A Changed Mind or An Empty Commitment
Notes
Transcript
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.
Last Sunday we looked at the Parable of the Tenants and learned that “It’s Not Mine, I’m borrowing it. We don’t own anything and it all belongs to the Lord, so we should be willing to share our talents, our time and share what the Lord has give to us.
This morning, we will see in the parable of the two sons that the Lord addressed this parable to the religious leaders who were around him that time to find reasons to accuse Him.
This parable is very simple and clear. It is about a father who told both of his two sons to go to his vineyard to work.
The first son refused but later on he changed his mind and went to work for his father. The second son said “I go” but never went to the vineyard and disobeyed his father’s command.
The first son represents the prostitutes and the tax-collectors –the ones who were considered the public sinners at that time. The second son represents the Pharisees, the scribes, and the teachers of the law –these were the religionists. Now, guess who are likely to enter God’s kingdom. In verse 31, Jesus made a shocking statement to the religious leaders who were around Him. He says: “The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.”
Well, the Lord did not mean here that prostitution is giving anyone entry to God’s kingdom.
He never commended prostitution and tax-collecting above religiosity and spiritual servitude.
This parable is not intended to make a comparison between the prostitutes and the Pharisees.
Instead Jesus used this parable to teach us important truths to correct some common errors about entering God’s kingdom.
One thing that’s true....is that God looks upon every man, woman and child with His great love.
He sends the rain and sunshine upon everyone, both the righteous and the unrighteous. God sends the blessings of life, happiness, healing and provisions to us all. The Father’s desire is that we all be called His “sons and daughters”. But, not all will be called “son” when the times of judgment come and we must stand before Him.
Some who are referred to as a son in this scripture, will not be called sons any longer, but will be called strangers.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’
There are a lot of people who talk about Jesus as their Lord, profess Him to be their Lord but He really isn’t their Lord at all for they do not do those things that He commands them to do, nor do they listen to His voice when He speaks to them.
Every one of us falls into the categories that are representative of these two sons.
These two sons had very different attitudes and their ultimate character is shown by what they do and not necessarily by what they say!
Notice that the father went first to the son that would be the most rebellious in his outward expression.
That son refused to go work in the vineyard. On the surface this son was absolutely rebellious. He said emphatically, “NO, I WILL NOT GO!”
That’s the picture of the worldly crowd who cares nothing for the work of the Lord or for the Word of the Lord.
They are too busy, too caught up in the deception of sin; too consumed by the pleasures of this life; and too blinded to the destination that their life is taking them and, as a result, they don’t desire to change because they think that what they are doing is GOOD ENOUGH.
That’s the problem with the worldly people; they think that they are “good enough” just as they are.
ILLUSTRATION:
I was talking with someone a few months ago concerning that very thing. The question arose as to whether the Father in Heaven would “overlook” or excuse, or perhaps make an exception for those who would never hear the name of Jesus preached to them but who still did everything in their knowledge to live a good, moral life.
That’s the problem that all of mankind has right now. Man has convinced himself that living a “good, moral life” and “doing what is right” will be sufficient to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
My Brothers and Sisters.....I want you to know that living a moral life and doing what is right are wonderful and necessary things but these things alone will never purchase our way of salvation.
But it isn’t just the worldly crowd that thinks they are good enough. There are many in the churches that have taken this same attitude toward God!
We love to go around bragging about how much we love God, how much we love our church, how we are called to a ministry, and how much faith we have, but when it comes to where the “rubber meets the road”.....
There is very little, if any, involvement in what God is doing through the church and in the church because we don’t have time for God anymore.
We have the same faithful few that come to Sunday School and dial into the Power of Prayer Call......
Don’t ever forget that just calling Him Lord, and doing good works in His name, will not purchase your way into Heaven.
Salvation can only be assured by being obedient to the commandments of the Lord!
My Brothers and Sisters.....He requires more than lip service!
Jesus requires a 100% commitment to the call that He has placed upon your life.
The amazing thing that I see in these two sons and their reactions to the command of the father to work in the vineyard is that the son who is outwardly rebellious becomes the inwardly obedient son while the one who in outwardly obedient becomes the one who is inwardly rebellious.
That’s a picture of how man would see the spirituality of another person.
We cannot see the heart of a man; so we judge only by the outward expression and appearance. God knows the heart and judges according to the heart.
If we were to see the outward rebellious expression we would automatically assume that the first son would be the one who is eventually cast aside and the outward expression of obedience of the second son would be assumed to be the one who would gain the inheritance but oh how different God sees these two sons!
Do you know that it is easier to witness of the Love of Jesus Christ and the gospel to someone who is living in sin than it is to witness the same things to a hard-hearted and hard headed, and self-righteous “Christian”?
It never ceases to amaze me that, most of the time, it is those who are New Believer who are more active in what God is doing than those who have been Christians for a long time!
It concerns me that those who have been living for Jesus a long time, aren’t really living “for Jesus” but for themselves.
They have their own agenda, their own plans, their own desires and they have no time for “for Jesus” at all.
How many people make their plans from day to day and never once consider that God’s house needs their helping hand or that there is a “ministry” where they are needed?
WE TAKE SO MUCH FOR GRANTED! We think that just giving lip service or “making a show” once in a while is sufficient but, in reality, if we are not very careful, we will find ourselves in the place of the second son in the parable of this scripture passage.
That second son said, “Oh yes, I will go!”
In the end, he didn’t go but went on with his life as usual.
It is this son who was really the rebellious son.
It is this son who became the most grievous son to his father.
It is this son, who represents those in the church who say, “Yes, I will work in the vineyard.
Yes, I will witness to the lost. Yes, I will work in the church and do what God has asked me do.”
Then, when the “inspiration of the moment” and the “excitement of the moving of the Spirit” begins to subside, they will quickly forget the commitments and promises and return to life as usual.
They become unprofitable to the Kingdom of God!
There are a lot of these folks in the church of today!
Their words speak loudly of their commitment to Christ but their actions prove only a commitment to self!
You don’t see them supporting the ministries of the church with their presence!
You don’t see them doing any type of ministry or getting involved in much of anything!
They are simply too busy pursuing the things of this life, and the enemy has blinded them to what they are doing.
There is no doubt in my mind that according to the Word of God, many of these same people who think that they are going to enter into Heaven will stand before God one day and hear those words, “Depart from me I never knew you”!
They are going to be surprised when that happens because Enemy has deceived them so greatly into believing that they are “good enough” just the way they are!
“…Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
We can play around with the Call of God and live on the fringes of Christianity all we want..... but FBC...... there will come a Day of Reckoning for all of us!
1 Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. 2 For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, 3 how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? It was declared at first through the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard him,
It’s the second son who has the same attitude that so many Christians have!
Yes Lord I will do what you ask, but they don’t do anything for God!
It was not the worldly crowd who professed to cast out devils in Jesus’ name!
It was not the sinner who claimed to “do wonderful and godly works in the name of Jesus”.
These are people that each of us would look at and call them “spiritual Christians”.
What happened to them?
The answer is very simple! They rebelled against the commandment of God to serve Him with all their heart! With God, it is either all or nothing!
We can’t serve Him half-heartedly and expect God to be pleased with us!
We must be committed completely or our commitment is no commitment at all!
Surely God will judge those who never accept his Son, Jesus, as their Lord and Savior and they will be cast into the Lake of Fire along with every demon and the devil too.
We all know that and expect that.
What we don’t expect is that multitudes of Christians will be condemned right along with them for their rebellion and disobedience to the Call of God upon their life.
The Apostle Paul knew this was a grave possibility when he said in 1 Corinthians 9:27....
27 but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
Brother Paul understood that he had to continually and constantly keep his own fleshly desires and his own life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
It was his goal to always obey the Call of God to preach the gospel and work in the “vineyard of God”.
He was one of those represented by the “first son” of our story.
He had began by not only rejecting the message of the Gospel, even standing by and holding the coat of those who stoned Stephen, but He had persecuted Christians all throughout the land of Israel.
In the beginning, he said no to Jesus, but then obeyed the call of God and became the greatest of all the Apostles.
In the end, he said yes to Jesus and was saved from his sin just like you and I.
Paul was concerned that he would lose his salvation through disobedience.
He was constantly on guard against becoming too complacent.
He was constantly renewing his commitment to be obedient to the Call of God.
That’s where we must be this morning FBC!
We must be vigilant in not allowing the enemy to deceive us into being inactive in the work of the vineyard.
We must stay involved.... keep working for the Lord lest we find ourselves cast aside!
Which son are you?
Have you said no, but deep inside you desire to follow the Lord?
Today is the day that you can come to Jesus and finally say yes.
He is only waiting for your answer and He already has a great life prepared for you..... if you will only obey Him and go to work in His fields.
Have you said yes, even accepted Christ as your Savior, and then quit working in His vineyard?
Have you fallen into enemy’s trap....believed his deceiving lies and been caught in the web of life’s cares and troubles but missed the Call of God to work in His fields?
Come back now!
Turn your eyes upon Jesus and surrender your life back to Him!
Get on your working clothes and get busy in the fields of the Lord!
God’s work, that He has called you to do, is still there, waiting for you to obey Him!