Are you Righteous or Just Religious?
Notes
Transcript
Are you Righteous or Just Religious?
Are you Righteous or Just Religious?
Good morning all, hope you are well and blessed today.
I’m glad to see you here this morning and on time today. The time change events make it tricky for some folks, and sometimes, people get caught...
But thank the Lord for His faithfulness, we (meaning man) may play around with the time and such but each day comes because of His will, and each day belongs to Him.
We are just about a month from Easter and so I hope we could have some days where we could gather as the church and spruce up a bit before Easter itself.
And with Easter in mind I want to ask you to invite a person or family to attend church with you on Easter. I really want to see a good group of people here to worship and hear the Word of God.
Easter is one of those times when people in the Bible belt feel they should go to church so take advantage of it and invite them.
Today we come back to Matthew chapter 21…
And we are going to look at a long section that really all ties together, so I want to address it as the whole… remember we are in the last week of Christ earthy life. chapters 21 to 28 deal with the events from the Triumphal entry into the city, those few days until the crucifixion and finally it concludes 40 days after the resurrection with His ascension back to heaven.
So lets look at the first portions of my text today… Lets look at both of these...
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. 30 And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.
and then
33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
So Jesus begins to teach in the form of a parable, (earthy story with a heavenly meaning) it seems to be one of his favorite teaching forms because the meaning of what He is teaching isn’t hidden, no.... it is given in a way that everyone can understand.
So in both of these parables Jesus teaches the fact that there was a land owner who had children, sons in fact are what is depicted in the text.
So lets begin with this thought...
1. God’s Indictment...
In our text as we walk through the end of the chapter we see Jesus uses two parables to drive home his point to the religious leaders who are listening to Him.
The religious leaders where just that, they were religious, but they were not righteous.
They were all about following the law, keeping the commands and doing those things for the sake of doing them.... But they forgot what it was to just live in front of God with a whole heart. You see it is with the heart, that we honor God first. The heart leads to the mind, the mind leads to our actions ..
Now they, these religious leaders they failed to live for God, they rejected his message and now his own son.
I want you to consider this thought my friends, God will never bring judgement or chastisement upon His people without telling them what has happened, what will happen and what the price is for their actions or disobedience.
So often when you look at the witness of Scripture, we find that God has laid His expectation in front of His people Israel and yes for us as the church as well.
Our job is to hear and know Him and His will, and then follow Him. The requirement is for us just like the call was for Israel to be obedient.
Now remember the religious leaders have asked Jesus by what authority did he worked.... more especially why did he drive those who sold and exchanged money in the Temple complex.
So Jesus begins by telling us the first of two parables.
Jesus says there was a land owner…
Please understand there is only one land owner in the Scriptures when people are teaching spiritual truths, the land owner is the Father.
So lets consider a couple of thoughts...
A. So in this first parable...this Father has two sons.... and He seeks to put the two boys to work… But their attitudes are off....they are not right.
The first son is asked to work and His reply is defiant, disobedient and hateful… I will not!, he says.... but then changes his mind and does to work in the father’s vineyard.
The second son is given a similar command, He tells his father that he will go to work in the Vineyard but later refuses and does not follow the Father’s command.
And so illustrating the obedience and disobedience of the two sons Jesus asked the religious leaders a simple question.
Q. Which of the two did the will of the father? - verse 31.... Or more simply, the question could be: Which son was obedient?
The religious leaders answer correctly and reply the first son acted in obedience and followed the will of the father.
One son acted in Obedience and one acted in Disobedience.....
B. And then secondly in the next parable, the Father had established a beautiful vineyard, placed a winepress there along with a tower and leased out the land kind of in the same way we understand sharecropping here in America.
The people were supposed to work it, bring in the crop of grapes at the end of the season and process them. The tenants would receive their portion and the land owner would receive his portion as well. He would send a representative to collect his portion.
It was a win, win situation.. He invested, they worked and both were to benefit.
And verse 34 says that at the right time when harvest time came, the owner sent servants to collect his portion. But those who leased the land beat one servant, stoned one and killed another.
The land owner sent other servants and verse 36 says they were treated the same way.
Finally… He said I will send my son, they will respect Him! But they did not.. They plotted saying if we kill the son we will have His inheritance. So they proceeded to throw the son out of the city and kill him.
Do you see in both cases the indictments that Jesus is relating to the religious leaders.
The second son in the first parable, and those who leased the land in the second parable acted in disobedience, in sin and God will hold them accountable for their actions.
Please know my friends, God is aware of every act of disobedience and every sin. And he will judge as a righteous judge.
You see a righteous person will follow the Lord’s instructions not out of fear, not out of obligation but out of the joy of knowing the blessing of walking in obedience with the Lord
A religious person in turn while claiming to know and walk with God will always fall back to their own sinful ways and do what is pleasing in their own eye.
Which are you more inclined to be, to do .....
You Jesus is painting a comprehensive picture of how the religious leaders has acts, treated others and how they will soon treat the Son… Pay attention to this… even here Jesus is alluding to his up coming death in the second parable.
Now lets move on
Secondly...
2. God’s Sentence and Judgment
As we consider the idea of God sentencing others because of sin, understand God is a righteous judge and He will hold all of humanity accountable for their actions or lack there off. So really it is a two fold action.
First, We see His response to sin and what the punishment will be for their sin and Secondly, we can see Him carry out that sentence, and bring punishment.
So lets return to the first parable...
Jesus asked the question, which of the two sons did the will of the Father? And the reply was the first one.
And listen to what Jesus says here....verses 31 and 32
31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before 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 when you saw it, you did not afterward change your minds and believe him.
Listen to the sentence, Jesus says the very worst of sinners, the tax collectors who were deeply hated and prostitutes will inherit the Kingdom of God before you do… Why?
They believed the message of John the Baptist and followed…
You see Jesus is taking them back to the question he asked them earlier, was John and his message from God or from man?
Well, we know John was appointed by God, prepared before his birth as the one, the one voice crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord.
They should have believed and if they had, they would have understood who Jesus is as well… But since you rejected John and since you rejected me, you will not inherit the kingdom of God.
And look at that last note in verse 32… You saw it and you did not believe.
The ways of God were demonstrated. John preached and people came out and were repenting of their sin and being baptised, believing the message of God.
And finally they saw the works of Jesus, the dead was raised, the blind received their sight and the lame where healed. All these works were to authentic His message, but they hardened their hearts and would not believe.
They, these religious leaders are no better than Pharoah in Egypt, He saw the work of God and would not believe, they hardened their hearts not believing
And as God held those in the parable accountable, So God will hold the religious leaders accountable for their rejection of John and their rejection of Jesus.
And if we reject him, fail to follow him, we stand judged as well.
Now look at the judgement of the second parable
Verses 37-41
37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
Again, Jesus points out the sentence for those who the land was first intrusted too.
After killing the Son, Jesus says the father will put those who were disobedient, who sinned against him to death, and will open the vineyard to others who will do right and produce fruits, willingly giving His portion in due time.
God will bypass those who the kingdom was first shared with....
So what is Jesus saying here? He is telling them that the Kingdom of God is and will be open to others, not just the children of Israel.
And here is the truth my friends, every sentence handed down by a judge carry’s a punishment that must be executed...
God has promised that the law breakers, the sinners, those who reject Him and his message of Salvation stand convicted, they will be sentenced.
Lets go back to our text one more time… verses 40-46
40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.
My friends, if a person or persons stand before a judge guilty, what will they say for themselves… honestly, there isn’t much that can say at that point but the truth.
Jesus as he comes toward the end of the parable of the Vineyard, He asks the religious leaders what will the owner do to those who are guilty?
The religious leaders answered Jesus question, look at verse 41...
41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
Wow, those religious just indicted themselves… for their actions are evil and have been evil.
The religious leaders rejected John the Baptist like their fathers before rejected the prophets like Isaiah, and Jeremiah, Amos and others… and very soon them will condemn the Son of God to death.
God will hold them accountable, their sin is great before Him...
Friends, I want to tell you, the world has and continues to live contrary to to God and His commands, they think life is about them, they live for themselves and care about no one… and they think it will all be ok...
God will hold them accountable...
The same is true for the church, if you live for yourself, if you live contrary to God and God’s word, you might as well expect judgment… Don’t be foolish enough to say I’m forgiven who its ok..
Friends if you care so little about sin, if you care so little about what God thinks about you… then maybe your heart isn’t right.
Listen a true child of God will not continue in persistent habitual sin. You might ask what is habitual sin, it is sin that one keeps on practicing day after day and year after year…
God is not ok with it, and He is not ok with that person
Listen he died for us, He has forgiven us, He has bought us for a costly price. We are indebted to Him… We must live for Him!
20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Now lets finish those last verses.... 42 and 43… Jesus asks the religious leaders one last question...
Have you not heard...
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“ ‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.
Jesus rebukes them, He says have you not read taking them back to the OT, Psalm 118, verses 22-23.
The One they would reject is indeed the Messiah, Bu they thought He wasn’t worthy, they thought He was a blasphemer, but instead He is the cornerstone.
They would kill Jesus, but His death isn’t the last word, it is just part of the exaltation of the Son.
Jesus would die, be buried and would rise again on the third day. The Resurrected Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s plan...
He would be a stumbling block to many, and they will be be broken by Jesus and anyone who does not follow the Lord in genuine discipleship will lead to judgment, the stone will fall on them and crush them...
And as Jesus said this, those old sinners, those bunch of snakes as John called them understood that he was referring to them and their failure to respond first to John and also to Jesus...
But because of the crowds, they would not try to arrest him in the presence of many.
So the question still remains, are we religious or are we righteous? Being religious isn’t enough in the eyes of God my friends, God died for all of us and he wants all of us and it begins in our heart.
where are you today, and if you have been living a more religious life instead of a righteous life, join us in this altar this morning being honest in front of God seeking his face, seeking forgiveness of sin and seeking a closer walk with Him..