Speaker 1: The following resource is brought to you by Real Life Community Church in Richmond, kentucky.
Speaker 1: We hope you're both challenged and encouraged by this message from Pastor Chris May, if you have your Bible heard with me to Matthew 21,.
Speaker 2: We'd like to stand for the honor of the reading of God's word, matthew 21,.
Speaker 2: And we're going to begin in verse 23.
Speaker 2: Matthew 21, in verse 23.
Speaker 2: You have it say amen.
Speaker 2: If you don't, if you don't have your Bible with you, it'll be on the screen.
Speaker 2: Matthew, chapter 21.
Speaker 2: Aren't you grateful for our music team, our worship team?
Speaker 2: Aren't they amazing and grateful for the authentic worship, not just the quality of the music, but the authenticity of their heart?
Speaker 2: Matthew, chapter 21, verse 23.
Speaker 2: The word of the Lord says this and when Jesus entered the temple, the chief priest and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said by what authority are you doing these things and who gave you that authority?
Speaker 2: And Jesus answered them.
Speaker 2: I will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things.
Speaker 2: The baptism of John.
Speaker 2: Where did it come from?
Speaker 2: From heaven or from man?
Speaker 2: And they just stuck, disgusted among themselves, saying if we say from heaven, he will say to us why then did you not believe him?
Speaker 2: But if we say from man, we are afraid of the crowd.
Speaker 2: And they all hold that John was a prophet.
Speaker 2: So they answered Jesus, we do not know.
Speaker 2: And he said to them neither will I tell you about what authority I do these things.
Speaker 2: Verse 28.
Speaker 2: What do you think?
Speaker 2: A man had two sons and he went to the first and said, son, go and work in the vineyard today.
Speaker 2: And he answered I will not.
Speaker 2: But afterwards he changed his mind and he went and went to the other son and he said the same and he answered him I go, sir.
Speaker 2: But he did not go.
Speaker 2: Each of the two did the will of his father and they said the first.
Speaker 2: Jesus said to them truly, I say to you, the tax collector and the prostitute, go into the kingdom of God before you, for John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him.
Speaker 2: But the tax collectors and the prostitutes believe.
Speaker 2: And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your mind and believe.
Speaker 2: That's the word of the Lord and you may be seated Over the.
Speaker 2: Over the last couple of weeks we've been in the previous path passage in Matthew 21, looking at the familiar story of Jesus storming the temple, turning over the money tables, driving out the buyers and sellers and really chastising the temple authority.
Speaker 2: The radical tax, the sobering tax.
Speaker 2: Now there's a painting.
Speaker 2: I think we have this picture, guys.
Speaker 2: Do we have that I want to put up on the screen?
Speaker 2: Oh, come on, my whole sermon revolves around this.
Speaker 2: All right, well, I'm just going to have to paint the image in your mind.
Speaker 2: I'm going to give a second, because, are we good?
Speaker 2: There's no picture.
Speaker 2: Oh, all right, dad, look through the other ones.
Speaker 2: Is there?
Speaker 2: It's not.
Speaker 2: Later on, I must have accidentally deleted it.
Speaker 2: See it?
Speaker 2: Oh, bummer, all right, well, go with me in your mind of this painting.
Speaker 2: All right, it's a 14th century painting by an Italian artist, giotto, and it depicts this scene in the temple.
Speaker 2: Okay, and get this in your mind.
Speaker 2: Oh man, it's not near as effective without the actual painting, but here we go.
Speaker 2: So on the left hand side you have this is Jesus storming the temple.
Speaker 2: Right On the left hand side you have his disciples, jesus' disciples, and they look like really anxious and like astonished that Jesus is doing this.
Speaker 2: Because this would be like, you know, we take a church group to Washington DC and I storm the White House and start, you know, calling out, you know, the government, and you would be like man.
Speaker 2: What in the world is he doing?
Speaker 2: Like we're not associated with this guy, all right, like I didn't know you were going to do that.
Speaker 2: And so they look a little confused and bewildered and just shocked at what Jesus is doing.
Speaker 2: Well, on the right side you have these cowering money changers and then behind them are these chief priests and elders and they're talking amongst themselves and you know, the idea is that they're conversing, wondering how they can get rid of this man called Jesus In the center of the painting and oh, I wish you could see this, we'll have to look it up later but in the center of the painting is Jesus Christ and he has.
Speaker 2: It looks like his fist is caught back like this.
Speaker 2: The money changers are right here and his fist is like this, like come at me, bro, right.
Speaker 2: Actually in the painting he's holding the whip that he, you know, took care of the tables with, knocked everything off the tables, but with you can't?
Speaker 2: The whip is so light that you can't see it.
Speaker 2: It just looks like he's getting ready to punch the lights out of these guys and they're kind of like this.
Speaker 2: But I love the picture because I think it helps in just a small way, it helps us get an idea of really the tension here in this situation, that the confrontation that's taking place.
Speaker 2: Now, here's what I want you to consider If I were to ask you hey, I want you to picture Jesus in your mind, I want you to get an image of Jesus in your mind.
Speaker 2: This is probably not the image you would come up with, right?
Speaker 2: You wouldn't conjure up Jesus with his fist back, right, getting ready to punch somebody.
Speaker 2: No, you might picture Meek and Mild Jesus, who was, you know, at the beginning of chapter 21, riding in as Israel's savior on a donkey's colt.
Speaker 2: You might picture a powerful, compassionate Jesus who, we've read, has gone around healing the sick, even raising the dead, casting out demons, loving the poor and the marginalized.
Speaker 2: So we love that Jesus.
Speaker 2: You might picture the images of Jesus Remember just chapters back welcoming the children around him.
Speaker 2: You just picture, you know, one of your children, like, bouncing on his knee and him just being so kind and blessing the children.
Speaker 2: You see, we loved and we welcomed the Meek and Mild and compassionate and loving and child welcoming Jesus Christ.
Speaker 2: We embrace that Jesus.
Speaker 2: But some people are a little bit nervous about the Jesus who is the powerful judge who acts with the righteous indignation.
Speaker 2: So, when taken as a whole, here's what I love about Matthew 21.
Speaker 2: Here's what it does it gives us a glimpse of the juxtaposition of these two sides of Jesus, and here's what I mean by that.
Speaker 2: On one hand, we see gentle Jesus, right, and then, on the other hand, we see that he's a force to be reckoned with.
Speaker 2: We see that Jesus is someone who speaks with grace, but he also speaks with truth.
Speaker 2: The truth can hurt, amen.
Speaker 2: We see that Jesus, wonderfully, is one who justified, but he's also one who judged.
Speaker 2: We see Jesus as you take the book of Matthew as a whole.
Speaker 2: He is the sacrificial lamb, as I said earlier, but he's also the roaring lion.
Speaker 2: So here's the main point I wanted to bring out today, and it is this Our text reminds us that to be a real follower of Jesus is to embrace the whole of Jesus.
Speaker 2: Like you and I don't get to pick and choose which parts of Jesus we want to cling to and which ones we'd rather not think about.
Speaker 2: We don't get to pick and choose which commands we like, which teachings we don't like of him.
Speaker 2: No, see, to be a Christian is to receive Jesus' grace, yes, but it's also to accept his confrontational nature when he confronts you with something in your life.
Speaker 2: The bottom line is this To be a Christian is to not only receive Jesus' save, but it's to submit to him as Lord.
Speaker 2: You can't have one without the other.
Speaker 2: So we have to take the whole of who Jesus is.
Speaker 2: Are you with me, Not at me, this morning?
Speaker 2: If you're awake, all right, here we go.
Speaker 2: So I'm going to break the text down into only two points this morning.
Speaker 2: How about that?
Speaker 2: Number one is this addressing the authority of Jesus.
Speaker 2: Addressing the authority of Jesus.
Speaker 2: The number two responding to the authority of Jesus.
Speaker 2: The importance of addressing Jesus' authority and the importance of responding to Jesus' authority.
Speaker 2: So, number one if you're taking notes, you can write this down addressing the authority of Jesus.
Speaker 2: Look at verse 23 with me.
Speaker 2: So, since Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching.
Speaker 2: And here's what they asked by what authority are you doing these things and who gave you that authority?
Speaker 2: Now, remember, a day before this, jesus has stormed the temple, and I mean he just challenged the worship.
Speaker 2: He disrupted worship in the temple, turning over the tables, confronting the religious establishment, driving out buyers and sellers.
Speaker 2: Think about that.
Speaker 2: And now he has the audacity the next day to just walk into the temple again and, without any permission, he just starts teaching.
Speaker 2: He just starts teaching Now, the chief priest.
Speaker 2: You know, matthew mentions the chief priest.
Speaker 2: The chief priests were elite politicians Do you have here in the story?
Speaker 2: You have these spiritual leaders, but you have, I mean, political leaders, and they actually had, believe it or not, quite a bit of power and jurisdiction under even Rome.
Speaker 2: Rome gave them a certain amount of power.
Speaker 2: And so, as Jesus is teaching these chief priests and the elders of the people, they confront Jesus and they ask him a really simple question who gave you this authority?
Speaker 2: Who gave you this authority?
Speaker 2: In other words, who gave you the right?
Speaker 2: This is our temple.
Speaker 2: We're the leaders of this temple, we're the shepherds of these people.
Speaker 2: Who gave you the right to storm in here, to disrupt worship, to teach your own thing?
Speaker 2: Well, here's what I think.
Speaker 2: I think the chief priests actually have a fair argument.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's a fair question, is it not Like?
Speaker 2: Just imagine this morning, just imagine this.
Speaker 2: Let's say that during the music earlier on, I had to step out for a minute and while I was out, let's just say that somebody came in the back and they just come up, they grab a microphone and they just start teaching.
Speaker 2: They disrupt worship.
Speaker 2: They haven't asked me, they haven't asked the pastors and they just start the other pastor.
Speaker 2: They just start.
Speaker 2: And so I come into the sanctuary and here's this guy.
Speaker 2: I've never seen these in my pulpit.
Speaker 2: Am I just going to sit back and go oh good word, man, let's see what this guy, let's see what this man of God has to say.
Speaker 2: Actually, it'd be kind of interesting.
Speaker 2: I mean, I might be tempted to do that for a minute.
Speaker 2: But listen, I would have some questions and I would ask who gave you this authority?
Speaker 2: And then I would just remind the guy he's in Richmond, kentucky, and I bet we have a lot of people.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to go there.
Speaker 2: Listen, the rulers of the temple have every right to ask anybody who would come in and assume authority like this.
Speaker 2: Who gives you the right?
Speaker 2: Who has given you this authority?
Speaker 2: There's actually only one, being one man who would have authority over the chief priest.
Speaker 2: You know who it would be.
Speaker 2: It'd be the Messiah.
Speaker 2: And what they're really asking here is do you really think you're the Messiah.
Speaker 2: You really think you're the Messiah?
Speaker 2: Do you think you have authority over?
Speaker 2: Let me just give you some application here, because I think that all of us are wise to question authority, and I hate to drudge this up again, but I want to talk about COVID just for a second, because it illustrates my point.
Speaker 2: When vaccine mandates started coming down the pipeline, what did many of us have?
Speaker 2: An employer said if you're going to work here, you've got to get a vaccine.
Speaker 2: Many of you asked what gives you the right?
Speaker 2: Who gave you this authority?
Speaker 2: Tell me what I should put in my body.
Speaker 2: Remember the government who asked us to close churches mandated it.
Speaker 2: What did we ask?
Speaker 2: What about the separation of church and state?
Speaker 2: Who gives you the right?
Speaker 2: What authority are you telling us that we can or cannot meet the worship of God?
Speaker 2: Remember we even had elected officials telling us how we could celebrate Christmas Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2: Here's how big your family gatherings can be.
Speaker 2: If your grandma shows up and she's like the ninth person to cut off state, you got to stay outside.
Speaker 2: So we're some turkey out the window and let her fend for herself.
Speaker 2: And what did we ask?
Speaker 2: Who are you to tell me how and when I can gather with my family.
Speaker 2: What gives you the right?
Speaker 2: My point here, please understand me, some of you are just now getting riled up again.
Speaker 2: Listen, this is not about vaccines or social gatherings.
Speaker 2: My point is simply this we don't just blindly accept someone who has searched authority over us, do we?
Speaker 2: We want our personal autonomy and we're a bit mistrusting of people who claim to have authority, because is it true that authority has been like ultimate authority?
Speaker 2: Has it been abused in our world before?
Speaker 2: So we're a little cynical.
Speaker 2: We don't want tyranny, right?
Speaker 2: So we've got to think through.
Speaker 2: When somebody says you do this, I have charge over this part of your life, we question and I think wisely, who gives you the right?
Speaker 2: Well, the leaders of the temple.
Speaker 2: This is what they're asking With Jesus.
Speaker 2: Jesus, where does your authority come from?
Speaker 2: Beloved, I would just say to you this is the question I think every human being has to grapple.
Speaker 2: Every human being has to wrestle with this question.
Speaker 2: Because, as we've seen throughout Matthew's gospel, what does Jesus ask the multitude?
Speaker 2: To complete a legion.
Speaker 2: You obey everything I say.
Speaker 2: If you want to follow me, let me just give you some scriptures.
Speaker 2: I think we might have these on the screen, though I'm reluctant to say that, by the way, that's all my fault.
Speaker 2: Verse 10,.
Speaker 2: John 15.10,.
Speaker 2: Jesus says if you keep my commandment, not some of them.
Speaker 2: If you keep my commandment, you'll abide in my love, just as I've kept my father's commandment and abide in his love.
Speaker 2: Jesus claimed to be the only way to God.
Speaker 2: John 14.6,.
Speaker 2: He said I'm the way, the truth, the life.
Speaker 2: No one comes to the Father except through me.
Speaker 2: That's a radical claim.
Speaker 2: Where does Jesus claim his authority comes from?
Speaker 2: Matthew 28.18,.
Speaker 2: Jesus says all authority in heaven and on earth, it's been given to me.
Speaker 2: The implication is this authority comes from God.
Speaker 2: As a matter of fact, jesus himself claims to be one with the Father.
Speaker 2: He claims that to submit to him is to submit to the Father.
Speaker 2: To receive him is to receive the Father.
Speaker 2: To reject him is to reject the Father.
Speaker 2: Now, that's a bold claim and I think it's one we all need to wrestle with.
Speaker 2: And the question is how do we know that Jesus is really who he claims to be?
Speaker 2: Well, didn't he show through his many miracles that he has the power of God?
Speaker 2: Didn't he show, through his sinless life, that he has the character of God?
Speaker 2: And didn't he show, through his resurrection, that he has the approval of God and the authority of God.
Speaker 2: Listen, his authority hinges on one thing.
Speaker 2: It's not unanswered prayers, it's not a confrontation with another church member.
Speaker 2: Jesus' authority and his goodness doesn't hinge on that.
Speaker 2: His authority hinges on one thing and that is his resurrection.
Speaker 2: And there's good reason to believe in his resurrection.
Speaker 2: I thought I'd get an amen there.
Speaker 2: He is right and you know what.
Speaker 2: Ultimately, you know how we know that Jesus is who he says.
Speaker 2: You know how we know that his authority is from God.
Speaker 2: It's a miracle that God works in our heart, because God says, the Bible says none can come to the Father unless he draws.
Speaker 2: If you're here today and you realize Jesus truly is Lord, it's a gift of grace.
Speaker 2: You didn't conjure up that faith yourself.
Speaker 2: Ephesians says that even your faith is a gift from God.
Speaker 2: Let's end emambo's.
Speaker 2: If God has revealed to you that Jesus Christ is Lord, that he is the divine Son, it's an act of grace.
Speaker 2: God has removed the veil and allowed you to see the goodness and the greatness and the glory of our state.
Speaker 2: And so we need to wrestle with this idea of Jesus' authority, and here's what I want to put before you today.
Speaker 2: You and I can't be indifferent towards Jesus' claim of authority.
Speaker 2: We can't.
Speaker 2: Some people assert they say, well, you know, jesus was a good, you know moral teacher and someone to follow and learn from.
Speaker 2: But you know he's really I don't believe he's Lord, I don't really believe he's divine.
Speaker 2: Other people think you know what he's just a really good example to follow, like we should follow him.
Speaker 2: But I don't really know about this Lordship thing.
Speaker 2: Well, cs Lewis points out why this line of thinking is quite illogical.
Speaker 2: He asserts that Jesus is only one of the three things and you've probably heard this.
Speaker 2: He points this out in mere Christianity.
Speaker 2: One, he's either a liar.
Speaker 2: Two, he's a lunatic or three, he's actually Lord.
Speaker 2: He is who he says he is.
Speaker 2: You know, it's possible, you can wrestle with this.
Speaker 2: He could be a liar.
Speaker 2: Maybe he deceives mankind by conscious fraud.
Speaker 2: You know, maybe he's like.
Speaker 2: I know I'm not Lord, but I'm going to fool these people.
Speaker 2: It could be that he's a lunatic.
Speaker 2: Right, I was going to put a picture of myself up there, but I'm the number two, but I decided against it.
Speaker 2: But you know, it could be that Jesus thought that he was divine but he actually wasn't.
Speaker 2: Well, that would make him a lunatic, but I would say, if he's one of those first two things, then he's really a moral teacher whom we should follow.
Speaker 2: No, what's the only other option?
Speaker 2: It's that he actually is who he says he is, and he's Lord and he's Lord.
Speaker 2: And so this is something.
Speaker 2: His authority, his claims of authority we've all got to wrestle with it.
Speaker 2: The chief priests are asking this question and so at first glance, it goes well, man, their question is wise, it's a good question, but actually, jesus ends up not answering their questions straight away.
Speaker 2: Why?
Speaker 2: Because, though they're asking a fair question, their motive is wrong.
Speaker 2: They're not looking for truth, they're looking to discredit and to entrap Jesus.
Speaker 2: But Jesus will not be outsmarted or outwitted.
Speaker 2: He's kind of omniscient, like I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't recommend arguing with him.
Speaker 2: He's going to win the fight.
Speaker 2: So here's what he does.
Speaker 2: He answers their question with a question.
Speaker 2: So he asked them if they viewed John's baptism.
Speaker 2: This would be John the Baptist, his baptism.
Speaker 2: He says do you view this as being from God or heaven or from man?
Speaker 2: Now, john the Baptist, give you a little bit of history.
Speaker 2: He was Jesus' forerunner.
Speaker 2: He came in preaching the nearness of the kingdom.
Speaker 2: You know, the kingdom is here and he's calling people in Israel to repent.
Speaker 2: Your hearts are far from God.
Speaker 2: Turn, in other words, the Messiah's coming.
Speaker 2: That's the implication.
Speaker 2: The kingdom is here Now.
Speaker 2: He went around baptizing people.
Speaker 2: Many people got baptized.
Speaker 2: John declared, as part of his ministry, this about Jesus Behold the Lamb of God come to take away the sin of the world.
Speaker 2: John, through his prophetic ministry, validated Jesus as Messiah.
Speaker 2: So Jesus in front of there's multitudes of people here in the temple and they're listening to this conversation between Jesus and the chief priest.
Speaker 2: And so Jesus says hey, by the way, what do you think about John the Baptist?
Speaker 2: I mean, you're asking me about my authority.
Speaker 2: What about John?
Speaker 2: Do you think he's a prophet from God or do you think he's just some crazy man?
Speaker 2: Well, this perplexed the elders.
Speaker 2: They didn't know how to answer, and here's why they certainly didn't think John was from the Lord.
Speaker 2: They rejected his ministry, but they didn't want to say that.
Speaker 2: They didn't want to say that because if they said, oh yeah, he was from God, well then the chief priest would be validating Jesus' ministry, because John validated Jesus.
Speaker 2: And if they say, if they say no, he wasn't from God, the people are going to be very angry with him because they thought John was a prophet.
Speaker 2: And so, consequently, the authorities don't answer Jesus' question they just in front of all these people.
Speaker 2: These are like the scholars of the temple and they have to say to Jesus well, you don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean, don't mess with Jesus.
Speaker 2: You see what I'm saying here, and Jesus' point is this you're not hungry for truth.
Speaker 2: You rejected John and who was clearly a prophet from God.
Speaker 2: You rejected his message, and so I'm not going to give you any more revelation.
Speaker 2: You've already rejected the revelation of God.
Speaker 2: Listen, you've seen my life, you've seen my miracles.
Speaker 2: You should see the evidence that I am the Messiah.
Speaker 2: So I'm not going to give you this benefit.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to tell you explicitly right now.
Speaker 2: I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear, so you can try and discredit me.
Speaker 2: You didn't believe John.
Speaker 2: I'm not saying anything else.
Speaker 2: So then, in verses 23 to 27, here's what Jesus does.
Speaker 2: He moves on and he tells a parable, and so this is a kind of cryptic way to call out the religious leaders.
Speaker 2: It's brilliant and what we see.
Speaker 2: So we talked there about the importance of addressing the authority of Jesus, but what we'll see through the parable is, what's really important is how we respond to the authority of Jesus.
Speaker 2: How do we respond?
Speaker 2: So you come today and you say listen, I really believe that Jesus is who he says he is.
Speaker 2: I assume that you are.
Speaker 2: You wouldn't be here today, unless maybe you're just seeking and asking that question yourself.
Speaker 2: And if you are just a seeker this morning, god bless you so glad, we're so glad you're here.
Speaker 2: But Jesus gives this this parable, and it's about a man who had two sons.
Speaker 2: All right, I'm just just going to summarize this for you.
Speaker 2: It's really simple.
Speaker 2: And he tells both of his sons he says I want you to go individually.
Speaker 2: He says I want you to go work in the vineyard.
Speaker 2: Now the first son and some of you have a kid like this looks at him.
Speaker 2: You know, you say go work in the yard.
Speaker 2: The first son looks at him and goes dude, it's Saturday, I ain't doing that.
Speaker 2: Arms folder has a bad attitude.
Speaker 2: Some of you are looking at your kids right now, going uh-huh.
Speaker 2: But you know the crazy thing, the sun says no, but all ultimately he gets maybe a little convicted and going.
Speaker 2: You know, maybe I should obey my dad.
Speaker 2: This usually doesn't work out when I disobey him, so so he actually changes his mind, that the Bible uses that phrase.
Speaker 2: He changes his mind, which is what it means to repent.
Speaker 2: And he actually goes and works in the vineyard.
Speaker 2: The second son, the father says, hey, go out, go out in the field and work.
Speaker 2: And the second son says, all right, I'll do that, dad, anything for you.
Speaker 2: But the dad turns his back and the son goes in his room and plays video.
Speaker 2: Let me have kids like that.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what you want to hear, but they won't actually follow through.
Speaker 2: You got one son Are you, are you dragging with me?
Speaker 2: You got one son who says no, I'm not going to do it.
Speaker 2: But then changes his mind I'm not going to work in the yard, dad, like I'm going to disobey you.
Speaker 2: But then he goes and does it.
Speaker 2: He changes his mind.
Speaker 2: But you got another son who says, oh yeah, dad, you know me, I'm a great work, I'll do anything you say.
Speaker 2: But then he changes his mind and doesn't actually do what he said he was going to do.
Speaker 2: And so Jesus gives that parable and he asked the elders and the chief priest.
Speaker 2: He says which one of these actually did the will of his father?
Speaker 2: And they say the first one, the one who said it first.
Speaker 2: He wouldn't do it, but he actually did what he was asked to do and they got the answer correct.
Speaker 2: The first son.
Speaker 2: What's the point of this?
Speaker 2: It's really clear.
Speaker 2: The first son.
Speaker 2: You know who they, who that son represents.
Speaker 2: It represents blatant center.
Speaker 2: Don't miss this Greedy and crooked tax collector.
Speaker 2: Anybody work for the IRS.
Speaker 2: Greedy and crooked tax collector and the sexually immoral who have defiant, rejected God's command, said Lord through their lives, through the words we are not following you.
Speaker 2: But then they have a change of heart, something happens and they go oh God, we need you, we want you, we want to follow you.
Speaker 2: And they actually do.
Speaker 2: They follow God.
Speaker 2: So the first son represents blatant centers.
Speaker 2: The second son represents religious leader, the chief priest and elder To whom Jesus.
Speaker 2: They're the ones who claim to love God.
Speaker 2: They're in the temple, they think they're doing all the right things, but their hearts are far from God.
Speaker 2: Oh God, they're proclaiming we love you.
Speaker 2: They're singing all the right worship, worship song Jesus, we love you, you are worthy of it.
Speaker 2: Oh, but their lives we've learned from the previous text are not bearing spiritual fruit, they're not doing the will of God and, most of all, they're rejected.
Speaker 2: They've rejected John the Baptist, the prophet, and even more, they're rejecting G and, by the way, they'll have him filled at the end of this.
Speaker 2: And this parable delivers good and bad news News.
Speaker 2: I'm almost done.
Speaker 2: It delivers both good and bad news.
Speaker 2: Let me give you the good news first.
Speaker 2: All right, here's what the parable teaches us.
Speaker 2: The gates of the kingdom open wide for the worst of centers.
Speaker 2: If they'll repent and submit to the authority.
Speaker 2: Come you center lost in Brooke, come to come this morning to the Lord, jesus cry, no matter what you've done, no matter where you've been, if you'll come to Jesus and like the first son in the parable, if you'll have a change of mind and you'll turn from yourself in turn to Jesus, he'll receive.
Speaker 2: He'll receive you man.
Speaker 2: I've seen some people who have lived horribly.
Speaker 2: They've done horrible thing, but they've turned and come to Jesus.
Speaker 2: They had a change of mind, they responded to what God did in their heart.
Speaker 2: The Lord, how I'm going to follow you from this day forward.
Speaker 2: That's the first son.
Speaker 2: But that's the good news.
Speaker 2: The gates of the kingdom of God they swing, open wide for the worst of centers if they repent.
Speaker 2: But here's the bad news.
Speaker 2: The gates of the kingdom closed decisively for even the most religion if they do not repent and submit to the authority.
Speaker 2: You can claim to love God, like the religious leader, but if you've not repented, meaning you've not turned from your own ways and turned to the Lord Jesus Christ, if you've not really day to day submitting to his authority, you're not a Christian, you're not the kingdom.
Speaker 2: We're in the Bible belt and most of the people I meet around here they claim to love Jesus but their actions show they haven't really submitted to the Lordship of Christ.
Speaker 2: I'll never forget years ago I was going through the checkout lane in Walmart, which I tried not to do, but I was there and I hate going through the automatic checkout things because I like talking to people.
Speaker 2: Right, I like talking to people, and so I do as I always do.
Speaker 2: I don't just leave people alone.
Speaker 2: I'm there in the cashiers there and I start talking to her hey, how's your day going?
Speaker 2: And she's thinking I'm working at Walmart.
Speaker 2: Right, it's been a long day.
Speaker 2: It's towards the end of her shift.
Speaker 2: I said, well.
Speaker 2: I asked her how much longer do you have?
Speaker 2: And she said oh, just a couple of hours.
Speaker 2: Well, what are the plans you have.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'm going to get wasted tonight.
Speaker 2: I'm doing this and this and this and she goes what do you do for a living?
Speaker 2: And I go, you don't want to know.
Speaker 2: And I said actually, ma'am, I'm a pastor.
Speaker 2: And she just turns why does the ghost?
Speaker 2: And she goes.
Speaker 2: I pray every night, I thought she said to me, and then it was like nothing else.
Speaker 2: That's, you know, good for you.
Speaker 2: And you know that's that's kind of the response I get from people around here.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, I believe in Jesus.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I really do think he's the son of God.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I do think he's Lord.
Speaker 2: I pray, I mean I ask him when I need something.
Speaker 2: Their lives don't bear any spiritual burden.
Speaker 2: They've not submitted to that authority.
Speaker 2: Another answer I can't get.
Speaker 2: This is crazy.
Speaker 2: This is going to resonate with many of you.
Speaker 2: A lot of people say, well, first they say I grew up in church.
Speaker 2: But a lot of people say this to me my granddaddy was a preacher.
Speaker 2: It's like where are you with the Lord?
Speaker 2: Well, my granddaddy was a preacher.
Speaker 2: My granddaddy, in this area, was a preacher.
Speaker 2: Your granddaddy, your great granddaddy, somebody in your family was a preacher, right, I don't know what it is, but here's the implication I get from these people.
Speaker 2: You know what I'm not really doing much right now.
Speaker 2: I don't go to church, I don't do this, but my granddaddy was.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 2: Can I just say to you I don't care if your granddaddy was, you know, a bishop, whatever.
Speaker 2: I don't care if he was Charles Spurgeon, I don't care who he was, I don't care if he was Billy Graham.
Speaker 2: You can't get to heaven by hanging onto his coat.
Speaker 2: He may have submitted to the Lord, but if you there's a lot of people think, man, I just grew up in church.
Speaker 2: I do these little things.
Speaker 2: I open the Bible every once in a while.
Speaker 2: It's on day to day that you submit to his authority.
Speaker 2: You can pray, you can read your Bible, you can even go to church Day to day.
Speaker 2: If you're not submitted to the Lordship of Christ, if you're not bearing spiritual fruit, you don't know him.
Speaker 2: You're not the king, the religious leaders in our text.
Speaker 2: They did all these things.
Speaker 2: They prayed, they were students, teachers of the scriptures.
Speaker 2: They spent day after day after day in the temple leading people.
Speaker 2: They weren't saved.
Speaker 2: They're heart-for-heart.
Speaker 2: They didn't even hear the words of Jesus.
Speaker 2: They didn't repent.
Speaker 2: They thought all of that stuff that they did was good.
Speaker 2: The question I'll leave you with today is how do you respond to Jesus' authority?
Speaker 2: How have you responded?
Speaker 2: How will you respond to the authority of Christ?
Speaker 2: You know we all love the grace message, right?
Speaker 2: But let me ask you this have you allowed Jesus to confront you in the things that are not pleasing to God?
Speaker 2: Do you allow Jesus?
Speaker 2: How do you respond when you read the Bible and it says that you're supposed to love your enemy?
Speaker 2: How do you respond to the authority of Jesus when he commands you?
Speaker 2: He says you know what?
Speaker 2: I know this person, even in the church, has hurt you tremendously.
Speaker 2: I know somebody stabbed you in the back, but you've got to forgive him.
Speaker 2: If it's another belief, you've got to be reconciled to him.
Speaker 2: You've got to try that.
Speaker 2: You've got to fix it because your family is not optional.
Speaker 2: How do you respond to that?
Speaker 2: How do you respond when Jesus says actually you cannot serve two masters.
Speaker 2: You love one or you hate the other.
Speaker 2: You cannot serve God and money, but you know Monday through Saturday that's what you're serving.
Speaker 2: But you give him, on a good week, an hour and a half on Sunday, serving two masters.
Speaker 2: How do you respond to Jesus' authority, the way you answer to that question.
Speaker 2: It's the matter of the love of life or death.
Speaker 2: Let me close with this.
Speaker 2: I'm really good news.
Speaker 2: You know, I said earlier that in our fallen world, total authority, total submission it's never gone well for our country, has never gone good for people.
Speaker 2: And that's the result that I'm hearing, because dictators and tyrants, they use authority to crush people, to get more for themselves and to push others down.
Speaker 2: That's what it is in our world, to be in total authority.
Speaker 2: That's what it normally looks like.
Speaker 2: Is that true?
Speaker 2: We don't want that here, do we?
Speaker 2: We certainly don't want America to become that.
Speaker 2: So authority is used often to crush people.
Speaker 2: But here's the good news the authority of Jesus.
Speaker 2: When you lay down your life, he asks for everything.
Speaker 2: He asks for your life.
Speaker 2: He says if you don't love me more than brother, sister, mother or father, in other words, if you don't follow me first, make me the priority of your life, you're not worth it.
Speaker 2: Put me first, do everything.
Speaker 2: I say Wow.
Speaker 2: Some people are timid to do that because they think that when his authority is on them in that manner, in that measure, that it's crushing and breaking.
Speaker 2: No, we just read you Jesus' words in Matthew 11, 28-30.
Speaker 2: He says come to me, all you who are, who labor and are heavy, late, all you carry in burdens of the morning, come to me and I'll give you rest.
Speaker 2: Take my yoke upon you.
Speaker 2: Learn from me.
Speaker 2: I'm gentle and lowly in heart.
Speaker 2: You'll find rest for your souls, for my yoke is my burden.
Speaker 2: What did Jesus use his authority to do?
Speaker 2: All authority on heaven and earth has been given to me.
Speaker 2: What did he use it for?
Speaker 2: He said on the beaches of Cancun, drinking margaritas, with people waving, you know, fans on him all day.
Speaker 2: No, did he use his authority to say, hey, I'm going to sit back on the throne and everybody served me?
Speaker 2: No, he came to serve others and give his life as a ransom for many.
Speaker 2: He used his authority to heal, to save, to deliver.
Speaker 2: He spent every waking moment touching other people, helping other people.
Speaker 2: That's the kind of king you want.
Speaker 2: He didn't use his authority to crush sinful humans.
Speaker 2: He came to save them at the cost of his own life.
Speaker 2: He was crushed, so we don't have to be.
Speaker 2: Jesus proved his God given authority at his resurrection.
Speaker 2: And now, if we will come to him in faith, if we will repent, truly repent, submit to that authority beloved, we can be saved.
Speaker 2: What a blessing it is to be under the authority of God.
Speaker 2: You know, no matter what happens in our world, no matter what happens in our world, you may at one point sit under the most wicked tyrant, some governmental official, some civically.
Speaker 2: But you know, paul in the Roman world, as he was imprisoned under Nero, just couldn't get him down, couldn't get him down In a prison cell.
Speaker 2: He's going rejoice in the Lord hallways, and again I say rejoice.
Speaker 2: That frustrates tyrants.
Speaker 2: You know, we ought to frustrate people with our joy, not with our meanness.
Speaker 2: Right, we ought to frustrate them with our joy.
Speaker 2: Man, we just can't.
Speaker 2: You know, your boss, who's not a believer, tries to, you know, push all your buttons and I just can't, can't get him down.
Speaker 2: Why?
Speaker 2: Because our kingdom is not of this world.
Speaker 2: We don't, ultimately, submit to anyone on this earth.
Speaker 2: Our allegiance is to King G and our king is good to us all the time he's been good to anybody.
Speaker 2: Alright, stand with me.
Speaker 2: If you've not received the Lord, jesus Christ, oh, I beg you.
Speaker 2: Today he invites you.
Speaker 2: No matter where you've been, no matter what you did, come.
Speaker 2: And some of you, some of you claim oh, I believe in Jesus, I know I'm going to have eternal life and I would just ask you I don't want to make you doubt real salvation, but I want to break any notion that you may have a false assurance Is your life bearing fruit that shows you truly have submitted to Jesus Christ?
Speaker 2: Lord, today I pray for these people.
Speaker 2: Lord, I pray that you would speak to every heart.
Speaker 2: I pray that every single man, woman, boy and girl in this room would see the beauty and the glory of Christ, would recognize him as the King, king and Lord of all.
Speaker 2: I pray that each person in here would see Jesus as the only way to you and, consequently, that they would, by faith, submit to him, receive him and thus submit to you, believing upon his death, very on resurrection.
Speaker 2: And may they not just call upon him as Savior today, but may we all call upon him as Lord.
Speaker 2: Thank you that Jesus uses his authority to bless, not cry.
Speaker 2: Thank you that we had a Savior who gave his life that we may have.
Speaker 2: I pray this in Jesus' good.
Speaker 1: Amen.
Speaker 1: Thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: If you'd like to know more about how you can have a relationship with Jesus Christ, or if you have questions about our church, you can email us at infoatmyrealchurchorg.
Speaker 1: Real Life Community Church is located at 335 Glendon Avenue in Richmond, Kentucky.
Speaker 1: We invite you to join us for worship Sunday at 10.45 am or Wednesday at 7 pm.
Speaker 1: Visit us online at myrealchurchorg.