Lord, we would be free from the burden of our sin. We would be free from the passion and pride that trips us up. Lord, this morning we ask, make us whiter than snow to be able to do service for Jesus, our King. As we look at your word, we've sung, but apart from your spirit, it's a dead letter. It's a dead book to us. Make the book live, we ask. that we might live life more abundantly and free. We ask it in Jesus' name. Everybody said? All right, Matthew 21. Some of you are movie fans and some of you are not, but the Jason Bourne, you know the Bourne identity and all that? This fictional character of action films and novels, and he faces one of life's most basic riddles. You know what it is? Who am I? Identity. And when fishermen pull born from the Mediterranean Sea, he has serious wounds and no memory. And he thinks in English, but he discovers he can speak French and Russian and German when convenient. And he has this dizzying array of skills. He can dash for half a mile at 7,000 feet high elevation in the mountains. He can tie exotic knots. He can create sophisticated electronic devices from bits of this and that. He can even disarm a policeman in an instant. And he can memorize a city map of Paris at a glance. He knows all this, but he doesn't even know his name. And the audience wonders beside him, who is he? And why is someone trying to kill him? Long before Hollywood, I don't call him Hollywood, I call him Hollyweird. Long before Hollyweird ever came up with Jason Bourne, the gospel narratives, the gospel writers asked the same question of Jesus. Who is he? And why do some people want to kill him? Of course, Jesus knew who he was, amen? Even though his identity baffled his enemies. What Jesus did and what he taught reveals who he is and what faith in him means. And so this morning we come to our last sermon in our series on John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah. So we've seen that John the Baptist was a straight shooter, amen? You'd be with him about three seconds and you'd know exactly which way the cow eats the cabbage. Because he's telling you to what? Repent. And why? For the kingdom of heaven is at? It's as close as your hand, you can see it. Now, Jesus is on his way to die in Jerusalem, and he enters into Jerusalem, the triumphal entry, that's the context here, and he goes in and he clears the temple out from those money changers, right? But not only that, he also, after he clears the temple and turns over their tables, He heals a man in the temple, and he then comes back and he taught in their temple. And the chief priest and elders confronted him asking, by what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority? And Jesus answered their question with another question about John the Baptist. And after that, he tells this series of parables to expose their hypocrisy and the danger of their spiritual condition apart from repentance and faith in Jesus. And so we'll only dive into the first parable today. And by the way, parables are interesting. We call them earthly stories with a heavenly meaning, right? And as Spurgeon said about Benjamin Keats, he said, you know, if you read his book on the parables and metaphors, he made parables walk on as many legs as a centipede. So we're not meant to see every little detail as having meaning in the parable, okay? We're meant to get the main point of the parable. What truth am I drawing from the parable in verses 28 through 32 of the two sons? That's the parable we'll look at this morning. Primarily, there's lots we could say in the context, but I wanna just look at it in relation to John the Baptist, because we're finishing up our series on his life. If people didn't accept John the Baptist, they wouldn't accept Jesus either. True? Why? The text is telling us why. Because both John and Jesus had the same authority. They were both sent by God the Father. Therefore, and this is the truth of our text, got an outline, it's there on your little pink sheet or purple sheet, To reject the truth preached by God's servants, i.e., John the Baptist, is also to reject the Lord Jesus Christ. True? All right. I just want to be very simple this morning. I'm going to stick closer to my notes so I don't go too long. But as the Lord leads and gives me liberty, let's dive into this parable. First, it is possible this morning that you are rebellious but then you can become obedient. Look what happens in verse 28 and 29. What do you think? Your text may say, but what do you think? Contrast. A man had two sons, and he went to the first and said, son, go and work in the vineyard today. And he answered, I will not. But afterward, he changed his mind, or text may say he regretted it, and he went. So this first son represents the tax collectors and the prostitutes who believe John's message. We'll see that in verse 31, 32. But let me give a couple clarifications about this parable, two of them. First, the parable does not teach the false doctrine of the universal fatherhood of God. Everyone is not a child of God in a saved way being adopted by God through faith in Christ, and why? Both sons were in a false and unsafe position, weren't they? They were. While the one son is outwardly rebellious, he's resistant to his father outwardly, the other son is inwardly deceptive. Oh, I'll go do what you say, Pop. But he doesn't. True? If tax collectors and prostitutes were not saved until they believed in John, that means they were born in what? Tell me. Sin. The Pharisees and the scribes and elders, these chief priests, they were born in sin too, weren't they? Did they believe John or Jesus? No, so the parable's not teaching that these people really knew God, these sons. So it's not teaching a universal fatherhood of God. Secondly, though, Jesus does not approve of this first son's initial rebellion. How do we know? Children are commanded to honor and obey their parents, true? And so this son's refusal would have been quite shocking. And yes, we should rejoice that the boy did repent. Good, good, that's good. But the best way, listen to me, the best way is to come to Jesus early in your life, amen? And serve him all your life, not later after you wasted precious years of your life, as well as your body and your mind on the passing pleasures of sin. And there are many people who refuse God now and never repent later. It's dangerous to delay. Amen. So the parable is not teaching us the universal fatherhood of God. Everybody's a child of God. No, they're not. Jesus said to the Pharisees, you're a child of your father, the what? The devil, John eight. But the parable is not, it's not also saying, Hey, it's really good to waste and squander your life and come to Jesus later. And he'll clean up the mess. Okay. It's not teaching that either. Okay. So the setting is a vineyard which symbolizes the people of Israel in scripture many times, and this was clearly a family-owned vineyard where the children were expected to help care for the crop. Well, the work was important, and why? If you didn't work, you didn't eat, amen? That sounds familiar. Can someone tell the government that for us? You don't work, you don't eat? Sometimes we say, no free what? Lunch, yeah. Now, this parable is appealing to us as parents. You say, what do you mean? What parent hasn't had a rude teenager react to a parental directive with complaining and refusals, only to find that the child reconsidered and actually did what he or she was told? True? So the first son's repentance caused much joy in heaven. Remember when Jesus said that? That when that sheep was found, when that coin was found, when that boy came home, there was rejoicing in what? Heaven, by God the Father, in the presence of his angels. But here's the irony of the text. That God was delighting in the salvation of those people, prostitutes, tax collectors, whom the Pharisees, the scribes, the elders, the chief priests despised. True? And even when they saw these people repent, they didn't repent. Interesting. Now, I could get into the background of tax collectors. We saw a little bit when we looked at Zacchaeus. But men like Matthew and Zacchaeus, who made their living ripping people off, were radically changed from greedy grubbers to generous givers. This person said that the last thing that the revival hits is the wallet or the pocketbook. He said some of these people, you know, when they've been baptized, they hold their wallet or their purse out of the water, so they don't have to give. Lord, baptize the wallet. Amen? You can have everything, Lord, but my money. No, you can't serve to what? Tell me. God and money. Okay, so that's the point here. Radically transformed, they were redeemed, they were changed, tax collectors. They were despised, but some of them were actually saved. And not only that, but he says there were women who were slaves to the sex trade, trying to find this thirst quenching satisfaction in people, in men. And now they've found their satisfaction in the living water that only comes from King Jesus' cup. Well, it's profound. It's profound. I mean, I get it in the background. I read some of it in the background. It's fascinating about how they had some actually Jewish prostitutes. And many times it was out of necessity because they were poor, they were broke. The family was, you know, it's just craziness, the stuff that was happening. They said that it was better to go into prostitution than commit adultery. That's what the world would say back then. It was crazy. But Jesus said that some of them actually believed John's message and they entered the kingdom of God. How? Verse 29 says they repented and they obeyed. But that's the fruit of their message. Listen, that's the fruit of their message. If that was the fruit, what was the root underneath? Verse 32 says they believed John's message. How are we saved? By what? Tell me. By grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. I didn't put any insert in the bulletin today. That would have been a great song to sing, in Christ alone. If you're visiting, we usually put some contemporary song in there. We're one of these transition churches. We're not quite with the contemporary yet, but we love the old hymns as well. We're kind of in between. But the point being is that you see the fruit in their life because the root was there. They had grace. They believed. They believed John's message of pointing people to Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Not only the world being what? Not only Jews, but Gentiles. And so this sheds some light on John the Baptist's ministry. How so? The Jewish historian Josephus makes it clear that John the Baptist was a powerful prophetic preacher. And he was even the leader of a popular reform movement. And that's one reason why he was perceived as a threat by Herod Antipas, we saw that a couple weeks ago, who arrested John and finally had him executed. Now, what had happened? to these tax collectors and prostitutes. Now this is really important that we see this. Through the preaching of John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit had opened up their what? The eyes of their what? Tell me. their heart, their understanding. And they were brought to this realization that apart from Christ Jesus, they were shackled to their sinfulness. This is an interesting point. You say, what do you mean? Well, the Romans sometimes compelled a criminal, a captive, a criminal, to be joined face-to-face with a dead body. And what they would do is they would attach this dead body to the person face to face. They would tie their neck around it and their hands. And they had to carry this dead body around until the decomposition of the dead body destroyed the living person. You say, that's gross. Well, Virgil describes this cruel punishment. This is what he says. in poetry form. The living and the dead at his command were coupled face-to-face and hand-to-hand, till choked with stench and loathed embraces tied, the lingering wretches pined away and died. See, we really need to use graphic, gross pictures to show us how terrible sin really is, amen? Because otherwise we're in love with it. And without Christ, all of us are shackled to a dead corpse. You say, what would that be? It's our sin, our sinfulness. And only repentance frees us then from this certain death. And why? For life and death cannot coexist indefinitely. Amen? If we die in our sins, we will go into an eternal lake of what? That's the message of the Bible. Now here's the good news. You got the bad news, here's the good news. Did you know that God allows U-turns? You know, you're driving along, you see that sign, U-turn permitted? I love it. U-turn permitted. It's like the guy I heard about this week on the radio. He's a new believer, he didn't know much about Jesus, and he's driving along, and the Lord says to him in his heart, stop and pick that guy up. He said, I'm not picking him up. My mom told me, don't pick up any hitchhikers. He kept driving. And then he said, well, the Lord was like, come on, stop, go back. Well, he made an illegal U-turn and went back. He said, and then when he got back and he went past the guy, he had to make another illegal U-turn. He was praying, hoping the guy would have not there anymore. Then he pulled over and he picked him up. He was there. Then he asked him, what do you do? He goes, I'm a Navy SEAL. He said, oh, great. I'm going to tell this guy about Jesus. He's going to snap my neck, you know. He's a new believer. He doesn't know much. He just knows, you know, God sent Jesus and Jesus died on the cross for sinners. And, you know, you turn from your sin, you trust in him, you could be saved. He doesn't know much. So, so he says, he says, what do you understand about faith? And you ever, you ever been part of a church or, you know, you know, you know anything about Jesus? And the seal said to him, this is amazing. And the man said, what do you mean? No, the seal said, it's funny you bring that up, and he thought, uh-oh, I'm dead now. And then the seal said, you see back there on the road, I was praying to God, and I never prayed in my life, the seal said. He said, I was praying, God, if you're real, then send one of your followers to tell me about you. And there in the guy's front seat, the seal got what? Saved. Do you believe God still does that? Amen! Amen. God allows U-turns, Christian. And like the first son, then, you can change for the better. But don't presume that you will. And why? Sin has a hardening effect. The longer that you're putting off repentance, the harder your heart gets. And if you delay now, you have no guarantee that you'll be able to come to Jesus later. And even if you do come to Christ later, Sin has taken its toll. And one of the things that sin does is trap us so that we cannot get free even if we want to. And usually when our heart is so hard, we don't even want that freedom. Gloria Pitzer wrote a clever little poem that goes like this. Procrastination is my sin. It brings me not but sorrow. I know that I should stop it. In fact, I will tomorrow. That's the biggest nation in the world, procrastination. Daniel Fuller said this, I love it. He said, you cannot repent too soon because you don't know how soon it may be too late. Scottish preacher, Horatius Bonar, he asked 253 Christians at what ages they were converted. And here's what he discovered, listen to this. Under 20 years of age, 138 of them. Between 20 and 30 years old, 85. Between 30 and 40, 22. Between 40 and 50 years old, only four. Between 50 and 60, only three. Between 60 and 70 years old, only one. And over 70 years old, guess how many? None. The longer we wait, the harder we You say, well, you're just looking at it in human terms. God can do anything. Yes, He can. But you ever play Russian roulette? It's not safe, is it? Well, I'll just spin that chamber and see if that bullet comes out. No. Listen, if God is speaking to you this morning and you are saying no, I'm going to warn you. You should know that although it may be hard for you to say yes now, it'll be harder for you to say yes the next time around. Are you listening? And even assuming that God speaks to you again, the only safe thing for you to do right now is to give prompt and sincere obedience to God's call. Call on the Lord while he may be found. No, don't you know, pastor, I could call on him anytime I want. I'll just put it off. I'll just wait. Call upon the Lord while he's what? Near. It implies that there's a time when he's what? You read Proverbs 1. Wisdom said, oh, you're going to call me when you're in trouble after you wasted your life? And before, you didn't call on me and you despised me? And she, Lady Wisdom, leaves the fools to themselves at the end. Listen, I want to be real careful about Scripture because the call, you know, as long as you're still breathing, there's hope. But here's the point, I could give you many examples of people that let their hearts get so hard and people pleaded with them even before they were dying on their deathbed and they wouldn't repent and believe. Are you listening? It's really important. God is calling you, answer the call. But that brings us to the second son who shows us not that it's possible to be rebellious but then obedient. He shows us it's possible to be respectful but disobedient. Look at verse 30. And he, the father, went to the other son. and said the same thing. What did he say? Son, go and work in the vineyard today. And he answered, I go, sir, but did not go. So the second son represents the chief priest and the elders who didn't believe John the Baptist's message. Now, the second son is polar opposite of the first son, and he shows an initial willingness to obey, even respect, calling his father sir, but in the end he never shows up for work in the vineyard. But this wasn't anything new for Israel. Israelites told Moses, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. Remember that? They told Joshua, the next generation, Joshua began to doubt their commitment. Remember, he said, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. The people said, what? No, but we will serve the Lord. But if you look at their history after that, it shows how they failed utterly. And that's what Jesus is describing in this parable in the second son. Israel was like the son who said to his father, I go, sir, but did not go. Now, let me clarify this. Some people look at this and they think, see, Jesus is saying that it's wrong to make promises to God since we might not keep them. And they wrongly conclude, hey, I'm not going to make any promises, I'm not going to make any promises or professional discipleship. Because if I promise God, what if I don't keep it? So I just won't make any promises. Is that right or wrong? Let me ask you. It's wrong. And why? Jesus is not against us making an outward profession of faith and saying, yes, I'm going to trust in Jesus. Yes, I want to be baptized. Yes, I will follow him with all my life. He's not against that. In fact, the Bible links profession of faith to true belief in Jesus. How? Paul wrote the Romans, he said, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. What Jesus denounced is insincere profession. The claim that one cries, Lord, Lord, but then does not do what Jesus said. Here's my question. Are you in that category? This is not a sin that's committed by those who don't show up for church, by the way. This is a sin that's committed by people that are sitting right where you're sitting every week. You say, Bible Baptist? Well, I don't know. The Lord's foundation stands sure. He knows those are His and those are not. Amen? I don't know. You say, don't you want to know? Don't you want to make sure people are really believers in church? It's true. But like Spurgeon said, only the angels will be able to make the separation at the end. But until now, we need to let the weeds and the wheat, what? Grow together, he said. Are you in that category of saying and not doing? I'm not asking you if you prayed a prayer, you joined a church, you affirmed the creeds. I'm not asking you if you got a good reputation as a Christian or even if you're a Christian worker or even a pastor or missionary. I'm not asking that. You can do all those things and still be disobedient to God just as these religious leaders were. Think about this, the irony of this text, that these chief priests and these elders, they spent their whole lives in professing to be God's people. Their days were filled with religious activities, but they didn't believe John's message, and therefore they didn't believe on Jesus, and they weren't working in God's vineyard. Whose vineyard were they working in? Their own, exactly. They're building their own little kingdoms. How sad. They're building their own little reputations. What did George Whitefield say? May the name of George Whitefield perish and the name of Jesus Christ be proclaimed. That John the Baptist said? He must what? Increase. But I must? Increase. Well, so you don't remember little old Sean Magoon? No biggie. You don't remember Jesus Christ? Very biggie. Amen? True? Listen, you can only answer that question, are you in this category? You can only answer the question properly if you've trusted Jesus as your savior and you're now engaged in specific work to which he's called you. Now, again, let's think on this on a parental level, because this is profound to me. What parent hasn't had a sweet, compliant child politely agree to a parental directive only to fail to follow through? But listen, don't miss this, Christians. Listen, Jesus isn't teaching the importance of honoring and obeying your parents. Rather, he's summarizing his teaching on the kingdom. How so? That those who claim to be God's people must show it by doing his will and obeying his commandments. What did Jesus say? If you love me, if you love me, you might keep my commandments. Is that what he said? He said, if you love me, you what? You will. That's John 14, 15. Listen, this is really key. What is the difference between, I don't want to say have to and get to, what's the difference between have to and want to? You ready? A husband and wife didn't really love each other and the man was very demanding, so much so that he prepared a list of rules and regulations for his wife to follow. Men, what not to do, amen? Do you hear about some ladies killing their husbands? You know, they asked Ruth Bell Graham, they said, were you ever tempted to divorce? She said, no. Murder, yes. The man, like, just a bimbo, jerk, fool. He makes this list of rules and regs for his wife to follow. And he insisted that she read them over every day and obey them to the letter. And among other things, his list of do's and don'ts indicated such details as to what time she had to get up in the morning, and when his breakfast should be served, and how the housework should be done. And after several long years, the husband died, and the wife said, Amen! No, he died. And as time passed, the woman fell in love with another man. This one she loved dearly and this man dearly loved her. Did he give her a list of rules and regs? No, no. And soon they were married and this husband, boy, he did everything he could to make his new wife happy. He continually showered her with tokens of appreciation and encouraging words. I mean, this guy loved the gal, you know. And one day as she was cleaning house, she found tucked away in a drawer the list of commands her first husband had drawn up for her. And as she looked it over, it dawned on her that even though her present husband didn't give her any kind of list, she was doing everything on her list her first husband required anyway. Are you listening? And she realized she was so devoted to this man that her deepest desire was to please him out of love and not obligation. Listen, can you make it, Christian? Can you make it from duty to delight today? Can you? The Christian life's a bummer. The Christian life's a burden. Try following the world. Try following the devil. Serve him. Oh, he's a great taskmaster, isn't he? No, he's a liar and a father of lies and a murderer and he will kill you, amen? The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. It has rightly been said, actions speak louder and more convincing than what? James says that faith without works is dead. A young boy was on an errand for his mother and he brought, he just bought a dozen eggs and he came out and they had a little paper bag that they put him in and he was walking out of the store and he tripped and he dropped the bag and all the eggs broke and sidewalk was a mess and the boy was, you know, tried not to cry and he's whimpering. A few people gather around to see if he was okay and tell him how sorry they were. But in the midst of all their pity, one man handed the boy a quarter. And then he turned to the group and he said, I care 25 cents worth. How much the rest of you care? Listen, how do you know when your words are cheap? When they're not followed by what? Actions. Amen. When you have the ability to do something, but you don't. When you say you love God, but you don't obey Him. You see it? Or anybody can say they're a Christian, true? But do we live what we say? For example, in his book, I Surrender, Patrick Morley, he writes that the church's integrity problem is in the misconception that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. Well, I don't know, you know, my life is kind of like a pot pie dinner, you know, and I just put a little salt of Jesus on it and everything's fine. I don't have to change, I can still continue my sin, I just put a little, I just put Jesus, just add a little Jesus. Add a little salt and everything's fine, right? No, he goes on to say, listen, this is what he says, It is change in belief without a change in behavior that's the problem. It is revival without reformation. It is what? It's Christianity without repentance. There's no such thing. And there can't be repentance without regeneration. It's what the Apostle Paul said things would be like in the last days. He said people would be lovers of self, lovers of money. proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to parents. Well, there we go, right in the parable, both sons were. Ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance, in other words, an outward form of godliness, but denying its power. What a sordid list, amen? Matthew Henry noted this, he said, a hypocrite is more hard to convince and convert than a gross sinner. The form of godliness, if it be rested in, becomes one of Satan's strongholds by which he opposes the power of godliness. Let me ask you, are you religious this morning, but not regenerate? It's a good question, isn't it? You say, I don't like this kind of preaching. I'm never coming here again. Well, You can go somewhere and get your ears tickled, amen? Like the second son, I'm saying this morning, you can change for the worse. You say, change for the worse? Yeah. All you have to do is promise obedience, but procrastinate and never get around to it. Just know this, God is not pleased with mere words. Do not deceive yourself that you'll serve God someday. God calls you to serve him today. Why? Time is too precious to waste, and the work in God's vineyard is too important to neglect. And delay is deadly, as I always said, because sin always hardens the heart. Sin will never leave you where it found you. As one of the old writers said, he said, sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you can ever pay. Do you believe it? Are you opposing God in some area of your life? Is He speaking to you and He's been speaking to you for a while, but you just say, ah, I don't need to have daily devotions. I don't need to read the Bible every day. I don't have to be at church every Sunday. I mean, come on, you know. Is God speaking to you? Help the poor. Well, you know, they need to get a job. Maybe true, but if He's telling you to help the poor, then you need to what? Is he telling you to go overseas? I'm not going overseas. You kidding me? Maybe he's telling you to go across the street. Amen. Well, you know what my neighbors are like. Amen. That's why God put you there. Amen. I can tell you about mine, too. You say, wait a minute, Pastor. Am I saved by serving God? No, never. But if I'm saved, I'm saved in order to what? To serve God. Amen. You see, the parable is not just about salvation, it's also about service, Christian service. Because both boys were told to go work in the vineyard. Ask yourself, am I obeying God, or am I merely talking about obeying Him? Listen, are you the kind of person who promises but never keeps his word? It's a good question, isn't it? I think it is. So, Are you rebellious? But you actually can become obedient this morning. Are you really, you know, respectful but disobedient? And then lastly, Jesus tells us how this parable applies to them and to us. He says, lastly, it's possible to be religious but lost. Look at verse 31 and 32, and we're done. Jesus asked, The question, simple question, which of the two did the will of his father? Well, the answer's obvious, the first, amen? Jesus said to them, truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. Why? He gives the explanation, verse 32. Because, or for, John came to you in the way of righteousness. And this was a man, a straight shooter, a preacher. He was walking in the way of righteousness. He was preaching the truth. He was pointing to me. And you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you saw them believing and changing and repenting and entering the kingdom, you did not afterwards change your minds. You didn't repent. You didn't believe, John. Question, was Jesus trying to trap them with their own words? And the answer is no, no. He was confronting their self-righteous unbelief in him, and he was reminding them of the righteous life and the powerful ministry of John the Baptist. So what's Jesus doing? He's exposing the hardness of their hearts that refuse to repent and believe in Jesus as God's Messiah. Why? John faithfully witnessed of Christ. He pointed people to Jesus. Ah, but can you imagine the shock they must have had when Jesus said that the tax collectors and prostitutes go in the kingdom of God before them? Now, when Jesus said before you, he didn't mean that eventually, you know, these unbelieving leaders would enter the kingdom of God, because if you don't believe in Jesus, you'll never enter the kingdom of God. Amen? All right. Jesus simply used the expression to show God's reversal of man-made standards for salvation. What's that? The tax collectors and prostitutes were nearer the kingdom than the chief priests and elders. Not because these people that were despised, these tax collectors and prostitutes, not because they were inherently more righteous or acceptable to God, no. It was because they were more ready to acknowledge their need for God's grace than these self-satisfied priests and elders. Listen, here's Jesus' point, and I quote John MacArthur real simply. His point is that claims of religion or Christianity do not qualify a person to enter the kingdom of God, on the one hand, but even gross sin, when repented of, will not keep a person out of the kingdom. Well, that's good news. Amen? It's bad news if you refuse to acknowledge your sin and repent. Ah, but it's good news if you're ready to say, I'm a sinner. True? Listen, why did Jesus speak so frankly to them? May I suggest it because He loved them? Open rebuke is better than hidden what? Love, Proverbs says. Now let me quote George Buttrick. This is what he said. It's a short quote. He said, Jesus knew what hypocrisy could do. This pretense of honoring God and then failing utterly in the test of deeds. Jesus knew what hypocrisy would do on Golgotha before the week had passed. He knew that it breeds a venomous realm until the character becomes rotten at the core. And then he said this, if we had Jesus' eyes, we would fear insincerity more than we fear shame or death, nor would we wonder at this crashing doom in his words. Sometimes you read Jesus and you go, man, that sounds harsh. You hypocrites. Woe to you. But he's only saying it because he what? He loved them, amen? Speak the truth in what? Love. So that when the father required the chief priests and elders to go to the river Jordan and be baptized, they wouldn't go. Why? It's beneath my dignity. Why should I have to repent? I'm one of the religious leaders. Can you imagine that? They were ordained as representatives of God. They were to be his sons working in the kingdom. Yeah, but they wouldn't publicly acknowledge that they were sinners and they wouldn't obey God. On the other hand, think of this. Tax collectors and harlots in Jerusalem went down to the River Jordan and submitted to the baptism of John in repentance. Now, I like to do this. Let's use a little imagination. Can you do that with me for a minute? Sanctified imagination, okay? Put yourself in the sandals of these tax collectors. If you're a gal, put yourself in the sandal of these prostitutes. You say, I'm not even going there. Well, just imagine for a minute. Nobody wants you to act that way, right? Amen? But just imagine that you're a tax collector this morning, or you're a prostitute this morning. Just imagine back then, in that time, what the tax collector must have said when he heard that a prophet, this strange-looking guy, was out there, you know, in camel hair, with a leather belt. eating locusts and honey. And he's calling you to come out there. He's calling everybody, in fact, to come and be cleansed from their sin and repent because the God's kingdom is coming at any moment. And the tax collector probably thought, I'm not going out there, man. I'm too busy. I got to make what? I got money to make. Isn't that what some of us say? Go to church? Are you crazy? But what about the harlot? Most likely she thought, are you kidding? You want me to do something religious? Do you know what kind of life I live? Do you know how I make my money? She probably would have thought, you think I'm going out there and confess all of my sins? You know how many men I've been with? You think I'm going to show everybody else that I'm a sinner before the whole world and let that crazy man out there baptize me? Ah, but that night what happened? When the tax collector's head hit the pillow, He thought to himself, I gotta do something about my sin, because my guilt is eating me alive. True? He said, you got people around you, Christian, who are unbelievers. And they act like everything's fine. Maybe same-sex people. I mean, you know, talking about this whole thing going on now. But inside, their guilt's eating them what? Alive. And they act like everything's fine. And I'm saying this morning, don't you believe it? And how about the prostitute? That night, her head hit the pillow and she thought, I'm drowning in my sin and my guilt. Is it possible that someone could really make me clean? And so the tax collector and the harlot went to the river to be baptized. And Jesus said it was they who did the right thing. They submitted to the baptism of John. Therefore, they would go into the kingdom of God before these rotten priests and elders would ever see it. Okay, that's the point. Now, it's often said that the church is full of what? Tell me. Ah. I'm not going there. I like what G. James Kennedy said. Well, he said, if it's full of hypocrites, it could always use one more. You could tell the non-Christian, why don't you come and show us how to live? That's quite a challenge, isn't it? You got it down? Come and show us all how to live. R.C. Sproul said this. He said, no, the church is full of sinners. This is what he said, only people who claim not to be sinners are hypocrites. Did you know that? It's true. Here's what's fascinating to me about the church. There is no other group on God's good green planet other than the church that requires members to publicly declare themselves to be sinners before they can join. You can't get in here until we see how bad you are. You laugh, isn't it funny? Does God have a sense of humor? You say, I know that every time you're preaching, I see your funny looking face, Pastor. The religious leaders demanded to know by what authority Jesus cleansed the temple, and so he asked them about John. And why John the Baptist? Because if John the Baptist was God's messenger, here's the point of the parable, then Jesus' testimony must be true. And doesn't God's Son have authority over God's house to cleanse it? And the answer is, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. See, that's the point. Now let's get to the practical part. Because you can talk about what it means, and then as long as you don't get to what it actually has to do, then we can just get on with, what's for lunch anyway? And who's playing later in the game? And what have you got planned for work tomorrow? And how about your hobbies? And blah, blah, blah. Let me ask you this, which of us hasn't struggled with authority? Amen? The disciples, they were prone to ask, who is the greatest in the kingdom? They asked, who will have seats of honor in the kingdom? And the desire to be in charge, to have authority is common. But selfishness often leads us astray. Why? We want to seize authority when it is not ours. Who has all authority? King Jesus. In heaven and on earth. And during Jesus' final week in Jerusalem, these Jewish leaders wanted to kill him because he threatened their authority. Ah, not just that, the Romans also viewed Jesus as a threat, and they had the power to kill Jesus, and they ultimately did. And yet Jesus' popularity gave him a different kind of power, amen? This is key, beloved, when you look at the gospel. Meanwhile, many of the Israelites, they hoped Jesus would lead them to overthrow Roman power. but real power has other sources. For example, earlier in Matthew's gospel, Jesus cursed the fig tree, and the disciples asked how he did it because they wanted that same power. Isn't that what we want? And Jesus replied, verse 21 in this chapter, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you say what was done to the fig tree, You can do what was done to the fig tree, but you can also say to this mountain, go throw yourself into the sea and it will be done. Could it be that Jesus meant by this mountain, the temple mount with its false religion, that mountain Jesus said can be moved only by faith and prayer. And so the greatest powers are spiritual and moral. In 40 years after Jesus' resurrection, the Roman armies came in and destroyed Jerusalem for trying to obtain her freedom through the power of armed rebellion. Listen, Christians, the early church never tried to conquer Rome, amen? Do you hear me? It wasn't by force. They told the truth. They loved their enemies. and they prayed and the gospel conquered Rome. Listen, the gospel and love and prayer are the greatest powers then and now. And if you and I want to conquer, if we want to win people for God's kingdom, we need to tell them the truth of the gospel. We need to love them and we need to pray for them. Amen? And always remember that God can move mountains. Amen? For what looks impossible to us, is not impossible with who? God. And so the parable teaches us two lessons. First, anyone can come to Jesus through repentance and faith. That's good news, amen? Have you come? And second, it's never enough to make promises to God or claim to believe certain doctrines. What counts is actual devotion. Do you love God? Do you worship Jesus Christ? Are you living in loving service to other people. Here's what I'm asking this morning, and it's so simple. Are you the real deal, or are you pretending to be a Christian? Is the Lord nudging you to give up your charade this morning? If so, you need only repent of your pride and your deceit, and then heed His call to believe in Jesus and love Him and serve Him. Why would you wait? There may never be a better time to get right with God than now. and let no one here today think he or she will repent later. If anyone chooses to deafen himself to God's call, later may never come." May I ask you, has God spoken to you today? Is it spirit? Forget what I'm saying. Forget who I am. Is God speaking to you today? Tax collectors and prostitutes had their lives changed, but not the chief priests and elders. Oh, you say, what about Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea? They became believers. And what about Saul of Tarsus? He became Paul the Apostle. True. And so Jesus leaves the door wide open this morning, at the end of verse 31, by saying, before you rather than instead of you. And he leaves the door wide open for who? All of us. You can enter this morning. You can come into the kingdom. And so he asks us this simple question and we're done. Which of the two sons do you resemble? Do I resemble? The first or the second? Ask yourself, what am I saying to God? Am I saying, I will not? Am I rebellious against God? If so, now's the time to say yes. It's not too late to repent. Let that spirit of remorse and repentance and regret fill your heart. Turn away from your rebellion, turn to God. He will greet you this morning with mercy and grace and the blood of Christ, which atones for how many of our sins? What can wash away my sin? I'll go to church every week, that'll take care of it. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. That's why we sung it. Do you see it? Or are you like the second son this morning? You're saying, I go, sir, but you don't. Let me ask, has your life been one of religious hypocrisy? If so, now's the time to turn from your religious facade and believe in Jesus and be reconciled to God. You see, for all of us, the time to decide is when? When? Now, now, listen, you hear me Christian, and you hear me non-Christian, determine in your heart, do I believe I'm a sinner? Do I want God's pardon? Do I believe in the gospel, the good news of the cross, and the forgiveness through Christ's sacrifice? Then by the grace of God, I will follow through and I will act on what I say I believe. The God who saves tax collectors and harlots and religious hypocrites will save me as well. And listen, our response to Jesus is a matter of eternal life and death. And the ideal thing then, the ideal thing that when the father says, go and work in the vineyard is to say, I'll be glad to, and then what? Do it, amen. May God give us grace then to believe to love and to obey him through his son. Amen. Let's pray. Father, thanks for our time this morning in your word. We do pray that your word would not be stolen from our hearts by the evil one, but that it would cause us to bear fruit 30 and 60 and a hundred fold. Lord, may no one leave here without knowing you. without truly trusting, repenting, and relying on Jesus Christ. Father, thank you for the gospel. It's such good news. If we'd been taking it for granted, if we'd become cold and hardened as Christians, if we're not eager to share the good news with the lost, then work on us, Lord. Please, bring us again to the foot of the cross. Remind us of who you are and what you've done in the person of your son. Remind us just how amazing grace is that saved a wretch like me. Amen.