Written 8-13-21
There once was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ The son said, ‘I will not,’ but later he changed his mind and went out. “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. So - “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” Which of the two did what he was told? This is the parable Jesus spoke of in Matthew 21:28-31, when the Pharisees were giving Him a hard time about claiming to have the authority of God. The Pharisees - aka “Hypocrites”, as also described, responded and said, “The first.” Well, duh! Of course! Isn’t it obvious? Actions always speak louder than words. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.” I wonder how they must have felt? The "morally good" were passed over by the "filthy rags." Then Jesus said, “John the Baptiste came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.” Matthew 21:28-32 And yet, the Hypocrites stayed obstinate. What a wicked, wicked heart they must have had! When you read this, What truth do you think Jesus was trying to prove? What reality did Jesus want the Pharisees to understand? Well, this is my interpretation - please let me know if you think I am wrong. There are people in this world, People I work with and people I know, who claim to be Christian - who say they love God - but have no idea who He is. They do not even know what His Word says. They believe ALL ways lead to Heaven, and ALL religions are just expressions of the same God. They say the Bible is only partially true, because it was written by many men, and it was written a long time ago. They only focus in on the works of Jesus, rather than the supremacy of who He is. They do not believe the blood of Jesus is required to enter into Heaven; they say that since God is love - everyone gets In. They do not believe that a good God would send anyone to hell. They believe that morality and good deeds is the work that is needed to obtain the kingdom of God. And they call themselves servant leaders, because they lead with kindness, and they believe that church attendance through traditions and rites of passages brings many rewards. They say that universal love and humanitarian efforts are the ultimate form of love and human expression. They say this is the evidence of God. They truly believe with all their heart, mind and soul, that they are doing the work of the Lord. But the truth is, they are working for Satan. You see, This is how people deceives themselves. They think the human condition defines the love of God, when the Bible says that is not really true love at all. When a human decides that they know best, and live, love and laugh according to their own pretense, then they are placing their own thoughts higher than God’s. These type of people have disobedient hearts. They are the disobedient sons that the Bible speaks of. They are like the second son who said yes to the father’s request, but then walked away and ignored Him - to go play in another field! Yes, this son is God's creation, for every human was made in His image, but this type of son chose to walk away from God. According to scripture, this type of son is led by idolatry and rebellion. You see, most humans believe they can determine righteousness, and thus, they determine what is considered just. Just like Saul did when God said, “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” 1 Samuel 15:3 Saul allowed Agag, the Amalekite king, to live. And destroyed all his people with the sword. Saul and the army spared the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs - everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.” 1 Samuel 15:8-9 “Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” 1 Samuel 15:10 When the prophet of God went to Saul to give him the word of the Lord, Saul said, “But I did obey the Lord. I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” 1 Samuel 15:20-23 You see, Saul was deceived. He thought he was doing a good thing, but he did not follow the instructions of God. In the eyes of man, Saul was just - well, somewhat. He showed a little love, by sparing the life of the king; and he showed love towards God by offering Him a special sacrifice through the choicest of meats. And yet, God declared him as disobedient. Saul did what was wrong in the eyes of God. He did not listen. We must remember that the Father’s greatest command is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and mind, and to love people. But i ask you, if you don’t know God then how can you truly love? How can you truly do what He says if you don’t even know His Word? You see, the Pharisees lived a life that appeared right, but they were called hypocrites by the mouth of God. God knew exactly what was in their hearts, but they had no idea what was in His. Do you? Jesus, fully God and fully human, was standing right in front them - and yet, they still could not see Him. I ask you, "Do you?"
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