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welcome to everyone we just have one brief announcement that is that our Bible study will be back on this wednesday night at seven thirty we're in second samuel chapter three for those who would like to attend all are encouraged and invited to come well for our call to worship this morning I want to read Psalm 121 Psalm 121 beginning in verse 1 a song of a sense I will lift up my eyes to the hills from whence comes my help my help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth he will not allow your foot to be moved he who keeps you will not slumber behold he who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep the Lord is your keeper the Lord is your shade at your right hand the Sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night the Lord shall preserve you from all evil he shall preserve your soul the Lord shall preserve your going out and you're coming in from this time forth and even for evermore amen we can praise our God that he is indeed our help our shield our defender our gracious and sovereign Lord in His grace and in His mercy saved us by his son the Lord Jesus Christ it is Christ who brings us together today on the Lord's Day to the Lord's house so that the Lord's people can worship and praise his most holy name so please turn in your Trinity hymnals to him number two a hymn of praise of glory to God will stand as we sing hymn number two well for our time of prayer this morning along with many other things will remember Deborah will bring more cell phone just before the service she her water broke and she is presently at the hospital hoping to give birth in the not-too-distant future so we'll pray to God for them along with other things connected to our local church so let us pray our bless it God in our Holy Father we come into your house on this Sabbath day we come to praise your great and your glorious name we come to you Father by the mediation of your son the Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit and we pray that God would be all in all in this place today that you would be lifted up that you would be glorified that you would be honored and praised that Lord God you would receive this praise not because we are fit or worthy but because your son is altogether lovely in chief among 10,000 because your son is that surety of a better covenant the mediator of the New Covenant that one who has gone before us into heaven that one who ever lives to make intercession for us that one who always has the ear of his father in heaven our Father receive our worship and our praise and adoration through the Lord Jesus Christ and be exalted and glorified we pray we ask that not just for our meeting place here we ask that for other churches that gather together today in chilliwack throughout Canada unto the uttermost parts of the earth your Sabbath day we pray that your glory would be would be admired and that your name would be exalted we pray that throughout this earth you would receive honor from your creatures in general and specifically through your church as they gather together to worship you in spirit and in truth we would ask our Father that through the preaching of the gospel you would turn men and women and boys and girls from their useless idols to the true and living God that they may indeed admire and and glorify you we ask in our midst this morning that you would look with favor upon your people here we pray that you would cleanse us from all unrighteousness and sin we pray that you would just deal mercifully and graciously with us the hymn writer as the psalmist rather says that you Lord should mark iniquities O Lord who could stand but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared so forgive us now and cause us to respond in a proper manner cause us to respond with that fear and reverence and as well with great joy and celebration at the reality that our sins are forgiven by a holy God through a bleeding and risen Savior by the Spirit of God we ask that you would look with favor upon any and all who have come here this morning that are outside of Christ we pray that today would be the day of salvation that the Spirit of God would come and bring conviction for sin and show them the sufficiency in the glory of Jesus Christ to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh to God through him we ask that you would look with favor upon this local church temporally we thank you for this good news concerning Deborah and we just commit her to you to the word of your grace and pray for mother and child that all would go well this day we ask that you would look with favor upon all those in our church with ongoing illness and suffering and trials and difficulties we know our God that each of us the otter man decays day by day we pray the inner man would be renewed that we would be full of love for the Lord Jesus that we would be full of a desire to glorify you in our lives and may this be the case which eat with each of your suffering Saints we pray for mr nufeld and we pray for the proctors and the van shakes we pray our God and Father that you would look with favor upon surely and upon little Jael and all those Lord God that are struggling in our midst we know that you are sovereign that you own the cattle on a Thousand Hills and that you tend to the needs of your people we would ask that they would have that peace which does surpass all understanding they would have that strength of body and of mine that you would be glorified in their lives we pray for each and every one of us god we all have spiritual trials and spiritual temptations and difficulties and on slots in a god hating world so we pray that you would uphold us that we would withstand those temptations that come our way that we would pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight if we have failed if we have sinned if we have reneged we pray she would renew our repentance and cause us to be faithful cause us to pursue those things that are pleasing in your sight and cause us to put to death the deeds of the body by your spirit so that we might live we ask that you would bless richly the persecuted Church we know there are a multitude of people that suffer for the cause of God and truth and we pray that you'd watch over your people she would surround them with protection and grant them grace to persevere cause then Lord God to know your nearness and your presence in their lives and cause them to maintain faithfulness in the midst of these persecutions we pray for the spread of True Religion we pray for the spread of the gospel of our Lord Jesus that it would run swiftly and be glorified and that you would be pleased to turn a multitude of idolaters from their useless idols to the true and living God we ask the you'd bless missionaries we thank you for our dear brothers & our sisters that serve in other parts of the world we think that the men and women in China that we know and love and we commit them to you and pray that you would watch over them and help them we also pray our God and Father for your blessing upon the church in Islamabad and Islamabad we thank you for pastor daniel for the saints there we pray that they would know your goodness to them as a local body and Lord God continue with us now we ask that our worship would be acceptable to you again coming through our Lord Jesus for the glory of God most high and we pray in Christ's name Amen well please turn with me and your Trinity hymnals again to number 302 to the hip number 302 will stand as we sing together you turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 16 for our scripture reading this morning revelation 16 the seven bowls of God's judgment revelation 16 beginning in verse 1 then I heard a loud voice from the temple saying to the seven angels go and pour out the bowls of the wrath of God on the earth so the first went and poured out his bowl upon the earth and a foul and loathsome sore came upon the men who had the mark of the beast and those who worshipped His image then the second angel poured out his bowl on the sea and it became blood as of a Deadman and every living creature in the sea died then the third angel poured out his bowl on the rivers and springs of water and they became blood and I heard the Angel of the water saying you are righteous Oh Lord the one who is and who was and who is to be because you have judged these things for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink for it is there Joss do and I heard another from the altar saying even so Lord God Almighty true and righteous are your judgments then the fourth angel poured out his bowl on the Sun and power was given to him to scorch men with fire and men were scorched with great heat and they blaspheme the name of God who has power over these plagues and they did not repent and give him glory then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the Beast and his kingdom became full of darkness they gnawed their tongues because of the pain they blaspheme the God of heaven because of their pains and their swords and did not repent of their deeds then the sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river euphrates and its water was dried up so that the way of the Kings from the east might be prepared and I saw three unclean spirits like frogs coming out of the mouth of the dragon out of the mouth of the Beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet for they are spirits of demons performing signs which go out to the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the Battle of that great day of God Almighty behold I am coming as a thief blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame and they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon then the seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air and a loud voice came out of the Temple of Heaven from the throne saying it is done and there were noises and thunderings and lightnings and there was a great earthquake such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the earth now the great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nation's fell and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath then every island fled away and the mountains were not found and great hail from heaven fell upon men each hail stone about the weight of a talent men blaspheme God because of the plague of the hail since that plague was exceedingly great amen now there are several ways to interpret the book of Revelation and specifically kamre I have not gotten into those things we've just tried to pull out some of the more obvious lessons from each of the chapters and in this particular chapter the obvious lesson is that God is a God of justice a God of judgment God who is righteous and a God who will bring the wicked to punishment and I know that that meets with a lot of opposition today both outside of the church and unfortunately inside of the church we think how can a God of love ever do such horrific things are indicated in the book of Revelation how could the god of love bring judgment to bear upon the heads of in penitent sinners well we do not sound like the angels in heaven because the angels in heaven as they witness the wrath and the fury and the judgment of God declare you are righteous Oh Lord the one who is and who was and who is to be because you have judged these things for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drink for it is there just do we need to always keep that in mind that God is not arbitrary God is not capricious God is a God who operates according to his own holy character and when he judges and when he brings justice and when he brings his righteousness to bear on the heads of those who have rejected it is there just do as these angels declare note the particular crime of the city that's in view here verse 64 they have shed the blood of saints and prophets and you have given them blood to drain they had killed they had murdered they had opposed the prophets of god most high they had rejected them and slamed them and ultimately killed the Lord Jesus Christ himself so it is righteous with God to bring this judgement to bear and when those outside of the church and when those inside of the church wonder how a God of love could ever send such judgment tell them that that God of love is also a God of righteousness and absolute justice and absolute judgment and we mustn't ever forget that or to just sort of focus on those aspects of God's character that we like we like the love of God we gravitate toward the love of God but we don't want to hear all those other things well we don't have the prerogative to make that demand and that's not our decision to me we take all of God as God is revealed in Holy Scripture the totality of his being and his beauty and His Majesty in His goodness to his people and in his wrath and judgment upon those who continue to rebel and reject and this good God has a way of escape through his son the Lord Jesus Christ that is absolutely marvelous all of us deserve God's wrath all of us deserve God's punishment all of us deserve God's justice because all we like sheep have gone astray but the Lord has laid the iniquity of us all upon him the Lord God most high was pleased to bruise him the son the Lord Jesus so that all by God's grace who believe the gospel will escape the wrath and fury and judgment of God and will enter into the bliss and the joy and the peace and the safety and the comfort of heaven heaven is everything in a sense that this world is not I mean certainly we enjoy some peace we enjoy some safety we enjoy some comfort but when we get to heaven there will be no more sorrow there will be no more pain there'll be no more suffering there will be no more death the scripture declares we will dwell in the presence of God and the lamb who sits upon the throne for all eternity and our song of praise will be salvation belongs to our God and to the lamb who sits upon the throne will let us pray our Father we thank you that you and your mercy and in your grace sent your son the Lord Jesus to die for sinners and to rise again we thank you for giving us a saving interest in him we do not credit our faith to our wisdom or our ingenuity or our ability we were dead in our trespasses and sins but you made us alive you granted these gifts of faith and repentance you showed us the glory and the beauty of Jesus Christ the sufficiency of Christ to save us and how we praise you for that and how we pray that a great multitude throughout this earth today would hear the gospel and would believe the gospel and would be saved by a gracious God and we pray this through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well for our final him before the preaching of the word will sing number 217 him number 217 again will stand as we sing together we can turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 21 continuing our exposition of Matthew's Gospel we find ourselves in verses 23 to 32 I'll read the passage will pray and then we'll look at it in detail Matthew 21 beginning in verse 23 now when he came into the temple the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted him as he was teaching and said by what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority but jesus answered and said to them I also will ask you one thing which if you tell me i likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things the baptism of John was it from or where was it from from heaven or from men and they reasoned among themselves saying if we say from heaven he will say to us why then did you not believe in but if we say from men we fear the multitude for all count John as a prophet so they answered Jesus and said we do not know and he said to them neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things but what do you think a man had two sons and he came to the first and said son go work today in my vineyard he answered and said I will not but afterward he regretted it and went then he came to the second said likewise and he answered and said I go sir but he did not go which of the two did the will of his father they said to him the first jesus said to them assuredly I say to you the tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you where John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him but tax collectors and harlots believed in and when you saw it you did not afterward relent and believe him amen let us pray father we come to the scripture now and we asked for the Holy Spirit to guide us and delete us as we study your word may this indeed be an act of worship as we come face to face with the Word of God we pray again for the forgiveness of sins and cleansing in the blood of Jesus from all that which darkens our understanding and how we thank you for the ministry in the aid of the Holy Spirit we do pray for his presence and power among us now we pray for his power to be at work and the hearts of the unconverted we pray God that we would see and appreciate the mercy and the goodness and the grace of God that tax collectors and harlots would enter into the kingdom of God we praise you for your grace and your goodness we praise you for the gospel and we praise you through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well we have seen in this passion week thus far the Lord Jesus Christ enters Jerusalem triumph triumphal II in chapter 21 at the very beginning he then goes immediately to the temple which is the focus of Jewish religion and the were the religious life of Israel at this particular time and he cleanses the temple and he heals people and then privately with his disciples he curses the fig tree and by so doing indicates what he will make clear later on this particular night all this takes place on the Tuesday on Tuesday night when he returns to Bethany he sits on the Mount of all of that and he gives the all of it discourse and what he has shown by symbolic actions at the beginning of chapter 21 he gives by prophetic word in chapters 24 and 25 concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and it's temple in the first century they had rejected Christ they had rejected the prophets they had delivered him up to be crucified and they would be cut off for their sin it would become a dental in its significance and this is what the focus of the emphasis is upon in this particular section from chapter 21 at verse 23 all the way to chapter 22 and verse 46 there is a series of confrontations between Christ and between the religious leaders it starts here chapter 21 at verses 23 to 27 they questioned Jesus concerning his authority he then answers them with three parables and then there's for question and answers they posed several and then he poses one so it's direct confrontation with the religious leaders in this particular section I attach this first parable the parable of the two sides because it is linked with what we find in terms of the question of Jesus Authority in verses 23 to 27 so we'll look at this section under three considerations first the confrontation with the leaders verses 23 to 25 a secondly the dilemma facing the leaders in 25 b to 27 and then the parable condemning the leaders in verses 28 to 32 now if we had sufficient time we would take up the other two parables as well because the three of them are a response to these religious leaders and their rejection of Christ they're questioning of his authority and their general disposition of rejection of the Son of God the Lord of glory the son of David who came to operate as Israel's Messiah now note first the confrontation as I mentioned this is Tuesday verse 23 of the passion week when he came into the temple the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted him as he was teaching so the particular scene as we've seen is that Jesus goes to the temple in order to teach Jesus goes to the temple in order to discuss doctrine Jesus goes to declare the truth and in so doing these religious leaders confront him chief priests elders of the people this did not make up the complete Sanhedrin which was the Religious Council but it was probably an official delegation in Luke and Mark and the parallel passages it indicates that scribes were present as well and if you remember and Jesus announcements concerning is going to Jerusalem to die in chapter 16 at verse 21 again in chapter 20 and verse 18 he indicates it would be by the hands of the chief priests the elders rives it would be the religious leaders in Israel specifically in Jerusalem that would lead the charge to have Jesus executed and this is the basis or this is the foundation of what will follow in the passion and we see by this interchange and by all that Jesus says after this that the discrepancy or the dispute between these religious leaders and Jesus wasn't simply a misunderstanding it's not that they were just a bit puzzled by who this Jesus was they understood the claims that he was making they understood the actions that he had taken they understood these things and they rejected him they despised him and they led the revolt against God and against his Christ by calling upon the people to vote for or to join them in their statement away with him away with him crucify him so they questions specifically his authority notice in verse 23 they confront Jesus as he's teaching and they said by what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority now the things in view would have been the child full entry when Jesus comes into Israel it comes into Jerusalem rather him down from Galilee goes into Judea and he goes specifically into Jerusalem at the time of the Passover and they would have heard the shouts of the people saying Hosanna to the son of David they would have witnessed Jesus actions in the temple remember when Jesus goes into the temple he cleanses it not by gently kindly caressing the people that were violated but over turning the tables by driving out the beasts in the first temple cleansing he made a scourge and he used that to drive them out gentle Jesus meek and mild was full of the zeal for the Lord God most high that had eaten him up for the glory of his house and Jesus drives these money changers in these sellers of goods away from the temple precincts these religious leaders saw that they would have seen him heal people they would have heard the children crying out Hosanna to the son of David this is what made them indignant it was a challenge ultimately to their authority Jesus hadn't been to rabbi school Jesus hadn't been a sort of man that was brought up as they would have deemed appropriate far as they were concerned Jesus had no hands laid upon him to be an ecclesiastical Authority so in one sense the question is somewhat understandable but what authority are doing these things but they seized upon this as the opportunity to distance themselves further from him and to alienate the people away from him now they wouldn't have witnessed the cursing of the fig tree that happened specifically with the disciples but these particulars cause them to wonder about these two things by what authority are you doing these things and who gave you this authority in other words who do you think you are we are the religious leadership in Israel we are the custodians of the Temple in Jerusalem and you come in here and you mess things up who do you think you are who gave you this authority I like what royal says those bitter enemies of all righteousness saw the sensation which the public entry into Jerusalem and the cleansing of the temple had produced at once they came about our Lord like bees and endeavored to find occasion for an accusation against him I love that word picture because bees don't just sort of float around and hopefully they'll get a bite they swarm they pounce they cease and that's what these religious leaders are doing you've got to ask the question how do we get to chapters 26 and 27 where the mob is crying out away with him away with him Bruce if I have when you ponder it Why What did he ever do well in chapter 21 and following you see what's at the root it is the depravity and the wickedness and the hardness of men's heart and we know the ultimate cause is the predetermined plan of God Christ's death happens according to God's predestination according to his decree that this does not minimize or take away or lessen the reality of second causes and these godless hands of these wretched hands of godless men crucified him to the cross so chapters 21 you want and following sort of fill it out for us so that when we hear the crowd saying away with him away with improves afya we are not puzzled we see that these are right a self righteous men these are proud man they probably feel some sort of threat to their position and so they oppose Christ at every step of the way and you know what's intriguing as well their response to Jesus verifies confirms or rather illustrates all that he has done preceding when he cleanses the temple what's the indictment the temple and its custodians aren't doing its job when Jesus curses the fig tree what is he what does he do it he is saying that upon the tree of Israel no fruit will ever grow again and when we get to this confrontation concerning his authority they evidence that Jesus is right they illustrate these deaf ears that they have turned not only to Jesus but to John the Baptist they are further showing and confirming the reality of the judgment that Jesus will speak of in Matthew chapter 24 notice specifically they ask the question Jesus gives the answer verses 24 and 25 Jesus says I also will ask you one thing which if you tell me i likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things the baptism of John where was it from from heaven or from men now some people come here they said well Jesus is evading their question in Jesus really be the accurate truth teller that we all hear that he is I mean he's evading their question no he's not this was rebenok custom to respond with a question to a question but as we move through the particular section we'll see that John the Baptist is uniquely connected to the question that they asked John the Baptist arises in verse 32 in the parable of the two sons so John's role is primary in this particular section in other words what they thought of the Baptist will determine what they think yeah the two answers go hand-in-hand and this is why Jesus does this and on a side light note the Lord Jesus did it is infinitely wise he puts them on the horns of a dilemma he gives them a particular question to put them in this quandary where they understand what's happening and they don't want to answer that's what that's what we ought to appreciate there's not even on the part of price there's evasion on the part of these religious leaders they don't want to they don't want to engage this question they say well we don't know of course they knew and they knew they knew they had rejected the Ministry of John the Baptist where Matthew everywhere makes this clear as does Luke but note specifically our Lord's question he doesn't engage in evasion if they affirm John's divine a full authority than they must acknowledge Jesus divine authority what was John's purpose everybody wake up think back Matthew 3 what was John's purpose in accordance with the prophets John came as the forerunner to Christ what was John's role and function to build a following for himself now to point persons to Jesus it was John the Baptist who said of Jesus he must increase but I must decrease when Jesus comes to the Baptist in order to be baptized John says what are you doing I I shouldn't be baptizing you but Jesus says permitted for now it is necessary that we fulfill all righteousness you see John's function in redemptive history is to point to Jesus and if these religious leaders reject John the Baptist if there's so unspiritual they missed the significance of this Isaiah chapter 40 man that has been ministering in the wilderness of Judea then they do not have the spiritual savvy to be able to speak to the issue as to who Jesus is Christ response here by bringing in the Baptist is absolutely germane to the Sue Ann he is not evading he's not trying to escape he is simply putting them in a position where they must speak he asks I also will ask you one thing which if you tell me I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things the baptism of John stands for the Ministry of John all that John said and did signified chiefly in the baptism was it from heaven or from men heaven means God just in case you missed this is it divine in its origin or is John just an autonomous self ruled man that wanted to sort of be a minister in Judea so he got online he found an internet side he filled out a couple simple questions like name and can you breathe and then they sent him a diploma in the mail and he becomes this sort of Internet minister sensation in Judea is it from man sees self-willed man is he an unauthorized profit in Israel you see Jesus question is absolutely crucial for these men to get their minds wrapped around if they say from heaven as we'll see this puts them in one position if they say from man this puts them in another position but however they view the Ministry of John the Baptist directly impacts how they'll view the Ministry of our Lord Jesus it's absolutely brilliant how he responds to them notice that brings us to the dilemma facing the leaders note their response verse 26 be our 25b they reason among themselves saying first thing we ought to observe is they don't care about the truth do them these guys don't want truth they want to cover themselves you want to protect themselves this is a problem with an ecclesiastical hierarchy this is why it's good to have a plurality of elders it's why it's good not only have the scripture but to have a subordinate authority say the confession of faith because power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely do that statement was initially spoken of the Roman Catholic papacy there can be a Protestant papacy as well if we are not careful we want to protect kinga we want to protect our church we want to make sure that no one ever has an ill viewer now it'll thought of us so we reason among ourselves together to formulate the best response not to pursue and prosecute truth but rather to pursue and prosecute a reputation now there are legitimate inconsistent ways that churches should go about that task first first Timothy 519 do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses there is a judicial proceeding there is a process involved and we ought to employ and utilize it but what we ought to appreciate in this text in this passage is ecclesiastical abuse they reason among themselves not to pursue the truth but they reason among themselves to protect themselves that is reprehensible and note how they go is if we say from heaven we acknowledge the divine authority of John the Baptist and Jesus will say to us why didn't you believe him they understand the score they know what's going on you see their difficulty if we say that John the Baptist was you know divinely authorized then why didn't we submit to his baptism look at Matthew 3 Matthew chapter 3 note the various responses to the Baptist he's out there he's preaching in the wilderness of Judea his message is repent for the kingdom of heaven is at an Matthew 33 for this as he was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah say the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord make his paths straight that's Isaiah 40 that's why he said he's an Isaiah 40 man describes John in verse 4 John himself was clothed in camel's hair with a leather belt around his waist and his food was locusts and wild honey it's an interesting character isn't he certainly an ally jaw like character isn't it elijah is described in the same sort of way in first case so what jesus later says in Matthew 11 when you went out to the wilderness what did you expect to see some limp wristed soft effeminate court preacher would you go out to see some prissy fellow that would simply tell you what you wanted to hear Jesus says no he's a great prophet in this particular passage notice verse 5 then Jerusalem all Judea and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan confessing their sins but when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism he said to them brood of vipers they didn't submit they did acknowledge divine authority they didn't confess their sins in the Jordan and get baptized by him notice in Luke chapter 7 same emphasis Luke chapter 7 verses 29 and 30 and when all the people heard him even the tax collectors justified God having been baptized with the baptism of John but the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves not having been baptized by him so back to our passage you see their quandary if we say from heaven he's going to ask us why didn't you believe it's legit isn't it if you acknowledge the divine authority of this man who comes in accordance with the prophet Isaiah he announces the coming of the king is the 4runner is the the prophetic hand piece or hand tool that God uses to prepare the way for the Messiah why don't you listen them why don't you believe in you'll see a close linking between John the Baptist and Jesus Christ in this particular passage we might ask the question here if you believe that Jesus are you fagor you acknowledge that Jesus has divine authority why don't you believe him the fact that you're in a christian church on a Sunday morning indicates at least a couple of things one that you have not totally repudiated the Christian faith that's a good thing you have not totally rejected the Christian faith you're here where the Bible is and where it hopefully is being preached that is a good thing so if you on the one hand acknowledge that the bible is the bible the bible does speak of God the Bible speaks of Christ who came into this world sinners to say when I look at my own life I see that I'm a sinner I don't do what God says to do I like to do the things that he says not to do find myself engaged and wicked behavior and wicked activities I look at that Ten Commandments and I'm embarrassed on it and I'm just you know amazed it at how the reality is that I I cannot live that way well if you're here this morning and you acknowledge at least some of those things then why don't you believe in why don't you believe on the Lord Jesus you know we appeal to children and young people at least weekly at this church you're going to continue another year rejecting Christ you can continue another year acknowledging yes there is a Christ acknowledging yes there is a God acknowledging yes there is a viable but continuing and rebellion against him you say well I'm not that big of a rebel I'm not like these tax collectors and harlots that that people talk about I'm not like these you know meth makers and these prostitutes of their own day and I know I'm not really back look either you're in Christ or you're outside of christ jesus says it clearly and unequivocally in Matthew 12 30 he who is not with me is what he's against me now you may stand on the street corner railing against God as a viral atheist or you may do that in this in the secrecy of your own heart but the endgame is the same you're either in Christ we are not the answer is to believe on him if you acknowledge that Jesus has divine authority then why don't you believe why don't you come why don't you bow down well some will say because God pretty dustins and God it lacks and how do I know you believe on Him you come to the Savior the apostolic preaching of the Cross and the book of Acts they don't sit there and sort of debate with Paris and say you got to make sure your elect you got to make sure there's an e on your back you got to find an e on your neck and when you find that either now you believe the gospel you look and you live just as Moses lifted the serpent so must the Son of Man be lifted the implication is the way they looked and lived under Moses is the way you look and live today by grace through faith in Jesus Christ so if he's divine in his origin then why don't you believe notice is why what they say but if we say from man then we got a problem with the crowd because everybody thinks he's a prophet they really got a difficult situation don't they you see how masterful and wise our Lord Jesus is he puts them on the horns of a dilemma doesn't do this maliciously does this with rhetorical sovereignty but he does it nonetheless if we say from men were afraid of the crowds because popular belief is that John was indeed certainly it doesn't help them in this situation doesn't get them off the hook for their vile rebellion against God pneus Christ but you see their quandary but if we say from men we fear the multitude for all count John as a prophet in this they imitate Herod in Matthew 14 5 Herod was afraid of John the Baptist as well because he was held in esteem by the people he's men are directed not by their pursuit for the truth by what but but but rather by what will make people happy you see this is an ecclesiastical abuse as well second Timothy for Paul tells Timothy preach the word be ready in season and out of season convince rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and teaching why because the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but they will heap up for themselves teachers to tickle their ears to unfortunate that there's teachers out there that will more than happily tickle person's ears we don't want to dare tell them about judgment or about rathore about God's anger about God's you know justice toward the impenitent so we'll tell them things that they want to hear because we're afraid of them the fiber of our being and we don't want to offend them brethren it's always a better thing to offend men than God always it is more acceptable to offend men then to offend God you be true and faithful and pursue those things that the Lord God commands and you worry about him not worry about what delicate people might think because you said that God is angry with the wicked every day I don't know why that is more of it in a society like ours the question ought not to be are we going to see God's judgment the question is why is he staying the full weight and the fury of his wrath in his power no where are people that have rejected God what are people have taken all 10 commandments and throw them into the dirt where are people who celebrate lawlessness and wickedness we are a people who rejoice in evil and we got the wherewithal to say I wonder if God's going to be angry with us oh yes he's angry with the wicked every day so you see these men's problem they take the coward's way out verse 27 the answer Jesus and said we do not know of course they knew jesus knows they know the parable that he tells illustrates that they know then Jesus responds to them neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things the Lord declines to answer them directly the Lord is consistent with his own criteria you tell me whether John the Baptist's that baptism was from heaven or it was from Matt they didn't tell them so why should Jesus respond to them why should Jesus satisfy their curiosity again it goes back to something I said earlier da carson alerted me to they raised the question of Jesus Authority he raised the question of their competence to judge such an issue they missed the Baptist how in the world can they a in on the Messiah they missed the significance of this Isaiah 40 prophecy of life before their eyes who do they think they are that they'll get a righteous judgment concerning the source of Christ's authority that brings us thirdly to the parable condemning the leaders the parable proper is found in 28 to 30 and then the application and 31 to 32 note first his question but what do you think Jesus is a master what do you think this is an evident this is a case where he's giving them enough rope to hang themselves what do you think I want you to weigh in I want you to get your mind around this I want you to ponder this particular variable you see we look at the wisdom of Nathan the Prophet when he stands before David and he tells them that tells him that beautiful little story David gets all worked up and he gets all angry and and the Nathan says you are the man and David is just crushed it's not a glorious passage of Scripture not because David sins so grievously but because God showed grace so abundantly to him but Nathan had a wisdom there it's like he threw out the hook and he reels David in and David just gets all fighting mad I've often thought how did Nathan do it thou art the man that he have one of those John Knox pointing things or you know that picture of the banner of truth often carries John Knox hanging over a pulpit and point I think at the Queen of England or there's the squall Scott was Nathan like that how did he say it I don't know but he said thou art the man to David and it crushed him this is what Jesus is doing what do you think this is a convention he uses in his ministry elsewhere what do you think I want you to enter and I want you to ponder this I want you to think through this I want you to understand when I lower the boom you will have nothing to say in terms of your defense notice he speaks of these particulars a man had two sons and he came to the first and said now the father in the parable is gone so we know the stake what's going on in this particular parable the father in the bearable is not the first Sun represents the tax collectors and the harlots this will be clear as we move to the application the second son illustrates the Jew specifically the religious leaders now early interpreters thought it was a Jew Gentile motif going on fact a history of interpretation with reference to verse 28 shows some interesting things if you have the older new American Standard Version the the roles are different it's the first sign that says yes but does it there's just been a bit of a reversal in different ways to explain that but suffice it to say it's not the Jew Gentile motif that is going on it's the Israel that has saved and unsaved the apostle paul in romans 9 verse 6 says not all Israel is Israel in other words when you look at Old Covenant Israel not everybody any Old Covenant Israel was saved you had Jacobs and you had Esau's you had Isaac's yet Ishmael's you had the same than the unsaved and in this particular parable you have those who affirmed their allegiance to the law but don't do what God says it's the religious leaders in the context isn't it and then you have those like tax collectors and the harlots when they hear the law they say no way I don't want anything to do with that but then by the grace of God they regret and they repent and they come to the Savior so those are the particulars in this parable notice the instruction given to the first son what do you think a man had two sons he came to the first and said son go work today in my vineyard he answered and said I will not but afterward he regretted it and went pretty simple and straightforward isn't it the father as a song he says go work in the vineyard the Sun says no I'm not going to do it this would be pretty scandalous in this particular environment in this context I'd like to think it'd be scandalous in our homes if we said son go wash the dish and he said now would we say okay son unfortunately that's what's happening today okay sod no you gently graciously and firmly exercise some pressure upon that son so that had to wash the dishes well letting kids get away with murder because we don't want to hurt their feelings in this particular instance the first son says no but afterward he comes to his senses afterward he regrets his decision afterward he repents and he goes and does what the father commanded that's good isn't it I mean it'd be better if he said yes and then did it I mean that's the optimum solution in this passage if you're a kid today don't know boy at least I did it yeah but you said no you shouldn't say no kids you should say yes and do it you're told yes and do what you're told that's the answer that we are looking for as parents and grandparents but in the story it illustrates the particulars with reference to these two groups the Jewish religious leaders and the rabble of society tax collectors and harlots you understand how scandalous Jesus words are Carson points out elsewhere that in our generation right now right here there is essentially soft porn coming through television sets there is soft porn at the checkout counters in our grocery stores with some of the magazine's the idea of a harlot in this particular context would have scandalized these men tax collectors and scar a harlots entering into the kingdom of God you've got to be crazy you've got to be out of your mind you have got to be off your rocker he's using this powerful language to bring home a powerful truth and I will seek to drive this one home later sometimes self-righteousness is more of a damning illusion than an outward wickedness take heed that's another problem that I think we faced with children and young people being brought up in the church yes you are in the right place at the right times yes you do have an external form of compliance and you ultimately get the job done yes you're not out smoking crack yes you're not out engaged in those sorts of things but one of the byproducts if there is not regeneration in the heart is a self righteousness it is this idea that everybody out there is horrible and wicked and society and despicable if you are not in Christ you're on the same side with that if you have not by grace believe the gospel you have not repented of your sins if you have not come to the Savior that self-righteousness will send you to hell just like crack unrepentant of will send the crack dealer to hell why is it that we have this sort of category of what bridges calls respectable sins as long as we're not engaged in harlotry as long as we're not engaged in what being a tax collector meant in this situation we can gossip we can slander we can engage in all those sorts of things why how did you ever get the idea that a gossip won't go to hell how did you ever get it in your head or mind that that a rebellious child is going to go to heaven you see brethren Jesus is scandalizing his audience in this particular instance the first son says no but he goes and he serves notice what the second son says the second son says he will go and serve but he would X's father's will you see it's pretty obvious even without verses 32 32 4 31 and 32 it's obvious what's going on here tax collectors and the harlots hear the preaching of righteousness and they say hey I want to be a tax collector i want to be a harlot I don't engage in this sort of rebellion I want to live my life the way I want to live my life you know miserable a position that is I want to live my life the way I live my life God is the creator you are the creature he has absolute authority and right over you and He commands you to live in a particular way they don't want to I want to do my own thing that's the mantra of our generation do your own thing that's what this tax collectors and harlots are these tax collectors and harlots said but then they repent they see that this was not the right way they see that this was wicked they see that this does not bring these this is the end result isn't it someone wants to do what is right in their own eyes they think that living and doing their own thing is going to bring all this joy and happiness and peace and it usually ends in misery and depression and sorrow by God's grace he shows us the Savior we come to Christ and we understand what peace and joy and happiness and life is all about isn't it beautiful that God deals with us in such mercy and with such grace but the second son is the Jewish leaders and by extension the nation that followed their leaders will see that a minute it's not just the leaders the whole city is destroyed the whole temple is destroyed they're the ones who paying lip service of course will do what the will of the father is of course we'll go work the field of course will subscribe to Torah of course will hold to the law of God and they didn't do it they rejected it the father goes along he sees them throwing dice instead of work in the field he sees them engaged in all manner of lawlessness after having said that we will do what you say father this is a wicked position to be in now notice the application verse 31 Jesus says which of the two did the will of his father even a Pharisee escriben up elder of the people gets this right we'd say what we will about them they weren't that foolish they could pick the right answer out of the obvious one which of the two did the will of his father they said the first of course the first the one who said no but then he repented he did the will of the Father versus the sack and who said yes but never did what he was supposed to do now no Jesus does he brings it to bear upon them he brings it home this is application this is taking the word of truth and screwing it into their consciences he said assuredly I say to you the tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you Spurgeon says with reference to the question Jesus made the hypocritical ecclesiastic judges in Clichy astex judges in a case which was their own this is akin to Nathan guiding David by the hand to make this admission that you are the man this is Jesus you are the man moment with these particular men surely he underscores and I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you know I don't take before you there in terms of priority it'll be first the key to the tax collectors in the harlots and then you I take in terms of exclusion a couple different ways persons can go here I opted for exclusion Jesus is not teaching them that they'll be third in the line when it comes to entrance into the kingdom of God I think it's a convention that indicates exclusion from the kingdom in other words the tax collectors and the harlots will enter the kingdom but you yourselves won't again imagine how that made them feel you want to know why they're so angry with Jesus you have any reason as to consider why they're so upset with him he's essentially telling them that everybody they've ever looked down upon everybody they think they're better than everybody that they think is a waste of time and space and their precious society all those dregs are entering the kingdom of God and they aren't that's what Christ is say assuredly amen I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you know tax collectors were notorious they were bad people so we're harlots they're really harlots they really did what harlotry means and most some suggest with Roman soldiers the tax collectors worked for the Roman government so not only were they sinners notorious sinners but they had the added a criminality of participating with the Roman government I mean they were three-time losers if ever there was any but Jesus says these tax collectors and these harlots are entering the kingdom of God before you and then he gives this reason why for John came to you in the way of righteousness see why Jesus asked about the baptism of John jesus knows what he's doing he knows he's going to tell this parable and he knows he's going to indict them for their law last nuts and here's John again for John came to you in the way of righteousness and he did not believe him but tax collectors and harlots believed him and when you saw you did not afterward relent and believe him so Jesus clearly explains the parable in case you've missed it the first son is the tax collectors and the harlots the second son is the religious leaders this is why this turn of events has come John the Baptist came and way of righteousness and he preached and you did not believe him you rejected him he said no to his authority he said no to his ministry by so doing he said no to the Ministry of Isaiah the prophet because he foretold John's coming he said no to the Lord God most high because he sent John in this particular capacity and as a result they are saying no to the Lord Jesus Christ because if John pointed to Christ to reject John is to reject Christ and it's intriguing tax collectors and harlots believed him and when you saw you did not afterward relent and believe him I wonder if there's an underscoring of their culpability here it doesn't tell us in the parable that when the second son saw the response of the first saw what he did but here it tells us that these Pharisees the scribes these elders of the people rejected John twice they not only rejected him when he was preaching in the wilderness of Judea but they were checked it and when they saw his effect upon the sinners upon the needy and society they would see a woman that at one time was a harlot that was no longer a harlot they would see a tax collector Matthew particularly there was no longer a tax collector they would see the visible evident fruit of repentance and the lives of people and they still would not believe the Baptist they ee reject John when he comes preaching in the wilderness and when God manifests fruit through his proclamation the second son we have no comment concerning in the parable we don't know what he said about the first son's repentance but in this instance and when you saw it you did not afterward relent and the word carries not only relent which has regret but also repentance the idea being that the feel bad ends in genuine repentance that's what he says concerning these men you did not afterward relent and believe him so there's our exposition a few thoughts in conclusion in the first place the question of Christ's authority is huge in this section and in the sections to follow we are on a journey with the Evangelist Matthew and in order to properly understand what happens in the passion we have to understand all of this foundational information we have to see that the actions of our Lord Jesus Christ were a challenge to the status quo in Israel in the first century I mean brethren if somebody marched in here right now it's sort of flipping pews and pushing the piano outside of the the sanctuary you know knocked over the pulpit and did all that we'd say by what authority are you doing this well if he's the Messiah of God he's got the authority I'm not suggesting that's going to happen he's going to come again in glory to judge the living in the dead he's not going to come to flip this pulpit over I mean that might be an afterthought or that might be an effect of what he does in the glory of his common you see the point he was a challenge to the status quo and they did not like that they liked everything tame they liked everything control they liked everything under under there some ecclesiastical Authority or the abuse thereof is a genuine problem that elders the churches that confessions all serve to help curtail as well the response of Jesus via this parable and the exchange demonstrates further his authority in their wickedness he is answering their question it's interesting the three parables here the parable of the two signs the parable of the vineyard and the parable of the wedding feast you have indictment the parable of the sons you have sentence in the parable of the vineyard and you have execution in the parable of the wedding feast know that observation to Blomberg I think that's accurate a parable of indictment here's what you are here's how you violated here's how you have rejected the will of God the parable of sentence in the vineyard this is what's going to happen the kingdom will be taken from you and given to another and then the parable of execution in the wedding feast they are excluded into that place where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth see this is Jesus response to the challenge of his authority it is to further condemn them and to further illustrate that the coming judgment that is coming to that is just it is legitimate and it is consistent as well the leaders are the primary target here but those who followed in Israel were culpable as well 2143 the kingdom is being taken from you and given to a nation bearing fruit to transfer from Old Covenant Israel to New Covenant Israel which is the church in chapter 22 we see that it's the city that is the focus of destruction in chapter 24 the temple and all that it stands for and in chapter 20 10 marks God a luke's gospel when you see jerusalem surrounded by enemies know that it's desolation is near so the leaders instigate this but they had all those two followers as well and as a result when jesus speaks on all of that concern learning the destruction of Jerusalem it's the whole body politic that is under the judgment of God most high notice in this passage as well the folly of the leaders sought to bring out the wisdom of our Lord I don't think we'll ever be as wise as what is displayed in this particular passage you just don't see Facebook dialogues like this well you just dumb that's what you see on facebook you don't see this kind of wisdom you don't see this ingenuity you don't see this sort of rhetorical sovereignty that our Lord displays here it's beautiful to behold though notice you can be firm and you can be right without calling people names now later Jesus will call them names they'll call them a brood of vipers I call them hypocrites that's true they really were notice the folly of these leaders they rejected John the Baptist and the Lord Jesus they feared man and they show themselves and demonstrate themselves to be excluded from the kingdom of God isn't this horrible these are the custodians of the temple these are the leaders in Israel these are the heirs of Moses so-called and yet they themselves are excluded from the temple not I'm sorry from the kingdom of God not all that glitters is gold brethren not everything is as it appears a place in ecclesiastical leadership does not mean a place in the kingdom of God this particular event or this particular situation evidences that and then as well we ought to appreciate the importance of the parable it answers the leaders it rebukes the leaders and then I think and this is what I'd like to end this morning it demonstrates the goodness and the kindness and the mercy of God doesn't your heart swell with joy and happiness when Jesus says assuredly I say to you the tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God isn't that good news isn't that gospel isn't that joyful isn't that the reality you're going to enter into the kingdom of God not because you're a good person not because you've earned right not because you have obeyed the law but because Christ obeyed the law Christ died as a sacrifice Christ was raised the third day and by God's grace we have looked to Christ in faith and as a result we will enter the kingdom of God that's good news tax collectors harlots sinners is who Jesus came to save remember I said that Jesus and John are very similar and very close Jesus had a similar instance in Matthew 9 after he saves Matthew Matthew throws a supper a feast a party at his house and tax collectors and sinners come and they set with Jesus to eat Matthew wants to get the gospel to them the Pharisees standing outside are grumbling and they're complaining and they're saying why is this man eating with these data collectors and sinners and Jesus answers them in a three-fold way first of all it proves them here approves them you need to go and learn what Hosea needs I desire mercy secondly he tells them a self-evident truth it's the sick who need a physician and then he tells them his particular mission the Son of man came not to call the righteous to repentance but sinners you see John's ministry Jesus ministry was the same and notice in this passage the emphasis on justification by faith alone one of the disturbing things and reading commentaries is to see man turn to pit Matthew against Paul or worse Jesus against Paul the idea goes is that Paul was the great innovator of the doctrine of justification by faith Jesus and Matthew in the gospel records record for us Torah obedience you just do what God says in order to enter the kingdom of God look how Jesus specifies what entering or what doing the will of God is in the passage verse 31 which of the two did the will of his father note verse 32 for John can do in the way of righteousness and you did not what you didn't believe him well harlots and the tax collectors they believed justification by faith action follows good works result they are the consequence but they are not the condition this is akin to what we find in Matthew 7 21 to 23 not everyone who says to me Lord or it's interesting the second son addresses the father in the same way calls him Lord same thing Jesus says it's not what you say you've done but it's doing the will of my father who is in heaven what is the will of my father in heaven John 6 40 this is the will of my father who is in heaven that you believe in him whom he sent were justified freely by His grace through faith in Christ how do tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God by grace alone through faith alone how do you law less sinners enter into the kingdom of God by grace alone through faith alone don't mean you'll all us sinners as if I want I got a buddy who is to visit here and he can tell me he tells me that one time I said in this congregation you scum-sucking sinners I really don't think I ever said that I could be wrong I don't think it ever actually happened but if it did it's not far off the mark we got problems we've offended God we run through the commandments and what do we find we've had other gods before him we have become my toe letters we have the glory of the creator' and we worship and serve the creature we PLAs phim his holy name that name which is esteem that name which is glorious that name which is hallowed and we use it as a curse word or as filler we break his Sabbath days in fact today you see this in the church out at Sabbath what do you mean God calls us to come in out of the world for one day to bask in his presence and in his courts isn't that a blessed gift given by God why do we rail against it why do we complain about it what we do we are told in the scripture we are told in the law to honor the honor our parents why wouldn't we they gave us life they give us food they make sure we hot showers they make sure the lights stay on turns show your kids what a hydro bill looks like some time and plead with them not to be wasters but we are insubordinate we're told in the scripture to honor life you say well I never actually ended somebody's life but you hate people in your heart we are told in the scripture the sanctity of marriage there's only one legitimate expression for sexuality and that is in the Covenant confines of marriage not us internet porn all sorts of wickedness sodomy lawlessness perversion paraded on our streets we get to the eighth word we're not supposed to steal it's a good rule isn't it not for us we steal we still time if anything we steal from our employers we steal from society we steal from others we are told not to bear false witness have you told the truth every instance in your life and I'm going to go there just in case we could say with that rich young ruler all these things I've kept from my youth what one thing do I lack the tenth word we can maintain fidelity with do not covet you see brethren this is the good news this is the gospel this is the glory of our Lord Jesus he lived he died he rose again so that when we believe we are saved we are justified our sins are forgiven we receive an alien righteousness a foreign righteousness something outside of ourselves is imputed to us and receive by faith alone the glory of the gospel is found in this particular section which of the two did the will of his father it was the one who by the grace of God believed now as I said true belief will always issue forth and good works as our confession says faith in christ is the alone instrument of justification which of course is not alone in the person justified but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces and is no dead faith but worketh I love you discuss the sermon this afternoon you think about this again sometime in the coming week realized this that if God in Christ brought tax collectors and harlots into the kingdom of God there is hope for you if Jesus could scandalize that first century context by speaking of the two groups that were most thoroughly despised and hated by society as all and Jesus can say they entered the kingdom of God there's hope for you think through this do not continue it's customary to wish each other a happy new year my wish to you is a christ-centered new year my wish to you is that you will believe these things if it is the case that I'm properly expounding the scripture and explaining the gospel and believe it don't continue in rebellion don't continue in unbelief don't continue in rejection as the prophet said to Israel of old why will you die repent believe the Lord of glory is the savior for tax collectors and harlots he is certainly able and capable of saving sinners in chilliwack in the 21st century will let us pray our Father in Heaven we thank you for the word of God and we thank you for its clarity in this passage and for the absolute purity of our Lord's gospel we thank you that you made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him I pray that all in this place would reflect upon these things that all in this place would look to Christ and be saved and may you indeed convince us again that self-righteousness is wicked miserable horrible sin and give us grace to flee to the Savior and we pray through Christ our Lord amen and closed with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed you you