WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.019 day again. Now if you'll just turn to where we 00:00:04.019 --> 00:00:08.500 left off last week. We're going to continue in 00:00:08.500 --> 00:00:10.859 our sermon series in Matthew and we're coming 00:00:10.859 --> 00:00:13.740 to this section that's all about authority and 00:00:13.740 --> 00:00:16.460 what it means to follow Jesus and it's interesting 00:00:16.460 --> 00:00:19.699 because we use the word follow very loosely today. 00:00:20.219 --> 00:00:21.699 If you think about how we use it we say well 00:00:21.699 --> 00:00:24.600 I follow this person on Instagram, I follow this 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:27.120 person's podcast, I follow this person on Twitter. 00:00:27.629 --> 00:00:30.309 But in the Bible, to follow someone, it meant 00:00:30.309 --> 00:00:33.009 something very different. It meant that you actually 00:00:33.009 --> 00:00:36.409 left something behind, that you submitted to 00:00:36.409 --> 00:00:39.829 someone else's leadership. When Jesus calls people 00:00:39.829 --> 00:00:42.490 to follow Him, He is not calling people to just 00:00:42.490 --> 00:00:45.990 click a like and subscribe button. He is asking 00:00:45.990 --> 00:00:48.649 people to lay down their lives. This is what 00:00:48.649 --> 00:00:56.600 He said in Matthew 16. The Bible says, Let him 00:00:56.600 --> 00:00:59.560 deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 00:01:00.119 --> 00:01:03.259 For whoever would save his life will lose it. 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:07.480 But whoever loses his life for my sake will find 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:10.359 it. You see, when the term follow started being 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:14.060 used in the context of social media, it originally 00:01:14.060 --> 00:01:18.159 meant I like this person's content. But it's 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:20.219 developed even further now. There's such a thing 00:01:20.219 --> 00:01:23.450 now as a hate follow. which is where you follow 00:01:23.450 --> 00:01:25.290 someone that you don't like and you don't agree 00:01:25.290 --> 00:01:27.810 with just to keep tabs on them. That's why I 00:01:27.810 --> 00:01:33.390 follow the Vatican on Twitter. There are really 00:01:33.390 --> 00:01:35.310 three kinds of followers. You have those who 00:01:35.310 --> 00:01:38.170 are irritated and they are merely subscribed 00:01:38.170 --> 00:01:40.129 because they're wanting to keep tabs with someone 00:01:40.129 --> 00:01:43.069 and argue with them. You have those who are interested 00:01:43.069 --> 00:01:45.230 and they're just kind of on the fringe. They 00:01:45.230 --> 00:01:47.549 want to keep up with what someone's saying, but 00:01:47.549 --> 00:01:49.989 it really doesn't affect their life too much. 00:01:50.329 --> 00:01:53.849 And then you have those who are invested. They 00:01:53.849 --> 00:01:57.590 are prepared to change their lives. They're prepared 00:01:57.590 --> 00:02:00.349 to adjust their lives and their beliefs based 00:02:00.349 --> 00:02:03.150 on what the person they're following tells them 00:02:03.150 --> 00:02:05.590 to do. They are in the words of the greatest 00:02:05.590 --> 00:02:09.129 football coach alive today, Dabo Sweeney. They 00:02:09.129 --> 00:02:12.960 are all in. And that's what Jesus is doing here 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:15.879 in Matthew 21. He's exposing the difference between 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:18.460 these different kinds of people. And the Bible's 00:02:18.460 --> 00:02:21.159 point here is that Jesus isn't looking for spiritual 00:02:21.159 --> 00:02:26.039 subscribers, but surrendered followers. Jesus 00:02:26.039 --> 00:02:29.259 isn't looking for spiritual subscribers. He's 00:02:29.259 --> 00:02:34.439 looking for surrendered followers. He isn't interested 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:36.560 in people who are going to give him lip service. 00:02:37.039 --> 00:02:39.000 He isn't interested in people who are just gonna 00:02:39.000 --> 00:02:42.039 show up to church on a Sunday morning, looking 00:02:42.039 --> 00:02:44.939 nice, saying all the right things. When Jesus 00:02:44.939 --> 00:02:48.099 calls a man to follow him, as Dietrich Bonhoeffer 00:02:48.099 --> 00:02:52.780 said, he bids him come and die. And so the difference 00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:55.740 that we need to consider this morning, the importance 00:02:55.740 --> 00:02:58.219 that we need to be looking at this morning is 00:02:58.219 --> 00:03:01.400 what is the difference between spiritual subscribers 00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:05.189 and surrendered followers? What's the difference 00:03:05.189 --> 00:03:07.930 between spiritual subscribers and surrendered 00:03:07.930 --> 00:03:11.909 followers? Now as we're getting into this passage, 00:03:11.949 --> 00:03:14.830 we need to remember the context of the passage 00:03:14.830 --> 00:03:17.669 and what has happened. For instance, Jesus has 00:03:17.669 --> 00:03:20.830 entered into Jerusalem at his triumphal entry. 00:03:21.550 --> 00:03:23.490 He immediately went and he cleansed the temple. 00:03:23.550 --> 00:03:26.030 He started flipping over tables and driving people 00:03:26.030 --> 00:03:30.759 out. Then he cursed a fig tree, and exposed the 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:33.780 problem of false faith. And Jesus has done all 00:03:33.780 --> 00:03:36.539 of this over the course of an afternoon and a 00:03:36.539 --> 00:03:39.840 morning. And so he's made a lot of waves in not 00:03:39.840 --> 00:03:42.960 a lot of time. And people are on edge, the religious 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:45.360 leaders, they are irritated, and they are looking 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:48.599 for a fight. And right on cue, they're entering 00:03:48.599 --> 00:03:51.159 into the temple, and they see Jesus teaching, 00:03:51.259 --> 00:03:54.060 and they say, all right, now's the time. It's 00:03:54.060 --> 00:03:56.750 time to start a fight with Jesus. And so this 00:03:56.750 --> 00:03:59.990 is what the Bible says in verse 23. And when 00:03:59.990 --> 00:04:02.569 he entered the temple, the chief priests and 00:04:02.569 --> 00:04:04.569 the elders of the people came up to him as he 00:04:04.569 --> 00:04:08.009 was teaching and said, by what authority are 00:04:08.009 --> 00:04:10.830 you doing these things? And who gave you this 00:04:10.830 --> 00:04:13.069 authority? All right, so you have to understand, 00:04:13.389 --> 00:04:15.650 the reason they're asking this question is because 00:04:15.650 --> 00:04:19.970 in ancient Judaism, authority came from recognized 00:04:19.970 --> 00:04:23.569 sources. It came from the Sanhedrin, famous rabbis, 00:04:24.029 --> 00:04:27.720 scribal training or a prophetic calling. In other 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:30.000 words, you would almost never hear a rabbi speak 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:31.639 with their own authority. They would almost never 00:04:31.639 --> 00:04:35.699 say things like, I say to you, or I teach you 00:04:35.699 --> 00:04:38.899 this. Instead, they would say things like, Rabbi 00:04:38.899 --> 00:04:43.100 Hillel says, or according to Rabbi Shemai, And 00:04:43.100 --> 00:04:45.439 so they would teach with the authority of another. 00:04:45.600 --> 00:04:47.560 It was coming from some other source. I actually 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:49.439 created a graphic. Hopefully we have it for you 00:04:49.439 --> 00:04:51.980 to see. You can't read that. That's on me. That's 00:04:51.980 --> 00:04:54.899 my bad. Looks nice though. I'll send it to you 00:04:54.899 --> 00:04:58.100 if you want it. But basically the idea is that 00:04:58.100 --> 00:04:59.879 you would never teach with your own authority. 00:04:59.899 --> 00:05:02.740 It came from an outside source. And you see Paul 00:05:02.740 --> 00:05:06.339 doing this very thing in Acts 22. When he's making 00:05:06.339 --> 00:05:09.240 his appeal to the Jewish people, Paul says to 00:05:09.240 --> 00:05:13.699 them in Acts 22 verse 3, I'm a Jew. born in Tarsus 00:05:13.699 --> 00:05:17.500 and Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated 00:05:17.500 --> 00:05:20.500 at the feet of Gamaliel, according to the strict 00:05:20.500 --> 00:05:23.120 manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:26.060 for God as all of you are this day." So what's 00:05:26.060 --> 00:05:28.819 Paul doing here? He's anticipating the same question 00:05:28.819 --> 00:05:31.180 that the religious leaders are asking Jesus here. 00:05:31.339 --> 00:05:34.079 Paul was making his appeal to the Jewish people. 00:05:34.420 --> 00:05:37.279 He was telling them that Jesus was the promised 00:05:37.279 --> 00:05:40.379 Messiah that the Old Testament had foretold about. 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:43.019 And so he's pointing them to Jesus, he's preaching 00:05:43.019 --> 00:05:44.819 the gospel, and he's anticipating that they're 00:05:44.819 --> 00:05:48.379 going to say to him, by what authority are you 00:05:48.379 --> 00:05:51.300 saying these things, Paul? And he says, well, 00:05:51.379 --> 00:05:54.199 Gamaliel. I was trained at the feet of Gamaliel. 00:05:54.350 --> 00:05:56.569 And so in order to be a legitimate rabbi, you 00:05:56.569 --> 00:05:59.069 had to be validated by this higher authority. 00:05:59.250 --> 00:06:02.610 And so it's interesting when we see Jesus speaking 00:06:02.610 --> 00:06:06.389 and teaching and healing, and he's not doing 00:06:06.389 --> 00:06:10.290 it by saying, I'm appealing to this other source 00:06:10.290 --> 00:06:12.230 of authority, he's doing it in and of himself. 00:06:12.629 --> 00:06:15.410 Jesus is claiming to have the highest authority 00:06:15.410 --> 00:06:18.230 possible. Jesus is saying, I don't need to be 00:06:18.230 --> 00:06:20.829 validated by some other source, I validate myself. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:24.160 I don't get my authority from some religious 00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:27.680 teacher that came before me. I am the authority. 00:06:28.699 --> 00:06:31.019 And so when the religious leaders ask by what 00:06:31.019 --> 00:06:33.860 authority you do these things, you have to understand 00:06:33.860 --> 00:06:36.399 what they're really asking Jesus is, Jesus, who 00:06:36.399 --> 00:06:40.220 do you think you are? What gives you the right 00:06:40.220 --> 00:06:44.540 to come into our temple? and say things against 00:06:44.540 --> 00:06:46.839 us and teach things that go against us and tell 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:49.259 us that we're a bunch of bad people who aren't 00:06:49.259 --> 00:06:52.100 actually right with God. Jesus, what gives you 00:06:52.100 --> 00:06:56.180 the right? You see, what they're hoping is that 00:06:56.180 --> 00:06:59.319 Jesus would agree with them. And when Jesus doesn't 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:03.000 agree with them, they want to go around Jesus 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:05.540 and find some authority that will agree with 00:07:05.540 --> 00:07:08.079 them. And if that sounds familiar to you, it's 00:07:08.079 --> 00:07:10.420 because that's exactly what people still do today. 00:07:11.340 --> 00:07:13.660 People like to claim they believe in Jesus. They 00:07:13.660 --> 00:07:15.839 like to claim they believe the Bible, but when 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:19.220 Jesus doesn't agree with them, they go and find 00:07:19.220 --> 00:07:22.459 someone who will. When I was at North Greenville, 00:07:22.560 --> 00:07:24.759 I had to take a class called Senior Seminar, 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:28.680 and every senior seminar has its own topic, and 00:07:28.680 --> 00:07:31.839 our topic was the topic of homosexuality. And 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:34.660 so we had to read a book called God and the Gay 00:07:34.660 --> 00:07:37.420 Christian by Matthew Vines. I have this book 00:07:37.420 --> 00:07:39.339 in my office, but if you find it in my office, 00:07:39.420 --> 00:07:42.439 it is stamped with a stamp that says heretical 00:07:42.439 --> 00:07:45.060 garbage for research purposes only. I just don't 00:07:45.060 --> 00:07:46.620 want people to be confused about what the pastor's 00:07:46.620 --> 00:07:49.240 reading, okay? So I got that stamp for a reason. 00:07:50.420 --> 00:07:52.759 But basically here's what happened. Matthew Vines 00:07:52.759 --> 00:07:55.610 grew up in a Christian household. But he started 00:07:55.610 --> 00:07:58.550 to struggle with feelings of homosexuality, same 00:07:58.550 --> 00:08:01.709 -sex attraction, and so he said he wanted to 00:08:01.709 --> 00:08:05.209 discover what the Bible actually taught on this 00:08:05.209 --> 00:08:08.110 subject. And so he said what he was going to 00:08:08.110 --> 00:08:10.829 do is he was going to go and do research for 00:08:10.829 --> 00:08:12.829 himself. He was going to investigate this topic 00:08:12.829 --> 00:08:15.149 for himself, and he was going to let the evidence 00:08:15.149 --> 00:08:17.649 speak for itself, and he would just present it 00:08:17.649 --> 00:08:21.360 in this book. And surprisingly what he found 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:24.860 is that apparently God never condemns homosexuality. 00:08:25.860 --> 00:08:27.660 That all the Bible verses that speak against 00:08:27.660 --> 00:08:30.519 it are actually speaking against it. And so he 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:33.000 writes in his book his findings and he says well 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:36.039 this expert says this and this person who's a 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:38.700 scholar in this says this. Here's what he actually 00:08:38.700 --> 00:08:43.139 did. He ignored every orthodox and evangelical 00:08:43.139 --> 00:08:47.159 authority on this matter and he went and specifically 00:08:47.159 --> 00:08:51.639 looked for liberal scholars who would tell him 00:08:51.639 --> 00:08:54.639 what he wanted to hear. And so he ignored the 00:08:54.639 --> 00:08:57.820 majority voice. He found people who would affirm 00:08:57.820 --> 00:08:59.720 his lifestyle, tell him what he wanted to hear, 00:08:59.899 --> 00:09:02.100 and then he presented that as though that is 00:09:02.100 --> 00:09:05.259 what the Bible actually says on this matter. 00:09:05.340 --> 00:09:07.980 He was merely looking for someone to validate 00:09:07.980 --> 00:09:11.480 his lifestyle. And this is exactly what the religious 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:14.529 leaders are doing here. You're seeing a key difference 00:09:14.529 --> 00:09:17.450 between being spiritually subscribed and spiritually 00:09:17.450 --> 00:09:21.409 surrendered. Spiritual subscribers resist Jesus's 00:09:21.409 --> 00:09:24.210 authority to the degree that it threatens their 00:09:24.210 --> 00:09:31.309 own. Spiritual subscribers resist Jesus's authority 00:09:31.309 --> 00:09:36.500 to the degree that it threatens their own. You 00:09:36.500 --> 00:09:38.559 see, those who are merely subscribed, they are 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:42.759 completely fine with Jesus as long as Jesus agrees 00:09:42.759 --> 00:09:46.480 with them, as long as Jesus tells them what they 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:48.940 want to hear, as long as Jesus affirms their 00:09:48.940 --> 00:09:51.600 lifestyle. But the second that there's disagreement, 00:09:53.080 --> 00:09:56.120 they resist Jesus's authority and they reject 00:09:56.120 --> 00:10:00.059 his authority. I think one of the absolute best 00:10:00.059 --> 00:10:02.620 self -examination questions you can ask yourself 00:10:02.620 --> 00:10:06.059 this morning is this, when scripture confronts 00:10:06.059 --> 00:10:09.519 me, do I adjust my life or my interpretation? 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:13.879 That's going to tell you where your heart's at 00:10:13.879 --> 00:10:18.220 this morning. When scripture confronts me and 00:10:18.220 --> 00:10:21.440 confronts me in my sin, do I adjust my life or 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:25.179 my interpretation? And we see this in all sorts 00:10:25.179 --> 00:10:29.460 of issues today, do we not? People who clearly 00:10:29.460 --> 00:10:32.159 see what God has to say on an issue, they clearly 00:10:32.159 --> 00:10:35.340 see where Jesus is claiming to be an authority 00:10:35.340 --> 00:10:38.360 and yet they don't like what He has to say and 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:41.320 so they just adjust their interpretation. You 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:44.700 see it with the issue of abortion today. The 00:10:44.700 --> 00:10:47.299 Bible says that mankind is made in the image 00:10:47.299 --> 00:10:52.320 of God. Every single human is made in the image 00:10:52.320 --> 00:10:55.679 of God. The Bible also makes it very clear that 00:10:55.679 --> 00:10:58.820 life begins at conception, not at some later 00:10:58.820 --> 00:11:04.159 point. The Bible says that God knit us in our 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:07.320 mother's womb. Before we were ever even born, 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:11.419 He knew us. Life begins at conception. Every 00:11:11.419 --> 00:11:13.519 human is made in the image of God. The Bible 00:11:13.519 --> 00:11:17.000 says that murder is a sin, and the taking of 00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:21.059 innocent human life is murder. You go to the 00:11:21.059 --> 00:11:22.940 Bible, and the Bible says abortion is murder. 00:11:23.600 --> 00:11:28.080 God judged nations specifically for ripping open 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:31.279 the wombs of pregnant women. God brought judgment 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:34.000 upon them. And yet you look at what the world 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:36.019 says today. This is what God has to say on the 00:11:36.019 --> 00:11:37.960 issue, and then people today go, well it's my 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:42.379 body, my choice. No, it's not. The Bible says 00:11:42.379 --> 00:11:43.940 that you are not your own, that you were bought 00:11:43.940 --> 00:11:46.259 with a price, so honor and glorify God with your 00:11:46.259 --> 00:11:49.110 bodies. It is not your body, your choice. And 00:11:49.110 --> 00:11:51.149 no human has the right to do whatever they want 00:11:51.149 --> 00:11:53.970 with their own body, regardless of their gender. 00:11:54.990 --> 00:11:56.730 And so we have two options here. When we see 00:11:56.730 --> 00:11:58.750 what God has to say on the topic of abortion, 00:11:59.070 --> 00:12:01.570 we can either change our life or we can change 00:12:01.570 --> 00:12:05.289 our interpretation. We can either submit to Jesus's 00:12:05.289 --> 00:12:07.370 authority or we can say that we know better. 00:12:07.850 --> 00:12:10.929 And this is what we're going to do. If that one 00:12:10.929 --> 00:12:14.490 wasn't controversial enough for you, let's think 00:12:14.490 --> 00:12:18.279 of another one. You take the issue of women pastors 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:22.700 today. The Bible says that the office of pastor 00:12:22.700 --> 00:12:27.379 is reserved for men as qualified by scripture. 00:12:27.620 --> 00:12:29.840 That's what the Bible says. The Bible says in 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:33.580 1st Timothy 2, 12 that women are not permitted 00:12:33.580 --> 00:12:37.679 to teach or exercise authority over men. That's 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:40.740 what God says in His inspired and narrant Word. 00:12:42.179 --> 00:12:45.370 Now we can either submit to that Or we can go, 00:12:45.490 --> 00:12:47.970 well, I don't like that, pastor. That's not fair. 00:12:49.269 --> 00:12:51.590 That's outdated. That was just for the first 00:12:51.590 --> 00:12:53.769 century. We need to get with the times. It's 00:12:53.769 --> 00:12:56.009 totally appropriate to have women pastors today. 00:12:56.370 --> 00:12:58.149 And all we're doing is saying the same thing 00:12:58.149 --> 00:13:00.850 the religious leaders are saying here. What authority, 00:13:00.850 --> 00:13:05.669 Jesus? What gives you the right to tell me what 00:13:05.669 --> 00:13:08.370 I can and cannot do? I feel a certain way. Listen 00:13:08.370 --> 00:13:10.429 to me. It doesn't matter how you feel. It matters 00:13:10.429 --> 00:13:13.649 what God says in His Word. I think it would be 00:13:13.649 --> 00:13:16.009 wise to tell you at this point that your interpretation 00:13:16.009 --> 00:13:18.409 of Scripture doesn't actually change God's intention 00:13:18.409 --> 00:13:21.850 with Scripture. God's Word means what it was 00:13:21.850 --> 00:13:24.970 intended to mean and our understanding of Scripture 00:13:24.970 --> 00:13:28.870 has no bearing on its actual meaning. Let God 00:13:28.870 --> 00:13:34.850 be true in every man a liar. If that wasn't controversial 00:13:34.850 --> 00:13:38.309 enough for you, take the issue of marriage and 00:13:38.309 --> 00:13:42.100 sexuality. The Bible says that marriage is to 00:13:42.100 --> 00:13:47.759 be between one man and one woman for life. That 00:13:47.759 --> 00:13:52.759 is the only God -ordained form of marriage. And 00:13:52.759 --> 00:13:55.460 we can either accept that and adjust our lives 00:13:55.460 --> 00:13:58.440 or we can resist Jesus' authority. We can say, 00:13:58.659 --> 00:14:01.120 well, God needs to get with the times. People 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:02.840 need to live together before they get married. 00:14:02.840 --> 00:14:04.320 They need to see if they're compatible. They 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:06.840 need to enjoy a physical relationship with one 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:09.220 another before marriage. It's completely acceptable. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:11.559 It's completely appropriate today. God needs 00:14:11.559 --> 00:14:18.179 to get with it. Who are you, O man, to question 00:14:18.179 --> 00:14:21.919 the Almighty? Are we really going to be so arrogant 00:14:21.919 --> 00:14:28.179 that we say that we, the dust of the earth, know 00:14:28.179 --> 00:14:32.559 better than the eternal God, who knows all things 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:36.960 is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. We know 00:14:36.960 --> 00:14:40.100 better than him and say, God, you need to adjust 00:14:40.100 --> 00:14:44.240 what you say to what I believe. We can either 00:14:44.240 --> 00:14:47.500 change our lives. We can change our interpretation. 00:14:48.840 --> 00:14:51.700 If that one wasn't enough for you, I've got another 00:14:51.700 --> 00:14:56.779 one. Let's think about a really fun one. Second 00:14:56.779 --> 00:15:01.350 Thessalonians chapter three, verse 10. The Bible 00:15:01.350 --> 00:15:04.629 says, for even when we were with you, we would 00:15:04.629 --> 00:15:07.250 give you this command, if anyone is not willing 00:15:07.250 --> 00:15:11.210 to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some 00:15:11.210 --> 00:15:13.809 among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, 00:15:13.870 --> 00:15:18.990 but busy bodies. Now, this is where all the men 00:15:18.990 --> 00:15:21.929 are going to get uncomfortable. Most men today 00:15:21.929 --> 00:15:24.210 think that they're doing a great job fulfilling 00:15:24.210 --> 00:15:27.809 this first, do they not? All the men that I know 00:15:27.809 --> 00:15:30.169 think they're doing a phenomenal job with this. 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:32.419 Because they look at this, they go, hey, men 00:15:32.419 --> 00:15:33.860 are supposed to work, they're supposed to work 00:15:33.860 --> 00:15:35.539 hard, I'm doing it. And it's because they're 00:15:35.539 --> 00:15:38.399 thinking about their nine to five. They go to 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:40.320 work, they pay their bills, they provide for 00:15:40.320 --> 00:15:42.299 their family. And so I read a couple of verses 00:15:42.299 --> 00:15:44.899 like this and they go, go on and preach it, pastor. 00:15:45.460 --> 00:15:47.779 You lay it on thick because I'm doing good at 00:15:47.779 --> 00:15:52.100 this. And that's because these men are thinking 00:15:52.100 --> 00:15:54.919 only of their vocation. And they're not thinking 00:15:54.919 --> 00:15:57.919 at all about the work that God has called them 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:02.450 to do in their homes. These men go to work, they 00:16:02.450 --> 00:16:04.289 come home, they kick off their boots, and they 00:16:04.289 --> 00:16:07.149 expect dinner to be on the table for them. They 00:16:07.149 --> 00:16:09.970 expect the house to be cleaned. After dinner, 00:16:09.990 --> 00:16:13.669 they'd like to unwind and have their wife take 00:16:13.669 --> 00:16:17.169 care of their children and their house. So I'm 00:16:17.169 --> 00:16:19.269 about to make people really uncomfortable, especially 00:16:19.269 --> 00:16:24.490 the men. So happy Mother's Day, mothers. This 00:16:24.490 --> 00:16:26.289 is my gift to you for not having a Mother's Day 00:16:26.289 --> 00:16:29.990 sermon. Men, I'm going to tell every single one 00:16:29.990 --> 00:16:31.710 of you something you do not want to hear but 00:16:31.710 --> 00:16:38.269 is entirely biblical. Everything in your house 00:16:38.269 --> 00:16:43.350 is your responsibility. You're the man of the 00:16:43.350 --> 00:16:45.909 house, right? You like to use that phrase? This 00:16:45.909 --> 00:16:47.970 is my house, I'm the man of the house, my rules? 00:16:49.090 --> 00:16:51.929 Because God has made you the leader of your household 00:16:51.929 --> 00:16:54.850 and put you as the head of your household, listen 00:16:54.850 --> 00:16:59.789 to me. Everything in your house is your responsibility. 00:17:00.830 --> 00:17:06.289 The laundry is your responsibility. The dishes 00:17:06.289 --> 00:17:10.210 are your responsibility. The cleaning is your 00:17:10.210 --> 00:17:13.410 responsibility. The cooking is your responsibility. 00:17:13.529 --> 00:17:15.710 And I hear you. I hear you. Pastor, this isn't 00:17:15.710 --> 00:17:19.250 fair. I can't do everything myself. I can't be 00:17:19.250 --> 00:17:21.109 expected to go to work and then come home and 00:17:21.109 --> 00:17:23.329 do everything myself. Exactly. That's exactly 00:17:23.329 --> 00:17:26.799 right. That's why God has given you an Isaiah, 00:17:27.380 --> 00:17:33.380 a helper, a helpmate, not a servant to wait on 00:17:33.380 --> 00:17:37.940 you hand and foot. God in His grace has given 00:17:37.940 --> 00:17:40.799 you a helper to come alongside of you and help 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:42.839 you take care of the responsibility and take 00:17:42.839 --> 00:17:45.059 care of all the work in the house. But make no 00:17:45.059 --> 00:17:47.940 mistake, men, everything in the house is your 00:17:47.940 --> 00:17:52.700 responsibility. But rather than having biblical 00:17:52.700 --> 00:17:56.339 men today, We have men today who use their 9 00:17:56.339 --> 00:17:59.380 to 5 as an excuse to check out from 5 to 9 when 00:17:59.380 --> 00:18:03.200 they get home. We have men who want to help make 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:05.539 the baby, but then they don't want to help take 00:18:05.539 --> 00:18:08.740 care of the baby. We have men who never read 00:18:08.740 --> 00:18:10.539 scripture with their families, never pray with 00:18:10.539 --> 00:18:12.559 their families, never teach their children about 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:14.720 the Lord. Here's my question to you, church. 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:20.680 Are these men? Is this really the best that we 00:18:20.680 --> 00:18:24.829 can do? Is this what submission to Jesus's authority 00:18:24.829 --> 00:18:28.910 looks like in our lives? I mean, it absolutely 00:18:28.910 --> 00:18:31.650 breaks my heart as I was writing this. I don't 00:18:31.650 --> 00:18:34.450 even have a daughter. It literally was bringing 00:18:34.450 --> 00:18:36.970 me to tears to think about all the little girls 00:18:36.970 --> 00:18:39.710 in our church. I want you to think about all 00:18:39.710 --> 00:18:42.230 the little girls that just left and went to children's 00:18:42.230 --> 00:18:44.430 church. I want you to think about all of our 00:18:44.430 --> 00:18:47.079 youth girls that we have here this morning. We've 00:18:47.079 --> 00:18:49.200 got five youth girls here this morning. Think 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:50.900 about all these girls. One day they are going 00:18:50.900 --> 00:18:52.460 to grow up and they're going to be looking for 00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:56.420 a husband. It breaks my heart to think that this 00:18:56.420 --> 00:18:58.259 sort of man is the best that we have to offer 00:18:58.259 --> 00:19:03.519 them. A man who will go to work and pay the bills, 00:19:04.660 --> 00:19:08.640 but will neglect them, neglect their children, 00:19:09.599 --> 00:19:11.519 and neglect the spiritual nourishment of their 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:15.299 families. Is this really the best that we can 00:19:15.299 --> 00:19:19.240 do? Men who will gravitate towards the easy work 00:19:19.240 --> 00:19:21.359 and neglect the hard work. And I hear you again, 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:24.099 you say, but pastor, how can you say it's easy 00:19:24.099 --> 00:19:27.180 work? I go to work all day long. I work a manual 00:19:27.180 --> 00:19:30.099 labor job. If you had to come and work a day 00:19:30.099 --> 00:19:31.940 in my job, I guarantee you wouldn't be saying 00:19:31.940 --> 00:19:35.220 it's easy. I'll prove to you that it's easy and 00:19:35.220 --> 00:19:38.819 that you know it is. Here's a scenario for you. 00:19:39.420 --> 00:19:41.539 If you were to give most men the option, you 00:19:41.539 --> 00:19:43.619 have two options, men. You can either go to your 00:19:43.619 --> 00:19:45.319 job, whatever it is, and you can work an eight 00:19:45.319 --> 00:19:49.819 hour shift. or option two, you can stay at home 00:19:49.819 --> 00:19:53.440 with your family, no technology, no smartphones, 00:19:53.759 --> 00:19:57.279 and you have to spend one hour in uninterrupted 00:19:57.279 --> 00:19:59.819 family worship, leading your family in scripture 00:19:59.819 --> 00:20:02.859 reading, praying, and singing worship songs. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:05.480 I guarantee you, the majority of men pick the 00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:09.299 eight hour shift at work. Because it's easy. 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:14.720 You see men, the Bible says that you're to love 00:20:14.720 --> 00:20:17.119 your wife as Christ loved the church and gave 00:20:17.119 --> 00:20:21.039 himself up for her. Jesus said of himself that 00:20:21.039 --> 00:20:27.180 he came not to be served, but to serve. And so 00:20:27.180 --> 00:20:29.619 if you're resisting Jesus' call for you to work 00:20:29.619 --> 00:20:32.180 hard, not just at your job, but in your home, 00:20:32.400 --> 00:20:34.359 and especially the spiritual nourishment of your 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:36.259 family, then you're no better than the religious 00:20:36.259 --> 00:20:38.920 leaders here. You're saying the same thing they 00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:42.259 did. What gives Jesus the right to tell me how 00:20:42.259 --> 00:20:46.619 to live my life? If you want to know whether 00:20:46.619 --> 00:20:48.559 you're spiritually subscribed or spiritually 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:50.700 surrendered, you need to ask yourself the question, 00:20:51.140 --> 00:20:53.700 are there any areas of my life that are off limits 00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:58.519 to Jesus? I'm fine with Jesus talking about religious 00:20:58.519 --> 00:21:00.859 stuff and church stuff. That's no problem with 00:21:00.859 --> 00:21:06.190 me. But relationships, finances, careers, sexualities, 00:21:06.470 --> 00:21:08.930 priorities, responsibilities, those are off limits 00:21:08.930 --> 00:21:13.509 to him. He can't say a thing about it. If you're 00:21:13.509 --> 00:21:15.470 resisting Jesus' authority, it's probably because 00:21:15.470 --> 00:21:18.009 you sense that your own is being threatened. 00:21:19.950 --> 00:21:21.829 You see, you might think that you're good this 00:21:21.829 --> 00:21:23.710 morning because you've got the Bible app downloaded 00:21:23.710 --> 00:21:27.329 on your phone. And you're subscribed to the Bible 00:21:27.329 --> 00:21:32.339 Recap podcast. So you're good. But being subscribed 00:21:32.339 --> 00:21:34.400 to a biblical podcast, no matter how good it 00:21:34.400 --> 00:21:37.900 is, is not the same thing as being spiritually 00:21:37.900 --> 00:21:40.440 surrendered or submitting to Jesus' authority 00:21:40.440 --> 00:21:43.180 in your life. It doesn't matter how much you 00:21:43.180 --> 00:21:46.259 know if you never actually obey or follow what 00:21:46.259 --> 00:21:48.640 you know. I mean, just look at the religious 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:52.099 leaders here in verse 24. Jesus answered them. 00:21:52.859 --> 00:21:55.619 I also will ask you one question, and if you 00:21:55.619 --> 00:21:57.539 tell me the answer, then I will tell you by what 00:21:57.539 --> 00:22:00.680 authority I do these things. The baptism of John, 00:22:00.940 --> 00:22:03.539 from where did it come? From heaven or from man? 00:22:04.339 --> 00:22:06.559 And they discussed it among themselves saying, 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:10.880 if we say from heaven, he will say to us, why 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:14.599 then did you not believe him? But if we say from 00:22:14.599 --> 00:22:16.839 man, we're afraid of the crowd, for they all 00:22:16.839 --> 00:22:19.160 hold that John was a prophet. And so they answered 00:22:19.160 --> 00:22:24.319 Jesus, we don't know. And he said to them, well 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:27.039 neither will I tell you by what authority I do 00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:29.779 these things. Now this is a brilliant tactic 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:33.279 by Jesus, is it not? It was common in that day 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:36.680 to be in a debate and answer a question with 00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:40.299 a question. And it was not to try to avoid the 00:22:40.299 --> 00:22:42.920 question that was being asked, it was used as 00:22:42.920 --> 00:22:46.599 a tactic to try to expose motives and intentions. 00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:49.140 And that's exactly what Jesus is doing here. 00:22:49.140 --> 00:22:52.019 He's not avoiding their question, he's exposing 00:22:52.019 --> 00:22:54.660 their hearts. Because right now they're stuck 00:22:54.660 --> 00:22:56.460 between a rock and a hard place, are they not? 00:22:57.149 --> 00:23:00.529 When they talk about John's baptism, they understand 00:23:00.529 --> 00:23:02.890 if they say, well, he was a prophet from God, 00:23:02.950 --> 00:23:04.450 they're in big trouble because Jesus is going 00:23:04.450 --> 00:23:06.730 to say, well, why didn't you believe him? But 00:23:06.730 --> 00:23:08.829 if they say, well, he wasn't a prophet from God, 00:23:09.089 --> 00:23:11.390 the problem is all the crowds held that he was. 00:23:11.589 --> 00:23:13.710 And so if they say that he wasn't, then they're 00:23:13.710 --> 00:23:15.589 not going to be accepted by the crowds anymore. 00:23:16.089 --> 00:23:19.529 And so they take the coward's way out. And they 00:23:19.529 --> 00:23:24.250 say, we don't know. Which isn't true. They do 00:23:24.250 --> 00:23:26.720 know. It's like I said, their problem is not 00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:28.920 a lack of information. Their problem is a lack 00:23:28.920 --> 00:23:32.119 of integrity. This is not honest ignorance. This 00:23:32.119 --> 00:23:35.759 is skillful evasion at a moment of decision. 00:23:37.339 --> 00:23:39.759 And I was thinking of someone else who said, 00:23:39.920 --> 00:23:43.059 I don't know, at a crucial moment of decision. 00:23:43.099 --> 00:23:46.740 I was thinking of the Apostle Peter on the night 00:23:46.740 --> 00:23:51.140 that Jesus was arrested. The Apostle Peter had 00:23:51.140 --> 00:23:54.890 three different people come up to him. and point 00:23:54.890 --> 00:23:58.950 out that Peter was a disciple and a friend of 00:23:58.950 --> 00:24:01.410 Jesus, and three different times, what did Peter 00:24:01.410 --> 00:24:07.529 say? I don't know him. You see, in that moment, 00:24:07.589 --> 00:24:10.230 Peter did not forget Jesus, he just feared the 00:24:10.230 --> 00:24:13.650 crowd. And just like the religious leaders here, 00:24:14.569 --> 00:24:16.349 their answer, we don't know, it wasn't about 00:24:16.349 --> 00:24:18.650 information, it was about self -preservation. 00:24:19.650 --> 00:24:21.710 And I think that just like Peter and just like 00:24:21.710 --> 00:24:24.970 these leaders, we all face these moments where 00:24:24.970 --> 00:24:28.730 standing for the truth is costly. We're standing 00:24:28.730 --> 00:24:31.450 for Jesus, for standing for the truth about sin 00:24:31.450 --> 00:24:34.930 and what we believe. It is actually costly. And 00:24:34.930 --> 00:24:38.609 the question is very rarely, do you know? The 00:24:38.609 --> 00:24:41.730 question is always, what are you going to do 00:24:41.730 --> 00:24:44.809 with what you know? You see, the point here is 00:24:44.809 --> 00:24:48.269 that spiritual subscribers reject truth to the 00:24:48.269 --> 00:24:53.759 degree that it endangers their image. Spiritual 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:57.859 subscribers reject truth to the degree that it 00:24:57.859 --> 00:25:01.799 endangers their image, just like the religious 00:25:01.799 --> 00:25:06.299 leaders here. When their image was in jeopardy, 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:08.559 and they were fearful that the crowd would no 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:12.759 longer accept them or look well upon them, they 00:25:12.759 --> 00:25:15.500 decided to take the coward's way out. We've got 00:25:15.500 --> 00:25:18.240 a big problem when our public image matters more 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:21.930 to us than our personal integrity. And I want 00:25:21.930 --> 00:25:24.309 to remind you church that every single person 00:25:24.309 --> 00:25:26.829 in this room this morning, every single person 00:25:26.829 --> 00:25:30.109 who professes to be a believer in Jesus and a 00:25:30.109 --> 00:25:32.630 follower of Christ, you're going to face these 00:25:32.630 --> 00:25:36.990 exact situations in your life. It starts early. 00:25:37.769 --> 00:25:40.029 We've got students and youth here this morning. 00:25:41.210 --> 00:25:43.369 You're going to be facing this challenge in school. 00:25:44.049 --> 00:25:46.170 Because I promise you it's going to be easier 00:25:46.170 --> 00:25:49.730 many times throughout your school years. It's 00:25:49.730 --> 00:25:51.910 going to be easier to blend into the crowd than 00:25:51.910 --> 00:25:55.029 it is to stand for Jesus. There are going to 00:25:55.029 --> 00:25:57.950 be moments when your reputation is on the line, 00:25:58.430 --> 00:26:00.829 when your acceptance is on the line, when people 00:26:00.829 --> 00:26:03.769 might not look upon you favorably anymore because 00:26:03.769 --> 00:26:05.890 of your belief in Jesus, and you're going to 00:26:05.890 --> 00:26:08.049 face the same question and situation that the 00:26:08.049 --> 00:26:10.930 religious leaders did here. Are you going to 00:26:10.930 --> 00:26:13.890 deny Christ or are you going to stand for Christ? 00:26:15.670 --> 00:26:17.309 In this problem, it doesn't go away when you 00:26:17.309 --> 00:26:20.539 leave school, does it, adults? I think every 00:26:20.539 --> 00:26:22.720 Christian, working Christian here this morning, 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:25.359 knows that you still face this same problem when 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:28.720 you go to work. And you're surrounded by unbelieving 00:26:28.720 --> 00:26:31.359 co -workers. And you're hearing the way they 00:26:31.359 --> 00:26:33.000 talk. And you're seeing the way they live their 00:26:33.000 --> 00:26:35.319 lives. And you see that they're hanging out together. 00:26:35.359 --> 00:26:37.559 And they're inviting each other to things. And 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:39.319 you're not being included. You're going to be 00:26:39.319 --> 00:26:44.119 very tempted to just push the faith aside. So 00:26:44.119 --> 00:26:46.579 that you can be accepted. So that you can be 00:26:46.579 --> 00:26:50.000 invited. So that you can have a good reputation 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:53.539 and popularity at work and the question is are 00:26:53.539 --> 00:26:55.660 you going to stand for Christ? Are you going 00:26:55.660 --> 00:26:59.160 to reject Christ? God has not called his people 00:26:59.160 --> 00:27:02.000 to blend in to the rest of the world He has called 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:03.960 us to be separate from the rest of the world 00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:06.559 to be distinct from the rest of the world Christ 00:27:06.559 --> 00:27:10.700 has called his people to be salt and light in 00:27:10.700 --> 00:27:15.180 this world You can't be salt and light If you're 00:27:15.180 --> 00:27:16.940 covering yourself with a lampshade, as Jesus 00:27:16.940 --> 00:27:20.440 said, how's the light supposed to shine then? 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:24.259 You're not called to blend in at work. You're 00:27:24.259 --> 00:27:26.500 not called to blend in at school. You're not 00:27:26.500 --> 00:27:29.160 called to blend in in society. You were called 00:27:29.160 --> 00:27:32.839 to shine the light of Christ. Will you stand 00:27:32.839 --> 00:27:36.799 or will you deny Christ? I want to remind you 00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:42.480 this morning that any person on earth can stand 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:46.000 for Christ and be a Christian in a church building 00:27:46.000 --> 00:27:50.259 where it costs you nothing. This is the easiest 00:27:50.259 --> 00:27:51.980 place to be a Christian. Don't you know that? 00:27:52.720 --> 00:27:54.039 There's no one in here going to judge you for 00:27:54.039 --> 00:27:57.039 it. There's no one going to condemn you for it, 00:27:57.279 --> 00:27:59.339 reject you for it. This is the easiest place. 00:27:59.740 --> 00:28:03.380 This costs you nothing. This is the easiest thing 00:28:03.380 --> 00:28:07.680 you can do. The question is, what are you going 00:28:07.680 --> 00:28:12.150 to do tomorrow when Monday rolls around? Will 00:28:12.150 --> 00:28:15.190 you still stand then? Jesus is looking for people 00:28:15.190 --> 00:28:17.869 who will follow Him with their lives and not 00:28:17.869 --> 00:28:21.130 just their words. Which is why He says this parable 00:28:21.130 --> 00:28:24.769 in verse 28. He says to this crowd, What do you 00:28:24.769 --> 00:28:28.529 think? A man had two sons. And he went to the 00:28:28.529 --> 00:28:30.569 first and he said, Son, go and work in the vineyard 00:28:30.569 --> 00:28:33.109 today. And he answered, I will not. But afterward 00:28:33.109 --> 00:28:35.809 he changed his mind and went. And he went to 00:28:35.809 --> 00:28:37.369 the other and he said the same. And he answered, 00:28:37.390 --> 00:28:40.970 I go, sir, but didn't. Which of the two did the 00:28:40.970 --> 00:28:43.970 will of the Father? And they said, the first. 00:28:44.829 --> 00:28:47.890 And Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, the 00:28:47.890 --> 00:28:51.349 tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom 00:28:51.349 --> 00:28:56.670 of God before you. For John came to you in the 00:28:56.670 --> 00:28:59.430 way of righteousness, and you did not believe 00:28:59.430 --> 00:29:02.170 him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed 00:29:02.170 --> 00:29:06.170 him. And even when you saw it, you did not change 00:29:06.170 --> 00:29:10.450 your minds and believe him. What is Jesus saying 00:29:10.450 --> 00:29:11.950 here? He's saying that the religious leaders 00:29:11.950 --> 00:29:14.390 have been given lip service to God for their 00:29:14.390 --> 00:29:17.549 entire lives. They've been saying yes to God 00:29:17.549 --> 00:29:20.170 with their lips and no to God with their lives. 00:29:20.269 --> 00:29:23.430 And the worst part about all of it is that they 00:29:23.430 --> 00:29:26.250 actually thought that God was pleased with them. 00:29:26.950 --> 00:29:29.609 They thought that God was happy with them. God, 00:29:29.730 --> 00:29:31.890 we're coming to the temple. We've got our suits 00:29:31.890 --> 00:29:34.670 on. We're nice and dressed up. We're participating 00:29:34.670 --> 00:29:36.769 in all the festivals. We're doing all the religious 00:29:36.769 --> 00:29:39.170 things. We're doing these things. God, aren't 00:29:39.170 --> 00:29:41.269 you pleased with us? And God says, no, because 00:29:41.269 --> 00:29:43.049 your lips are close to me, but your hearts are 00:29:43.049 --> 00:29:46.349 far from me. Do you think that God just wants 00:29:46.349 --> 00:29:49.630 you to say yes and not do it? I mean, it makes 00:29:49.630 --> 00:29:52.369 total sense to me when I read this passage that 00:29:52.369 --> 00:29:55.109 Jesus told a story about two children, because 00:29:55.109 --> 00:29:57.029 that's exactly what this sounds like, does it 00:29:57.029 --> 00:30:00.750 not? I mean, it sounds like a bunch of kids here. 00:30:01.650 --> 00:30:03.960 I mean, our boys. This was a couple months ago. 00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:06.400 They came to me, I think it was a Saturday, and 00:30:06.400 --> 00:30:09.500 they said, hey, daddy, can we watch TV? And I 00:30:09.500 --> 00:30:14.920 said, no, you bunch of heathens. I said, no, 00:30:15.140 --> 00:30:17.140 you need to go and clean up all the toys, pick 00:30:17.140 --> 00:30:18.880 up all the toys that are scattered around the 00:30:18.880 --> 00:30:21.740 house, and then you can watch TV. So about 30 00:30:21.740 --> 00:30:23.819 minutes goes by, I'm doing the dishes, Anna's 00:30:23.819 --> 00:30:26.140 doing laundry, and they come back up to me and 00:30:26.140 --> 00:30:28.960 they go, can we watch TV now? And I look around 00:30:28.960 --> 00:30:32.690 and I'm like, absolutely not. What are you kidding? 00:30:32.849 --> 00:30:35.809 There are toys everywhere. You didn't do what 00:30:35.809 --> 00:30:41.430 I asked you to do. And Judah says to me, Daddy, 00:30:41.430 --> 00:30:45.329 I told you I'd pick up the toys. And I'm like, 00:30:45.769 --> 00:30:49.809 this is literally this story. Do you think I 00:30:49.809 --> 00:30:51.609 just wanted you to say you'd go and pick up the 00:30:51.609 --> 00:30:53.130 toys? Or do you think I actually wanted you to 00:30:53.130 --> 00:30:55.609 pick up the toys? Because that's not going to 00:30:55.609 --> 00:30:58.329 cut it by you just going and saying, oh, I told 00:30:58.329 --> 00:31:00.109 you I would do it. Yeah, that's great. But you 00:31:00.109 --> 00:31:02.839 didn't actually do it. That's exactly what the 00:31:02.839 --> 00:31:05.599 religious leaders are doing here. And I think 00:31:05.599 --> 00:31:08.740 there's a little bit of both of the sons in all 00:31:08.740 --> 00:31:12.299 of us. Because sometimes we say all the right 00:31:12.299 --> 00:31:15.559 things, do we not? Christians know how to sound 00:31:15.559 --> 00:31:18.039 real spiritual, don't we? How you doing brother? 00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:22.920 I'll pray for you. How you doing today? I'm blessed. 00:31:23.599 --> 00:31:25.079 Or if they're feeling really good and spiritual 00:31:25.079 --> 00:31:30.000 that day, I'm blessed and highly favored. We 00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:32.460 know how to sound spiritual. We know how to play 00:31:32.460 --> 00:31:35.519 the part. We know how to give God our lip service. 00:31:35.720 --> 00:31:38.779 But then when we leave this place, we go right 00:31:38.779 --> 00:31:41.440 back to living like we are Lord rather than Jesus 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:45.700 is Lord. Other times in our lives, we've said 00:31:45.700 --> 00:31:49.440 no to God. Maybe for years. Maybe we have run 00:31:49.440 --> 00:31:51.539 from Him. We've resisted Him. We've rejected 00:31:51.539 --> 00:31:53.920 Him outright. But then something amazing happened. 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:57.460 God starts working in our lives. And the Holy 00:31:57.460 --> 00:32:00.720 Spirit starts convicting us of sin. He starts 00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:02.900 showing us the beauty of Jesus, and even though 00:32:02.900 --> 00:32:05.539 we started wrong, we want to finish differently. 00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:08.160 That's what this parable is about. It's about 00:32:08.160 --> 00:32:11.900 two sons, two responses, and only one obeyed. 00:32:12.519 --> 00:32:15.000 My question to you is, where's the gap in your 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:18.660 life this morning between what you're affirming 00:32:18.660 --> 00:32:20.380 with your lips and how you're living with your 00:32:20.380 --> 00:32:25.259 life? Where are you subscribed where you need 00:32:25.259 --> 00:32:28.609 to be surrendered? It might be a sin that you've 00:32:28.609 --> 00:32:31.150 justified for years. You've tried to convince 00:32:31.150 --> 00:32:32.769 yourself it's not a sin. You've tried to convince 00:32:32.769 --> 00:32:35.789 other people it's not a sin. It could be a habit 00:32:35.789 --> 00:32:38.369 that you won't surrender. It could be a conversation 00:32:38.369 --> 00:32:40.930 that you keep avoiding. It could be a step of 00:32:40.930 --> 00:32:44.150 faith that you've delayed taking because it's 00:32:44.150 --> 00:32:49.099 scary and it seems costly, inconvenient. and 00:32:49.099 --> 00:32:51.059 deep down you know you've been saying yes with 00:32:51.059 --> 00:32:53.460 your lips but no with your life and I want to 00:32:53.460 --> 00:32:55.980 tell you this morning the good news of this passage 00:32:55.980 --> 00:33:00.279 is that a past no doesn't disqualify you from 00:33:00.279 --> 00:33:04.319 a present yes that God doesn't cancel rebels 00:33:04.319 --> 00:33:08.140 he invites those who repent and he welcomes them 00:33:08.140 --> 00:33:10.599 into the kingdom I mean that's the beauty here 00:33:10.599 --> 00:33:13.299 right like look who's entering the kingdom of 00:33:13.299 --> 00:33:17.029 God it's not the religious people It's not the 00:33:17.029 --> 00:33:18.589 church people. It's not the people who have it 00:33:18.589 --> 00:33:22.430 all together. Jesus says it's the prostitutes. 00:33:22.829 --> 00:33:25.970 It's the tax collectors. It's these people who 00:33:25.970 --> 00:33:28.869 had been publicly saying no to God for their 00:33:28.869 --> 00:33:31.190 entire lives and yet when they heard the message 00:33:31.190 --> 00:33:33.470 of John the Baptist and they felt the conviction 00:33:33.470 --> 00:33:35.490 of the Holy Spirit, they turned it over to God 00:33:35.490 --> 00:33:39.470 and they repented of their sins. God is not looking 00:33:39.470 --> 00:33:42.250 for a bunch of polished performers. God is looking 00:33:42.250 --> 00:33:46.150 for surrendered hearts. I want to just say this 00:33:46.150 --> 00:33:48.589 to you very plainly so no one leaves here confused 00:33:48.589 --> 00:33:52.849 about this. Jesus is not calling you to be a 00:33:52.849 --> 00:33:55.569 spiritual subscriber this morning. He is calling 00:33:55.569 --> 00:33:59.589 you to be spiritually surrendered. Subscribers 00:33:59.589 --> 00:34:03.390 admire Jesus from a distance. Surrender followers 00:34:03.390 --> 00:34:07.809 follow him and obey at a cost. Subscribers they 00:34:07.809 --> 00:34:09.909 like Jesus as long as he doesn't interfere with 00:34:09.909 --> 00:34:12.559 their lives. As long as he doesn't say anything 00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:15.480 inconvenient. But surrendered followers say yes, 00:34:15.579 --> 00:34:19.119 even when it is inconvenient. Today needs to 00:34:19.119 --> 00:34:22.079 be the day that we stop saying to Jesus, by what 00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:25.139 authority? And what gives you the right to tell 00:34:25.139 --> 00:34:27.519 me how to live my life? Today needs to be the 00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:30.059 day that we stop giving Jesus part of our lives, 00:34:30.420 --> 00:34:33.000 part of our obedience, all of our lip service, 00:34:33.119 --> 00:34:35.840 and all of our religious show. And today needs 00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:38.400 to be the day that we lay everything at the feet 00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:41.460 of Jesus. Today needs to be the day that we say 00:34:41.460 --> 00:34:44.320 whatever you ask Lord, wherever you call me, 00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:46.639 whatever you want me to do, whatever I need to 00:34:46.639 --> 00:34:49.460 pick up, whatever I need to lay aside, I will 00:34:49.460 --> 00:34:54.300 do it. Here I am, send me. I will count everything 00:34:54.300 --> 00:35:00.519 as loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Christ 00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:04.179 Jesus my Lord and Savior. Because when it comes 00:35:04.179 --> 00:35:05.960 to the kingdom of God, it's not about how you 00:35:05.960 --> 00:35:09.789 start church. It's about how you finish. And 00:35:09.789 --> 00:35:13.610 Jesus is calling us today to follow him and be 00:35:13.610 --> 00:35:15.989 spiritually surrendered. Amen.