Matthew 2024

Yeah.

So it's Matthew, 21 versus 23 to 32. Jesus entered the temple courts, and while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. By what authority are you doing these things? They asked, and who gave you this authority? Jesus replied, I will also ask you 1 question.

If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. John's baptism, where did it come from? Was it from heaven or of human origin? They discussed it among themselves and said, if we say from heaven, he will ask, then why didn't you believe him? But if we say of human origin, we are afraid of the people, but they all hold that John was a prophet So they answered Jesus.

We don't know. Then he said, neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things? What do you think? There was a man who had 2 sons. He went to the first and said, son, go and work today in the vineyard.

I will not, he answered, but later, he changed his mind and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, I will sir, but he did not go. Which of the 2 did what his father wanted? The first, they answered.

Jesus said to them, truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of god ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. Thank you, Ellie. And, it would be a help both, to you and to me.

If you could keep that passage open in front of you, we'll return to 23 to 27, and, the context of the parable a bit later, but we are gonna mainly be staying in this parable of the 2 sons from verses 28 to 32. And I don't know what you think, but on 1 level, it it is quite a simple parable, isn't it? It's fairly straightforward. We can get at its meaning even at a first reading. You've got the father figure in the parable, who is god.

You've got working in the vineyards, which represents doing god's work. In the world or perhaps particularly among his people. God's people are often likened to a a a vineyard doing god's work in the world and among god's people. You've got 2 sons, which represent 2 ways of responding to God and his command to be about his work. You've got the first son who says no, but then he says yes.

You've got the second son who says yes, but then he says no. And at the end, the first son is the 1 who's commended over against the second son because he actually does the right thing in the end. That's the key. He does the right thing. And so if we wanted to turn this into just a little, moral lesson, we might say something like actions speak louder than words.

You know, what you do is more important than what you say. Making the right decision is more important than talking about making the right decision. Action speak louder than words. But of course, when you look at it and when you look at it particularly in its context, you see that this parable has a much deeper and more significant meaning. I think this parable is doing 2 things.

As Jesus speaks it to the religious leaders. Firstly, he is giving a powerful commentary on his audience. That's really what he's doing. In the chapter, he's been talking to sinners and sick people and lame people, and he's also been talking to religious leaders and chief priests. And this parable at the end of the chapter serves as something of a commentary upon both of the 2 groups who make up his audience.

That's really what he's doing. But the second thing this parable is doing is taking us to the very heart of god's gospel. As we look at it together, I think we'll uncover that here in this story, we have the very essence of what the Christian good news is all about. And so I hope for all of us here, as we take a deep look at it, we will hear the lord speak to us as we need to hear it. So firstly, then we got a few points to help us break it out.

Firstly, we've got the setting, the setting of the parable. And, if you have been follow along following along in this series, you'll know that this is a very dramatic time in Jesus' ministry. He's, come into Jerusalem now, and, he is preparing for that moment when he's going to be nailed on a cross for the sins of the world, be resurrected again and return to glory, as John would say, his hour has come. The hour of suffering, the hour of atonement, the hour of return to his heavenly father, and he's arrived in Jerusalem inside an atmosphere of praise. Remember a few weeks ago, Matthew 21.

If you look back to Matthew 21, you'll see Jesus coming in. And verse 8, we're told that a very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road. While others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road, the crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, Hosanna, to the son of David. Bless it is he who comes in the name of the lord. Hosanna, in the highest heaven.

And so he's arrived into this atmosphere of praise. Now how authentic all of that praise was? Yeah. We don't know. Probably some was, probably some wasn't, but there's a general atmosphere of praise.

Jesus then comes to the temple, and sinners are coming to him. It's wonderful. Have a look at verse 14. He's come to the temple complex. Verse 14, the the blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them.

So Jesus, even as he approaches the cross, is doing what he's always been about. Which is gathering the blind and the lame and the tax collectors and the prostitutes and the outcasts. He's gathering to them to himself and he's doing them good. He's helping them. But also Jesus is turning up the heat on the sham hypocrisy of the leaders.

There's an atmosphere of praise. There's much good gospel work being done, but there's much that he is also grieved over. As he comes to the temple complex in verse 13, this is what he sees. It is written. He said to them, my house, the temple will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.

Authentic, we took the young people back in time to ezekiel 8, 9, and 10. If you know that part of ezekiel's prophecy where he has taken envisions of god to the temple back in Jerusalem, and he has shown the most appalling idolatry. That is now taking place in what was meant to be god's house. And there's an echo of that here in Matthew 21. Jesus comes to the temple, and there is appalling idolatry taking place.

This place, which was set apart to be a house of faith and a house of prayer that was supposed to be a place where the nations could come and be welcomed by a god who would atone for their sin, has become totally muddled and confused in his purpose by these leaders. It's now a trading place, a place of money, an extortion, and hypocrisy, where no 1 really can do what they were meant to do in the temple. And Jesus is appalled at what's going on. And he's also revealing the shallowness of the religious leaders and their thinking, verse 24 to 27 will will come to it in a minute. But Jesus replied, I will also ask you 1 question.

He's dealing with the chief priest now. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I'm doing these things. So that he puts this very good question to them. In verse 27, they say to Jesus, so we don't really know. We don't know the answer to that thing about John's baptism.

And so it's as if their arguments against Jesus are beginning to fall like a house house of cards. They're hollow and empty, and Jesus is is showing that. So all of that has been happening in Matthew 21. As I say, it's a very dramatic time in his ministry, and there's a sense in which now we are heading to a point of no return. Know, the enemies are ready now to plot against him and destroy him, even as sinners still come and trust him.

And then we come to this parable. This parable in Matthew 21 verse 28, And we see that it is part of Jesus' ongoing commentary on these 2 groups of people, the religious leaders and the sinners who come to him. This is this is not just a a cute story that he forgot to say earlier, he's now thinking, oh, I didn't tell the 1 about the 2 sons. I'll I'll put that in now. He speaks it now at the opportune time to describe what's really going on in front of him.

And so that's the setting. And so now let's get into it secondly. The first son, the 1 who said no, but then changed his mind, the first son. And he's introduced to us in verse 28. Jesus is talking still to the religious leaders, and he says, what do you think?

Just to pause there. That's inviting us to do some reflection on what he's about to say. What do you think? What do you think? I'm expecting you now to think?

Think about it. Think about what I'm going to say. What do you think of this? Because I'm gonna ask you a follow-up question in just a minute. So you need to have been thinking.

What do you think? There was a man who had 2 sons. He went to the first and said, son, go and work today in the vineyard. Now that is probably less of an invitation and more of a command. Some go to work today in the vineyard.

He's not saying, look, son, you've been you've been living at home for quite a long time now, and you're spending a lot of time on the sofa, and you're emptying my snack cupboard, too regularly. And it's time you started contributing to the household economy. Do you fancy a job? You know, you fancy a bit of work in a vineyard. It's not like a sort of polite invitation to a leech like sun.

It's it's a command. This is the family business. We live on a vineyard. This is what we do. Go to work in the field.

Go to work in the field. And so in application, here is god saying to us, come. Be part of my work. Get involved. Get involved with what I'm doing in the world.

Go into my vineyard and make your life count for me and invest your resources and your gifts in what I'm about. Come on sons and daughters who I made. Go into my vineyard and be about my work. First 29, I will not he answered. But later, he changed his mind and went.

I will not he answered. But later, he changed his mind and went. And from the interpretation, which Jesus gives in verse 31, we are meant to understand that this first son represents the tax collectors and the prostitutes. That's who he's talking about. Those are sons and daughters, number 1.

But we might ask, well, given what we've seen about this parable already, In what sense are tax collectors and prostitutes, sons in the father's house? What does Jesus quite mean by that? Well, he's probably talking about the tax collectors and prostitutes who have been born and raised in Israel. They have been raised in a religious community. And so these are people who from their very first days have grown up in a world where the law of god, and the temple of god, and offerings and sacrifices, and covenant instruction has been part of the air that they breathed.

They have grown up in that sense in the father's house broadly speaking, exposed to truth all around them, passover, and pentecost, and tabernacles, and festivals. They would have seen it all year to year and could not have lived in that environment without knowing what those things were about. And yet, they had heard the invitation to be part of the father's work and they had instead said, I will not. I will not. No to that, and they had instead chosen a life of sin.

Despite their upbringing, they had chosen a life of sin. First 29, the tax collectors and the prostitutes, I will not heed your voice or be part of your work. Think of my own story, growing up in a Christian home to, parents who, loved the lord Jesus and still do love the lord Jesus. And, they took us to church, every week, and, they read bible stories with us from as early as I can remember, and church was faithful. Nothing wrong with the church.

Good bible teaching church, great youth group. But when I reached my teenage years, I decided that I had had enough of it. And I wanted to do what my friends were doing, which was things altogether different from going to church, and my life tacked away from church and the gospel because of my own sin. I'd grown up under the invitation, be part of my work. I will not.

I will not. And I chose a life of sin. But then when John the Baptist showed up, things started to change. For these first sons. Just look at what happened to them.

Flip back in your bibles if you will to Matthew 3. Matthew 3 verse 1 and 2. Jesus references the Ministry of John in this parable so we need to familiarize ourselves with that ministry in those days. Here's John the Baptist. Matthew 3, in those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying repent.

Change your mind about god. Start thinking differently about god. Leave your life of sin and prepare for god. Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near. This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, a voice of 1 calling in the wilderness and saying, prepare the way for the lord, make straight paths for him.

And then look at the response verse 5. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all judea, and the whole region of the Jordan confessing their sins. They were baptized by him in the River Jordan. So here is John the Baptist, And, really, he is found in the new testament, although he stands as the last great old testament prophet in that tradition announcing that the lord Jesus Christ is about to become right now, you know, imminently, in the next few days, and that in order to prepare for him, you need to repent. And what do we find?

We find all these tax collectors and sinner type people coming out of Jerusalem and Judea. They hear his preaching. They're cut to the heart. They repent of their sins. They get baptized.

They look forward to Christ, and they begin working in the vineyard. They said no, at first. They've grown up with it and said no. They've heard John say mend your ways Jesus is coming, and they've repented. And, oh, look, they said though, but they've gone to work.

Now they're working in the vineyard because Christ has come. And they've heard the preaching, and they're getting ready for the savior. And that's what Jesus is referring to. If you turn now back to our parable, in Matthew 21 verse 32, rather end of 31, Jesus said to them, truly, I tell you the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of heaven ahead of you. For John came to show you the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, by implication, they they did.

And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him. So these first sons are those who grew up in a religious community, said no to it until John came, preached they repented, and they look forward to Christ. And then Christ came. And if you're familiar with the gospels at all, you'll know that Jesus Christ had a glorious ministry amongst these first sons, didn't he? Everywhere he went.

First sons. Those who'd said no to start with, but then they saw him, heard him, repented, and were so attracted to him. Because he loved them, and he ate with them, and he forgave them, and he restored them to community, and he dignified them. And he bought them into god's vineyard, a glorious ministry amongst first sons. That's the first son.

Secondly, let's have a look at the second son. What's he all about? Verse 30, Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, I will, sir, but he did not go. It's interesting that with the second son, this title of sir, is introduced.

I will, sir, but he did not go. So this son, at least outwardly, has great respect for his father. He dignifies him with the title, sir. I will, sir. First 1 didn't say that.

Just said I will not. No. Second, suddenly, I will, sir. Yep. It's like the dry bones, isn't it in the dance?

You know, there? I will, sir. I will. Yeah. Of course I will.

I've always been out your work. What are you talking about? I've been working for you night and day. I've been out in your fields. I've been pushing the mower and picking the picking the I've always been about of course, I will.

I've always been about your work. Now who's he talking about here? Well, have a look at verse 23. Remember who this story is addressed to. Jesus sent to the temple courts.

And while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. 28, what do you think is addressed to them? So here Jesus is talking to these religious leaders and these chief priests, and here he's talking about them. That's who he means with all those use at the end. If you look at verse 31 to 32, there's about 7 use Truly, I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of god ahead of you.

For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe. This is the same use who've been planning to destroy the lord Jesus Christ since chapter 12. That's who he's talking to and about. But as we see in this parable, there's a sense in which these leaders had said yes to god.

They've been saying yes to him all of their lives. They'd grown up saying yes. Yes to the law of god. And yes to the traditions of the elders, and yes to the washings, and yes to all those laws about what you could do and when you could do it, and how you were supposed to eat, and when you were supposed to eat, yes to all of that. We love all of that.

Yes to the sacrifices. Yes to giving generously to god's work. We pour our money in every week because we want people to know we're being gen yes to all of that. Yes. But again, when John the Baptist turned up and started preaching, he was gonna be the real test.

What you did with John's preaching, defined whether you were a yes or a no. Miss how you responded to that, that defined whether you were yes or a no. And when John the Baptist turned up and started directing his message of repentance, not only to tax collectors and sinners, but to religious yes men, You too need to repent. Well, that's when the apparent yes, all my life. Yes.

That's when that mask slid off the face. And revealed that a hateful no was hiding under the s. Again, if you turn back with me to Matthew 3, you can see it all there. Here's John repent for the kingdom of god, has come near. Verse 6, it's wonderful.

Look at all the first sons coming out. Confessing their sins. But verse 7, when he saw many of the pharisees and sadducees to where he was baptizing, he said to them, you brood of vipers who warned you to flee from the coming wrath. Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. They need to repent and do not think that you can say to yourselves.

We have Abraham as our father. I tell you that out of these stones, god can raise up children for Abraham. And so when these pharisees and sadducees heard that message of repentance and way when they were told to produce fruit in keeping with repentance, they were very, very unhappy. Tax collectors and sinners. Yes.

Us, we're children of Abraham. We don't repent. That's not us. And this is the problem in Matthew 21. If you look at Matthew 21 again, verse 32, Jesus' commentary.

For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. You did not believe him. And by the way, that's why they couldn't answer the question back in verse 24. I will ask you 1 question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I'm doing these things.

John's baptism, where did it come from? Was it from heaven or from men? Human origin. They discussed it among themselves instead of crumbs. If we say from heaven, he's gonna ask them why you believe him.

If we say of human origin, we're afraid of the people for they all hold that he was a prophet, so we don't know. They're really caught because if they say of human origin, they're gonna reveal themselves to be hypocrites. If they say, no, rather, if they say of human origin, they're gonna reveal themselves to be cowards because actually, the people hold that he's a prophet, and they don't wanna upset the people. They wanna keep peace. But if they say from heaven, they're gonna reveal themselves as hypocrites because why didn't they listen then?

Why didn't they listen? Why didn't they repent? If he's a prophet from heaven, they should have listened, and they should have been repented and trusted Jesus because John was going on about Jesus. So they're stuck. What do we confess?

Were cowards or hypocrites? They don't know. And so do you see what had happened with these second sons? They had grown up saying yes. They had been saying yes all of their lives, but when confronted with repentance preaching, the mask fell away.

It's very interesting that, isn't it? That it is the message of repentance from sin, which shows if our yes to god is a real yes. When we're confronted with a message, which says you need to not actually just talk about repenting, but actually mend your ways and leave your life of sin and repent when we're confronted with that preaching. That's when we know whether our yes is a yes or whether our yes is really a no. You see many people want a god who is distant from them because a distant god is an uncertain god.

If he's distant, we can't define him. We don't really know what he likes, and I can broadly assume that my life is going as he would have it. But in the gospel, you find a god that is imminent. And he comes to earth and he faces you up. And he tells you exactly what he's about and what his kingdom is and what your life is.

You can't keep him at a distance and sort of cloud him with obscurity and pretend your life is fine because he's arrived on your front door. And he's told you that you need to mend your ways. That's what we discover in the gospel. And the more religious we are, the harder it is to repent because we think we're fine and god approves. It's it's it's Christ it's a Christ in your face repentance preaching that finds out if a yes is a real yes or not.

Striking when I was a I was an apprentice, is going back many years now 2011, 2012, those sorts of years. 1 of the things that Pete, sort of have us do at that time was to, prepare these sermons and then write to other local church pastors and ask for an opportunity to come and preach them. And, that wouldn't just be evangelical churches. That would be all churches, liberal churches just to see if we could get an opportunity. They might say yes.

They'd probably say no, but they might say yes. And then you might be able to go in and, and preach the gospel. And I had written a sermon on John 14 verse 6. I'm the way the truth and the life. No 1 comes to the father except through me, and I wrote to a local church, which is a more liberal church asking whether I could come and, preach.

And, the the lady who was the kind of superintendent over over all of this particular denomination wrote back to me and said, in principle, we'd be happy to give you an opportunity to come and preach, please will you send a sermon ahead of time? So we can just review the sermon, and then we can maybe arrange some dates. Well, I sent the sermon, and she read it, and she wrote back to me, to explain why she would not be inviting me, to come and preach. And, Here's what she said. I dug out the email this afternoon.

It's not that I don't believe in heaven or Jesus or the reality of eternal life. It's the approach which says that Jesus is the only way, and everyone else is going to hell, which is not the least bit helpful and actually quite harmful to the ultimate goal of bringing the whole world to Jesus. And interesting because if the ultimate goal is to bring the whole world to Jesus, then why wouldn't preaching Jesus as the only way be a good thing? Kind of strange. It's not that I don't believe in Jesus.

It's the approach which says he's the only way, which is not the least bit helpful and actually quite harmful. Often in church history, the biggest opponents of Jesus. Are the very ones who've said at 1 time, I will. I will. How many are there, even in this country, who have at 1 time, have stood up and taken ordination vows and said, I will.

Will you proclaim that Jesus Christ is the 1 and only true way to god? I will. I swear I will. Will you teach the Bible as the word of god without error? And fully sufficient for all of life and godliness, I swear I will.

And then somewhere down the line, the I will turns into an I will not. And the I will not turns into a persecution of those who really want to say, I will. Some of the biggest opponents of churches in church history of the true gospel and still today are those who have at 1 time said, I will. That's the second son. I will, but when met with Jesus as the only way, I will not.

Thirdly or 4 3. I can't remember where we are now. Look at 2 sons. Let's look at the question. Here's verse 31.

Which of the 2 did what his father wanted? The first they answered. In the previous exchange, they had to say we don't know But now they do know. The first, they answered, and yet you wonder if they realized that in answering that, they were saying, and that's not us. So striking, isn't it?

To their minds, they had been working in the vineyard all of their lives. They were like the oldest son in the parable of the prodigal. They had been in the father's house, so to speak. But they had been calling him sir and not father. They had been working.

I have been working for you all my life, and you have not even prepared 1 goat for me and my friends. They've been saying, yes, all their lives. But when met with Jesus, they said no. What do you think? What do you think?

Which of the sons did what the father wanted? And in which of these sons do we see ourselves? In 1 Corinthians 4 verse 20, Paul says the kingdom of god is not a matter of talk, but of power. And he's talking there about false teachers of the day who just babble on all the time. They babble on and they talk and they say, I will.

I will. And he says the kingdom of god is not a matter of talk. It's a matter of power. How about us? In which of these sons do we see ourselves?

This morning in the, in the car park at, at Tiffin, I saw, I saw, whenever she she she's here, Grace, Grace Bradshaw. And, she was on duty with Karen in the car park. And, I said, because Chris wasn't you weren't there at the time. And I said, oh, how's Chris today? How do you find authentic?

And, she said, oh, he was really tired. And his voice, like, yesterday, his his voice had gone? You know, his voice was going, his voice had gone. And that was like, oh, okay. Fine.

Fair enough. And then, I we carried on walking in, and Caleb, my son looked at me and said, what how does a voice go? What is it? Like, what does he mean his voice is gone? And, I said, oh, yeah, it's a bit weird phrase, isn't it?

And, what it really means is when you spend a week shouting at the top of your voice and talking and having to be energetic from dawn till dusk, you, your voice loses its power and it gets hoarse and you can't speak properly. And then he said, He said, why haven't you lost your voice? And then he said, is it because you already talk a lot? That's what he said to me this morning. Is it because you already talk a lot?

And I do talk a lot. In fact, I'm yeah. Thank you, mate. Thank you. I do talk a lot.

In fact, I'm paid to talk a lot. I'm paid to talk a lot about god. You know, I'm 1 who who talks about god. My job to talk about god and to talk about what it means to work in the vineyard and say yes to the father and to, encourage you with the Bible to be about the same. I talk a lot.

I spend a lot of time talking, but the kingdom of god is not a matter of just talk. It's a matter of power, and it's a matter of, you know, real obedience and faith and living it out, not just talk. It's very challenging, isn't very challenging to those who I think, particularly, who are employed to talk. The kingdom of god is not just a matter of talk, but of reality. How about us?

Steve, if you could put up this quote from a Charles spurgeon, this is what he said in his sermon on this passage. The second son said, I go, sir, but he went not. And these people do not go. They talk of repenting, but they do not repent. They speak of believing, but they never believe.

They think of submitting to god that they have not submitted themselves to him yet. They say it is time that they broke up the fallow ground and sought the lord, but they do not seek him. It all ends in a mere promise. I will, sir, but they did not. Friends, how many times have we sat in bible studies sat under sermons, been moved by the lyrics of a Christian song, and we've said to ourselves, I will, sir.

I will, sir, but it just ends in Mia Promise, and it doesn't translate into actual vineyard work. And change. Next year, at Authentic, we are hoping and providing we get the, the venue and the opportunity to, to go through the pilgrims progress. If you know the pilgrims progress, it's a it's just a marvelous book story book about the Christian life. And, at 1 time in this country, at least, it was the best selling book in the English language outside the bible.

And, there's a this is the version we've got at home. It's a it's super version. I mean, we, have it with the kids and the illustrations are brilliant. And, there's 1 scene where Christian and his friend faithful meet someone called talkative. They meet a man called talkative on the road.

And, I just want to read you this encounter with talkative. This is a very kind of cut down version of the original, but, here's Christian and faithful with talkative. Their conversation was interrupted by a boy named Talkative who joined them and said, hello there, your pilgrims, I see. Let's journey together and talk along the way. There are so many things to talk about, big things or little things I can talk about them all.

Faithful interrupted him. Our desire is not just to talk, but to follow the king's path and to reach the celestial city. Oh, yeah. Talk to you. I can tell you about that city.

I got many theories about it. We can talk about them if you wish. Christian said the king wants us to follow him and obey him and not just talk. We must love others, indeed, and truth, not just in word and speech. Oh, I see.

He said talkative. You pilgrims are strange. I'll wait for others who like my company so I can have pleasant conversation along this path. I'm in no hurry. In the original, version, John Bunion describes talkative like a waxing and waning moon.

And he says when it comes to talking, talkative is like a waxing moon. When it's just about talk, he's like a moon that gets brighter and brighter. He can talk a good 1. Really can talk. Okay.

The more you talk with him, the brighter he gets. But as soon as you start to speak to him about heart work and the gospel in the heart and a real life of faith and obedience, Bunion says at that point, he becomes a waning moon. And he starts to go from a bright talker to an ever increasing darker crescent and then into the shadows because he's not interested in hard work. He's interested in talk and theories but not action. Christian says of him in the story, ah, yes, this is talkative.

He is best abroad. Near home, he is ugly enough. He's best abroad. When he's talking, but when you get near home and see him in his life and how he is with his family and what he does with his coworkers, he's ugly enough because he's a talker. He's a talker and hard work is not what he's really about.

We know this, don't we? Talking about doing the right thing is so much easier than doing the right thing. We even have phrases in our language do as I say not as I do, which is a kind of playful way of acknowledging our own hypocrisy, isn't it? Do as I say, not as I do. What a disastrous life philosophy?

But we know we why do we have it? Because we know But talking about the right thing is much easier than doing the right thing. And in the end, as you can see, even in that little story, what happens with talkers is that they end up not liking doers very much. At first, they do seem to, but in the end, talkers don't like doers. Talkers are drawn towards fellow talkers.

When they encounter doers, They don't really like them because doers sort of show them up. And doers embarrass them because they realize that their talk is not real when they're with doers, and they don't want the company of doers. And then they start to not like doers very much. Because they wanna be talkers and doers embarrass them and expose them. And so better to surround myself with fellow talkers, then we can just talk and not be shown up by doers.

Very challenging, isn't it? I think John McCarthy, who was a, an American pastor, faithful pastor for many, many years, 70 years, I think, or something like that in the same pulpit. He went to be with the lord recently, and, I think it was actually his funeral funeral service yesterday. But 1 of the last things that I saw him say in the pulpit, I don't know the date of it, was, was about his wife, and he was addressing the congregation and talking about his wife. And he says this about her.

He says the lord brought Patricia into my life for many reasons. But 1 of them was because she's not impressed with me. She expects me to live everything I preach. The woman is unreasonable. And it was very fun.

And it was it was a light hearted, very real way of addressing, you know, what a problem that is so common to us all. She expects me to live everything I preach. That's unreasonable. Because we know that talking about doing the right thing is so much easier than actually doing it. Well, these are all of the issues in this parable.

And I think when you come to the end of it, what we're supposed to be doing is calling out for a third kind of sun. Not a first 1 or a second 1, but a third 1 who says I will, sir, and actually does it. You can imagine it in heaven, can't you? You've got the community of the trinity, the father, the son, and the holy spirit who are in perfect communion with 1 another. Who have only ever known the joy and love and blessing of being with 1 another in glory.

And in 1 day, the father says to the son, son go to work in my vineyard. And the son says gladly, I will, sir. And then he does it. And he comes down into earth into the vineyard, and without wavering or grumbling, and with joy in his heart, he goes to work in the father's vineyard, saying, I will, sir, and then doing it with gladness. Even as it led into the cross, where he died in our place for our sin, where he bore the judgment that we deserve for our hypocrisy and for our shallow empty talk.

He died for us, and he rose again. He is the third son that we need. Yes, sir. And then he does it. And so I don't know.

Maybe you're here this evening, and you feel as if you're a bit like that first son. And you've been saying no to god. No god. I will not I will not follow you. I will not submit to your son.

I will not be about your work. I will go my own way. Or do you see there is hope here for those who've been saying no? That through Jesus Christ and repentance, they can turn around have their lives changed be born again and begin a brand new working life with god as their father? If that's you, come to Christ this evening, turn that no into a yes tonight through Jesus.

Or maybe you're here and you've been saying yes. So you think all your life, you know, you've grown up in church and you've been saying yes. Yes to worship. Yes to sermons. Yes to youth groups.

Yes to come into church? Yes. Yes. To all of that. But you've never actually parted ways with your sin.

You've never really said, god, with your help, I'm gonna forsake my old ways and leave my life of sin, and I'm gonna follow Christ. And the yes has only ever really been a surface yes. Well, tonight's an opportunity to come to that third son, Jesus Christ, and give up the hypocrisy and ask it to be replaced with the reality. Of a true son of god. Come to him tonight if that's you.

Cause there's a tender word for people like that. If you have a look at verse 31, just right at the end of that sentence. The tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of god ahead of you. It wasn't that they couldn't enter. It wasn't that they had no opportunity.

They could. It was open for them, and they were going ahead of them which is to say they could have come after. If only they'd repented and believed they could have come. Jesus speaks a tender word here in amongst the judgment to these religious, yes, people. And so if that's you, come to Christ this evening and make that yes a real yes.

Let's spend some time just quiet, quietly reflecting on where we are These are challenging words from our lord Jesus, and we all can see a gap between what we say and what we do. And so let's ask the lord to make us his sons who are about his work. Let's pray. Heavenly father, how we praise you for the lord Jesus, we thank you that he is the faithful son, who works gladly in your vineyard. We thank you that he even came to the work of the cross, obeying you though it cost him his life.

Thank you that in that work, Our sins can be forgiven if we will trust in him alone. And father, we want to confess and say sorry for the gap that does exist between what we say and what we're really like. We're sorry that very often we talk of repenting but don't repent. We plan to believe, but don't believe. We want to submit to you, but never get round to it.

We wanna break up the hard ground of our hearts and start something new but maybe we'll do it tomorrow. And in the end, it just ends with a mere promise. Talk, I will sir, but no reality. Father, none of us wants to be like that. We want our yes to be yes.

We want our no to be no. But we don't want our yes to actually mean no. We want we want to be true people of integrity who love you and follow you and are about your work. So lord, Jesus, give us the grace. We need to be honest with ourselves, to make the changes that we need to make, to know your grace, and to be about your work.

And we ask these things in Jesus' name.