Yes, that as I have studied and prepared for the message this week that God has been at work in my own heart Convicting me of my own sin and speaking to me of my continual need to focus on the truths of the gospel We need to begin this morning all of us by getting something out of the way from the beginning and starting out and being honest with ourselves Almost everyone here this morning. I would like to say everyone, but there's an outside chance that not everyone here But I would say almost everyone here this morning is a very religious person We love good deeds. We love righteousness. We love To do things that are pleasing to ourselves to others and even to God and While almost everyone here this morning Can probably recite or articulate the truths of the gospel The real gospel the things that we have confessed together from the Heidelberg catechism the things that we have read from God's word We know the truth that we are saved by faith alone The reality is is that most of us still evaluate our own lives and the lives of others on On the basis of the outward things that we can see I'm not talking about the clothes that people wear or the style of their hair Although sometimes we do that as well But I'm talking about the evaluation that we make of others In terms of the things that we see them do or say And as we approach our text this morning as we come to the parable of the two sons If we're really honest if we're really honest all the time not just this morning But all the time as we come to God's word We have to admit that our hearts We are probably more like the Pharisees Then we are the tax collectors in the prostitutes. You see Most of us today who are good reformed Christians those of us who are biblical Christians when we read the Bible And we hear the word Pharisee or scribe or teachers of the law. What do we do? Boom his bad guy evil guy We hear tax collector like our parable last week and we go oh the good tax collector. Yeah Changed this already is a wonderful guy the prostitute who comes to Jesus and washes his feet. Yeah We associate ourselves with the ones that we cheer for And we disassociate ourselves with those who we hiss and boo But as I've examined my own heart This week I've realized how Clearly I am more like the Pharisees than I am the tax collectors or the prostitutes You see as I consider even the actions of my own life this week as Individuals off the street come to the church office door and knock and ask for help My first response in my heart is how believable is this person? How much do they deserve my help? Is this story have any credibility to it? Should I respond in kindness because they're believable? Or should I turn them away? Don't meet my standards of believability I've seen it even more clearly as I've approached The scripture for the message this morning. I usually begin My approach to scripture with what does this say to me about what I'm supposed to do or be What is this text have to say about how I should live my life? I even sat down with Julius this week to prepare for worship today and we spent time talking about Working for God's kingdom And I want to before I go on any further this one I want to emphasize that there is an important aspect to the outworking of our faith But so often we go to the scriptures assuming that everything is dealing with the outworking the application To how we should live what we should do or how we should be When that's not at all what it's talking about I struggle with being a Pharisee and as I evaluate myself I almost always do it in light of everyone else around me as I evaluate my own life I almost always do it in terms of how do I look next to so and so how do I stack up against this person or that person And quite often the people that I choose well as a matter of fact almost always the people that I choose To evaluate myself against I come out looking pretty good I don't usually pick you know somebody like Don Hannes to evaluate my life next to because then I you know They don't look so good, you know, I pick the right people to evaluate myself next to But I'm missing the point because the standard is not Don Hannes the standard is not anyone else But the Lord Jesus Christ himself You see, I'm just like the Pharisee and last week's parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector As he attempted to justify himself before God He did so how on the basis of his own works in comparison to the tax collector He was comparing himself to what he perceived to be the worst element around him So we come to another parable of Jesus this morning and I would ask you to consider in your own heart How Jesus might speak to you this morning through his word if you will turn with me in your Bible to Matthew chapter 21 And we're going to examine this morning the parable of the two sons And if we were to take it in isolation just the verses listed in your bulletin 28 through 32 It would be easy for us to take this as a parable of works and works in the kingdom of God Which is how I did at the beginning of the week But we would miss the boat if that's what we did So I'm going to ask that we go back to verse 23 of chapter 21 and begin there So to establish the context of the parable Listen if you will to Matthew chapter 21 beginning at verse 23 and continuing through 32
Jesus entered the temple courts and while he was teaching the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him By what authority are you doing these things they ask and who gave you this authority Jesus replied I will also ask you one question If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things John's baptism Where did it come from? Was it from heaven or from men? They Disgusted among themselves and said if we say from heaven he will ask them why didn't you believe him But if we say from men we are afraid of the people for they all hold that John was a prophet So they answered Jesus We don't know Then he said neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things What do you think there was a man who had two sons he went to the first and said son go and work today in the vineyard I will not he answered But later he changed his mind and went Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing
He answered I will sir But he did not go which of the two did what his father wanted the first they answered Jesus said to them I tell you the truth the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness and you did not believe him But the tax collectors and the prostitutes did and then after you saw this you did not repent And believe him it's so important for us every time we come to God's word to Understand the context which we find ourselves and even what we've done that we need to look at the even broader context You see this is during the passion week the week The last week of Jesus life before he went to the cross and it started with the triumphal entry into Jerusalem And every step of the way we see Jesus being established as a figure of authority Jesus is being established as a figure of authority and it's driving the Pharisees and the teachers of the law absolutely nuts What happens in the triumphal entry Jesus comes into Jerusalem and the crowds of people and even the children Are throwing down their coats and waving the palm branches and shouting Hosanna Hosanna To the son of David glory to God the King is come And the Pharisees and the teachers of the law were indignant How can you let these children say these things of you by what authority do you claim the the position that you do how can you allow others to sing your praises in such a way Then we see What happens next Jesus goes into the temple and goes to Work cleaning out the riff round he turns over the tables of the money changers He drives out those who are turning his father's house of prayer into a house of iniquity and business And again, this is where we find ourselves the Pharisees Indignant come to Jesus and say who gives you the authority to do such thing And it's only when we see this context Can we really understand this parable because our immediate inclination is we read the tale of two sons And the father asking the sons to go to work in the vineyard is this parable is about our work in the kingdom of God But the context of the parable is the Pharisees questioning the authority of Jesus This parable has more to do with who Jesus Christ is And where does his authority come from?
I began the week by saying what does this have to say about my work? What does this have to say with Who I am supposed to be and what I am supposed to do And I'll tell you it's pretty easy to come up with that as I read through the commentaries and the scholars and The theologians a lot of them say that exact same thing
But when we go and we examine the very words of Jesus And you know oftentimes when we read our Bibles today, boy, they break them up You know, we have all sorts of headings and listings in our Bible and we segment them off and this segment has to do with this And this segment has to do with that and this is a parable of two sons And that is the authority of Jesus question in my Bible they're separated The authority of Jesus questioned is the headline that's written right above the text Not part of the text it's just what some Bible scholar thought to put there and then he breaks it off and then he says a parable of two sons But the context in which Jesus told this parable had to do with the establishment of his authority who he was Jesus how can you Accept the praises of these people what gives you the authority to do that Jesus how can you go into the temple and turn over the money changers and upset our business? Who gives you such authority? You see this has been a problem from the very beginning of Jesus ministry If you look at Mark's gospel in chapter one the very beginning verse 22 we read this The people were amazed at Jesus teaching Because he taught them as one who had authority As one who had authority Not as the teachers of the law And this upset the teachers of the law so much that a chapter or so later in Mark chapter 3 and verse 6 we read Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus from the very beginning of Jesus earthly ministry The issue had to do with who he was Where his authority came from and it so upset the Pharisees and the teachers of the law that from the very beginning They wanted to kill him and now in our text this morning. We see the same thing They're upset about how Jesus goes on Taking the praises of the people how Jesus establishes himself as an authoritative figure And they want to have and put the death But you see they struggle with Jesus authority because Jesus unique claim to authority Is based on who he is and not on anything that he can necessarily do to prove himself To the Pharisees that he has that authority the the Pharisees could never be satisfied They were looking for some way to fit Jesus into their intellectual grid. They were looking for some way to slice Jesus up and have him fit within their own theological system Which required works and obedience and doing and being in order to be right with God And so no matter what Jesus did it would never satisfy them Jesus authority was based on who he was and Jesus is always asking them To believe in him and they're trying to come up with some way to fit him into their system So John Jesus knowing that there's no way to resolve this standoff with these fellows ask them a question He turns it back on them and again, it's a question of authority It's a question of how this came about You've seen John's ministry you've seen its impact on the people was it from heaven Or was it from men and boy now they're in a bind they're upset you can imagine him off to the corner going Oh, man. He got us if we say it's from heaven. He's going to ask us what What's he going to ask and why didn't you believe You see the heart to understand the parable is looking at who Jesus is and his authority and then the response And if Jesus is who he says he is the response should be belief It's not work The response shouldn't be oh Jesus is really who he says he is. I better get to work The response is belief In the Pharisees recognize that right from the beginning the text says If we say he's from heaven then he'll say why didn't you believe They knew What they should do With a question of authority and they found themselves in a bind You see as far as Jesus is concerned there are only two central considerations To his ministry there are only two things that Matter that mattered then with the Pharisees the teachers of the law the tax collectors in the prostitute and there are only two things that matter now Jesus on authority who he is and Our response their response their trust their belief To that fact that reality of who he is and by what authority does he do these things and Jesus constantly confounds Not only the Pharisees and the teachers of the law but almost everyone who came in one way or another tried to put Jesus into a box and tried to make things fit into their own system What happened when James and John came and asked for seats on the right and left of Jesus Jesus said if you want to be great you got to be a servant And over and over again when anyone tried to do that to Jesus tried to put him in a box he wouldn't respond to their questions he wouldn't respond to their demands and their desires to prove himself or to make a system out of his life instead he just stood there As he was the Lord of glory the Messiah the Son of God asking us To believe authority and belief this is the key to understanding the parable of the two sons if we don't see that We can never really get at the heart of what Jesus was trying to say to the Pharisees that day and what are you saying to us today Jesus says what do you think and he goes on to tell the parable of the two sons two sons man says to one son go work he says no Later on he goes and works he says the other son where you go work and he says sure all work Then he never goes and works You see we have to establish the context because otherwise it's very easy for us to come And put our own wrong interpretations on this parable a lot of times people will say well this parable is really about the Gentiles and the Jews You see what was happening here is Jesus was expanding the kingdom and opening it up so the Gentiles could come in He was trying to make the Pharisees understand that while they had always had The gospel before them and they had always had the truths of God's words in this commands And now they were not doing in the Gentiles just now hearing about it and they're going to come and do the work And and the kingdom is going to expand There's truth to that and we see it throughout Other portions of scripture But again, we have to look at the context here to understand what Jesus was saying The other thing that we're so tempted to do what I was tempted to do and what I started to do this week Is that we're justified or we are right when we go to work for the kingdom of God We may start out saying I'm not going to do it But boy when we really understand and we respond Then we better get to work and start doing these things. We better accomplish for the kingdom of God And you know, I say that and you know that I understand and believe the gospel in an intellectual way And I can articulate to you that works have nothing to do with making you right with God. I think you hear me say that every single Sunday In my heart I'm ready to go to work boy. Let's get back on the right track Let's make everybody here do the right thing boy if everybody in this church would just live a certain way I wouldn't have any more problems Boy being a pastor would be the easiest job in the world if y'all would all this live right You just work right you'd do the things that God expects you to do we'd all be on easy street now Everybody come flowing into this church because all the good people in here But that's the wrong interpretation of this parable because we're missing out on the context Jesus puts the question to them at the end of the parable He says let me ask you a question which of these two sons Did what his father wanted Which of these two sons did this father Rephrase Jesus question On which of these two sons do you think judgment will fall Which of these two sons will be judged In the end They would answer the second son one who said he wouldn't didn't Well, why why is that why will he be judged Well Because he didn't do the will of his father. He didn't go to work. He didn't do the will of his father Well, let me ask you this then What is the will of the father What is the will of the father Look at me and John chapter six verse 40 Jesus answers this question for us Himself Very clearly in John chapter six verse 40 Jesus said my father's will Is that everyone who looks to the son and believes in him She'll have eternal life That's the will of the father look to the son know who he is and believe And you'll have eternal life that's the will of the father the one who goes away and is not justified doesn't Go away and and miss out because he didn't do enough work We look at the Pharisees who are obviously in this story the other son and boy they were working all the time They missed out though because why They didn't believe and Jesus makes that abundantly clear in the text He says in verse 32 John came to show you the way of the righteousness and you did not believe him He didn't say John came and pointed the way to righteousness and you guys didn't live right justly enough He says you didn't believe and he doesn't go on to say and the tax collectors in the prostitutes or the other son Finally figured it out and started doing all the work They got the righteous gig and lived it out what she say in the very same verse he says But they did What does it mean but they did well the tax collectors in the prostitutes believe They got the gospel that there was no hope In and of themself that there was nothing that they could do to make themselves right with God They had to understand who was the authority Jesus is the authority Jesus acted on his own authority the authority that his father had given to him Jesus was God's son he came and glory and lived among us that we might have life And when we understand that when we recognize it the only response that we can have The only proper response is belief That's why I wanted to read again the questions that we read at the beginning of the service And I would ask you to read them every day this week cut them out of your bulletin and tape them in your Bible These are truths from God's word How are we right with God only by believing true faith by believing In Jesus Christ do you want to be right with God today? believe Jesus is God's son don't come in here and put money in the plate don't come in here and sign up to work at week here Don't come in here and ask if you can teach Sunday school don't come in here Dressed up in a nice suit with a good haircut and expect to be right with God Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved Come and believe even though your conscience accuses you of having grievously sinned against all God's commandments and have never having kept any of them And even though you're still inclined toward all evil nevertheless Without your deserving at all out of sheer grace God grants and credits to you the perfect satisfaction Righteousness and holiness of Christ as if you had never sinned or been a sinner as if you had been as perfectly obedient as Christ was obedient for you And what's it say all you need to do is accept the gift of God with a believing heart This parable this morning before us the tale of two sons is about two things It's about authority was Jesus Christ who he said he was absolutely and if he is who he said he is what is our response Belief bottom line. That's all we can do
Am I saying then it doesn't matter how we live? Doesn't matter what we do. It's inconsequential in the grand scheme of things No If we believe if Jesus who he is Jesus is who he said he is and we believe and respond to that in faith and everything changes everything matters but we're looking at The context here and what Jesus is saying very clearly to his listeners that day and to us He wants us to respond In faith he wants us to give up the idea that we can ever be right with God on the basis of our own actions And may he be the wonderful I don't know what you would call it A statement that says He is he is a fool who has his his a how's it go I'm losing my I'm losing my mind here
It has to do with when you go to court It says the one who represents himself in court has a fool for an attorney that it that's right And that's the way it is when we stand before the bar of God when we stand before God and we're trying to represent ourselves to him If we're trying to argue our own case if we're like the Pharisees Trying to establish before God that look at Lord look at all these things I did look at how I live such a good life Look at what I did for you look at how faithfully I attended church look at the kind things that I did You've got a fool for an attorney Your only hope is standing before the bar of God and saying I have no hope Save but in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ shed on Calvary's cross that I could be right with you That's the point of this parable this morning. Don't leave here without coming to grips with that idea with that concept It's not about how much you can do it's about who he is the authority of Jesus Christ God's son what will your response to him be Let's pray together Our father and our God I pray this morning that you would convict us of our self righteousness our self-sufficiency of our self-importance Of thinking that we've got it together that we have finally arrived that because of all the things that we do in our We are better than others or that we can somehow be right with you by these things Lord deliver us from the The idea that we hold on to so tightly that even after we've come into the kingdom by grace now We've got to get to work and keep our nose clean and live in such a way that you'll still somehow plead with us Lord free us from these wrong ideas and concepts and set us free to understand that we will only be right with you never because of anything We do but only because of Jesus Christ Now help us to believe that heavenly Father give us hearts that believe and respond to and embrace the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray that if there is anyone here this morning Lord who's trusting in themselves That you would break them that you would grant to them the gift of repentance and a heart that believes Do it today Lord God we pray in Jesus name amen