says yes.
And you say no, and he says yes. And while you're saying no, you're
still turning. Am I telling the truth? Stay
with me now. Here's what's happening. Here's
what's happening. There is that part of you that's
not submitting, not submitting, not submitting, but you can't
understand why you now want to read your Bible, why you now
want to hear the gospel, why you now want to come to a great
church and sit under great teaching, and you can't understand why
you're doing it week in and week out, because you still had your
plans. Here's what he says, verse 18,
are you there? I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
himself." Now you see what he's doing? He's bemoaning himself.
Why? Because after decades upon decades
upon decades upon decades of rebellion against his master,
he realized rebelling against God does not work. The ways of
a transgressor are what? You're not going to out beat
God in anything. Eventually he's going to break
you. And because God is infinite in nature, he has all the time
in the world to break you. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
You know how you try to outweigh God? I'm going to outweigh God. I'm going to outweigh God. I'm
not going to submit. I'm not going to submit. I'm going to
resist until God leaves. God never leaves. Because God
doesn't have anywhere to go because God is everywhere present. And
God will take his time. and let you get old and decrepit
and let your physical strength wane until you say uncle. Is that right? Is that what God
will do? God will take his time. He's called the Ancient of Days.
And he has that name for a reason. He's been around a long time
and he expects to be around a long time. And because he never changes,
he will always be Lord. all of his elect anywhere in
the world from the beginning of time to this very hour eventually
bow to his sovereignty. Do they not? And we wake up on
that day bemoaning the fact that we have been living like hell. And you have chastened me. You
see how he's confessing now? Because see I told you God chastens
all whom he what? you have chastened me see and
see in your strength in your strength even though God chastens
you you won't acknowledge that God is chasing you haven't we
done that God's stripping us of everything and inside we're
falling apart but outwardly we're putting on a form that we're
okay God's stripping us down and we won't acknowledge that
he's chasing us until he begins to break us and we look and go
oh he's chasing me listen to it as a bullock Unaccustomed
to the yoke. See? You're a bull. You're a
bull. And you're not used to a yoke
on your neck because you're not used to someone telling you what
to do. Ah, we are right at the point
now. Here's the point. We are not used to someone else
telling us what to do. Do you hear me? That's the problem
with 21st century Western Christianity. And every one of you in your
present seat, you are your own sovereign Lord. You really don't
sit down and say, God is sovereign over my life. Whatever you want
me to do today is your will. And I should submit to it. See,
we're all sovereigns in our own right. Is that true? We dictate
our day. We dictate our time. We determine
our life. We barely ask God. We only want
him to sign off if we think we're going to have some trouble. Lord,
I need to holler at you. I've been working on some stuff.
I need you to sign off. And this is the problem. We have
a religion where Christ is not Lord. Can I get a witness? Every day of your life, you do
it. Every day of your life, you do it. You don't ask God to lead
you in the way, all the way, every part of the way. You are
not really consciously trusting in the Lord with all your what? Might. You are frequently leaning
on your own understanding and you are hardly ever acknowledging
the Lord in all your ways. Big ol' mirror up right now.
Big ol' mirror up right now. Among all of us professing Christians,
who love to talk about how we love the Lord. And that's why
half of us, if not more, are like that first son who said,
I'll go. Right? Yes, sir. But don't go. Is that true? I thank God for
grace, to be honest, don't you? Notice what it says. I was chastened
as a bullock, unaccustomed to the yoke. And then he begins
to ask God what he thought he would never ask God to do. Turn
thou me. Do you see it? Turn me. Turn me. Turn me. Because if you do, I'll be turned. Grant me repentance. Because
if you do, then I'll repent. If you don't, I can't and I won't. Am I telling the truth? Am I
telling the truth? So how is it that whores and
prostitutes and pimps and dope dealers and all these crooks
enter into the kingdom of God? God turned their hearts. He turned
their hearts. He changed their hearts. He moved
them towards obedience. Am I making some sense? Psalm
chapter 80 all through at the last verse turn us Oh God, and
we shall be turned cause your face to shine upon us and we
will be saved See the Word of God when properly understood
realizes that if God doesn't pour his grace into our life
We stay in an unrepentant sinful state until we perish y'all got
that. That's the mystery of our text So point number five, let
me quickly do this as we make our way towards the Lord's table
The gospel application of the parable. Here's the gospel application.
Five easy points to remember. Are you there? Lost sinners by
nature do not want to do God's will. Is that true? There's none
righteous. No, not one. There's none that
seek after God. There's none that are profitable
to God. There's none. None. No, none. Seek. None. Won't. True of you
and true of me. Right? Point number two, God
must grant them repentance to come to God. Is that right? God
must grant them repentance to come and to go. So point number three, they will,
however, be made willing in the day of his wealth. Is that what
your outline said? They will, however, be made willing
in the day of his power. This is the reason why we teach
the glorious doctrine of God's electing love. Are you hearing
me? Listen to Psalm 110, verse one
through three. And I'm not going to spend a
long time exegeting this, but I want to show you that it starts
from heaven and it ends in a changed life. Psalm 110 verse 1 through
3. Are you there? This is the father
talking to the son and David is ear hustling in on it. And
in our church, we call that what? Theology. Theology is God talking
to himself and letting us in on the conversation. Is that
theology? And so David is listening to the father talk to the son
about what the father is going to do in the salvation of his
people. Are we there? Listen to verse one. The Lord
said unto my Lord. Do you guys see that? Jehovah
said unto who? Adonai. Who is Adonai in this
context? The Lord Jesus. David is acknowledging
the Lord Jesus as his master and God the father as Jehovah. us without a doubt. Listen to
the second part. He said to my Lord, sit down
at my what? That's language of a work of
redemption already accomplished, right? Christ accomplished eternal
redemption for his people. And when he did it, he ascended
back on high. And the father said, what? Sit
down. Sit down. It not only means his work is
accomplished It means now he takes the rightful place as a
victor with his father to rule over everything Does God through
Christ rule over the world now watch this until I make your
enemies your what? And we heard it last night as
we were dealing with the whole system of the priesthood Every
chosen sinner in Christ is God's footstool Did you know you were
a footstool God takes his foot and rests it on you. That's an
honor. That's an honor. I'll be God's
footstool any day. I'll be God's footstool any day.
I'll be that footstool where God places his feet because what
it means is this. God has chosen to rest in me. He's chosen to rest on me. See, when you set your feet up
on the footstool, you chilling. Am I making some sense? But as
he rests on me, he's keeping it clear that he's Lord and not
me. I'm his footstool. The church
of the living God is God's footstool. Heaven is his throne. Jerusalem
is his footstool. Are you part of Jerusalem? Then
God gets to rest his feet on you as his footstool. Humbling
but glorious, isn't it? Watch this now. Verse 2. Here
it is. Verse 2. The Lord shall send
the rod of your strength out of Zion. Do you see that? What
is the rod of God's strength? It's the gospel. Why? Because the gospel is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. The rod represents
power. The Father is sending the power
of the Son of God into the world. It's the preaching of the gospel
that draws sinners like you and me to God. Is that true? I'll
be lifted up. I will what draw all men unto
me the Lord that is Jehovah The father shall send the rod of
thy that is Christ's strength out of Zion rule Thou in the
midst of your enemies has the gospel subdued you has the gospel
come and brought you into the Magisterium and authority of
God Almighty has God made you his enemy his footstool He did
it while you were an enemy While we were yet enemies, Christ died
for us. Isn't that good? He didn't wait
until we became reconciled to come get us. See, the gospel
will chop you down right where you are, start towing you in. Isn't that what I said? God will
jump on your back and you'll wonder, what's going on? And
he's riding you, and then he puts that harness on your head
and you wonder, what's going on? He already claimed you in Christ
before the world began. He started hunting you down in
time, and you're wondering why this gospel now won't let you
go. Why? It won't let you go. Because
God is going to break you and make you a servant of the living
God. Listen to what it says in verse
3. Here it is. Here it is. Your people shall
be willing in the day of thy what? Right. See, saints, do
you understand that it takes divine power to change our life? Some of us have been in Christ
for many, many decades, haven't we? And we know that it takes
the same grace that converted us many years ago to change us
even now. For me to do any good thing requires
the same grace that saved me that is now transforming my life.
You know what that means relative to our kids who still need to
be saved? Are you ready? You and I are no different than
our children, but by the grace of God. Is that true? Did you
hear what I just said? In other words, because grace
is available in our life and we're used to God having his
way in our life, it doesn't make us better than our children.
We're simply used to it. They're not. Do you see the big
difference? When they get used to it, then
we'll all be on the same plane. Oh, that's a good word. I'm going
to stop right here. This is a good word. Watch this now. Watch this. Stay with
me. Are you ready? Son, I know you lost. God is sovereign daughter. I know you lost and God is sovereign
and you don't quite like the fact that he's starting to move
in your life You agitated you irritated you all jacked up,
but you're asking questions This is just the way God is when he
loves you and draws near to you in your life and God's not gonna
let you have your way because God's will is gonna be done and
And when God has marched you out for salvation, he's gonna
hunt you down, he's gonna put you in straits, and you're gonna
find yourself doing God's will. Daddy, I don't like it. Mama,
I don't like it. Are you ready? Get used to it. Get used to it. Get used to it. Because the only difference between
us and them is we've gotten used to God having his way in our
life. Is that true? I've gotten used to God having
his way. Thy people shall be willing in the day of your power
and the beauty of holiness from the womb of the morning you have
the dew of your youth. That's a magnificent imagery
metaphor of the new bird. Newness of life springing up
and God bringing about a freshness of a relationship between him
and the lost sinner That's how God works and that's what God
did in our context It's an amazing thing as we close an amazing
thing that's taking place here If you if you if you if you missed
it already the parables spoke about going out into the vineyard
and doing what? working So I'm gonna close with
an application. Are you ready? religion is about
talk The gospel is about a work of grace that God does. I'm going
to share with you three things that affirm whether or not you're
truly saved. Are you ready? First, you believe
the gospel. And this is the work of God,
John 6, 29, that they believe on him whom you have sent. First,
you believe it. Are you hearing me? Secondly,
you are coming to Christ right now. No one who is not coming
to Christ right now is believing because believing results in
coming to Jesus That's first Peter chapter 2 verse 4 to whom
coming as unto a precious stone living stone Wonderful God, are
you coming to Christ? It's only because you're believing
so we're called to come in that truth And the third one ladies
and gentlemen, the third one is very clear in our outline.
God calls us to believe He calls us to come and he calls us to
what sir Serve we are servants of the Living God you get to
examine yourself now We're gonna take time now to have the offering
and then we're gonna have the Lord's table But here's how I
want you to think this through when you go home. Am I a yes,
sir Christian Who don't go or I'm a rebel saint who acknowledges
that I struggle with the will of God But I'm so thankful that
God is sovereign in my life that he makes me do his will in spite
of how antagonistic I can be do I believe I Am I coming to
Jesus and am I finding myself serving the true and the living
God for which he saved my soul? Amen.