Sermon Notes 3-27-2022

Matthew 101

(Chapter 22)

What keeps a pastor up at night!

 

Matthew 22:1–14 (NLT)

¹Jesus also told them other parables. He said, 

²“The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son.

³When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!

⁴“So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’

⁵But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business.

⁶Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.

⁷“The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town.

⁸And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor.

⁹Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’

¹⁰So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.

¹¹“But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding.

¹²‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply.

¹³Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

 

The wedding banquet has been planned!

²“The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son.

·      A wedding banquet frequently depicted the fellowship of the Messiah with his people at the eschatological( is the theology of the end events, the second coming) consummation (the end of the contract, the fulfillment of the God's promise) ^[1]

·      And Jesus is speaking of the kingdom that He oversees

·      The kingdom that will reign forever

·      The only kingdom we should truly worry about

 

Revelation 19:9 (NLT)

⁹And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb.” And he added, “These are true words that come from God.” 

·      The feast is ready, and the guests are being gathered! 

·      The urgency is real, and God's people are needed now more than ever!

·      We need to be in the field!!!!

Matthew 9:37–38 (NIV)

³⁷Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 

³⁸Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

 

God has sent out the invitation to come and follow

³When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!

·      The Israelites were unwilling to accept God's invitation

·      God always sent out His servants like Abraham, Mosses, and Samuel 

·      and they ignored God's call to follow

God continues to show his Patience

⁴“So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’

⁵But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business.

·      And throughout time God has continued to send folks to ask people to simply follow

·      That the feast is coming

·      That heaven is near

And we still today

·      Compound our culpability by adding laziness to rejection. 

“We pay no attention” We literally, act as if we just don’t care. 

·      Our ordinary activities of life take priority  

o   Family matters 

o   Work 

o   money 

o   Hobbies 

o  Take priority over loyalty to God.

 

Jesus is talking about His people, us, you, and me!

·      We get so busy, so caught up in our lives that we miss GOD

·      We don’t make Him a priority

·      We don’t love Him completely 

·      AND HE KEEPS CALLING!!!!!

 

 

The wolves!

⁶ Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.

·      He is talking about the Scribes, the Pharisees, the elders of the time

·      They mistreated God's people

·      They used them for their own gain

·      These are the ones God has an issue with

o   Anyone who intentionally gets in the way

·      We have wolves today

o   That use God 

o   That abuse His servants

o   And Christians are still being murdered today

 

And there is a special place for them!

⁷“The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town.

·      God is the protector of His people 

·      And will bring Judgment on all those who bring harm to those in ministry 

·      and are harmed while doing God's work!

For Anyone that stands in the way of those diligently working toward the harvest

o   And here is a secret, we all need to look in the mirror on this one

o   Are you, am I, impeding the harvest??

o   Are we standing in the way, or working the fields????

o   We need to constantly be asking ourselves this question

 

Our call!!

1 Corinthians 4:13 (AMP)

¹³When we are slandered and defamed, we [try to] answer softly and bring comfort. We have been made and are now the rubbish and filth of the world [the offscouring of all things, the scum of the earth]. 

 

You love them, I will sort them out later!

⁸And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor.

·      They are not worthy

·      Not because they are sinners, we are all

·      But because they did not respond to the calling of the gospel of Jesus!

⁹Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’

·      Our Job as servants is to take it to the streets!!

·      Proclaim it to all who will hear

·      Jesus tells us to go and make disciples

·      Here He tells us to go out!

·      Nowhere does it say “build it and they will come”

¹⁰So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.

·      He is saying “you love them, I will sort them out!”

·      You find them

·      You bring them

·      Leave the judgment to Me

The good the bad and the ugly

·      We are to gather them all 

·      Not the ones that look right and smell right but all

John 10:16 (ESV)

¹⁶And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

·      We love them, He sorts them PERIOD!

 

If we judge we get in the way

Revelation 22:17 (AMP)

¹⁷The [Holy] Spirit and the bride (the church, the true Christians) say, Come! And let him who is listening say, Come! And let everyone come who is thirsty [who is painfully conscious of his need of those things by which the soul is refreshed, supported, and strengthened]; and whoever [earnestly] desires to do it, let him come, take, appropriate, and drink the water of Life without cost. 

What keeps me up at night

¹¹“But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding.

·      We only see the outside, God sees the heart

·      Notice the king (Jesus) was the only one who noticed that lack of proper attire

·      He sees what is in your heart

There are some of you who are not in the proper wedding attire

·      You talk the talk, you are not walking it

¹²‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply.

The case of hypocrites, who are in the church, but not of it, who have a name to live, but are not alive in it, is represented by the guest that had not on a wedding garment; one of the bad that were gathered in. Those come short of salvation by Christ, not only who refuse to take upon them the profession of religion, but who are not sound at heart in that profession.^[2]

·      I worry about every soul in this place that they not only hear the gospel but live it out

 

¹³Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

·      Heaven is hot and real

·      And what keeps me up at night is not only the lost 

·      But looking into this crowd every Sunday and worrying about who is showing up to the wedding for just the cake

o   Whose heart is not all in

o   Who feels called but hasn’t fully committed to Jesus!

¹⁴“For many are called, but few are chosen.”

·      Judgement day is coming 

·      The question is are you ready???

 

 

 

---

^[1] Blomberg, C. (1992). Matthew (Vol. 22, pp. 326–327). Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

^[2] Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1727). Peabody: Hendrickson.

Sunday Sermon 3-20-2022

Matthew 100

(Chapter 21)

The forest for the trees and the hard truth

 

 

Matthew 21:33–46 (NLT)

³³“Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country.

³⁴At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop.

³⁵But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.

³⁶So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.

³⁷“Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’

³⁸“But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’

³⁹So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.

⁴⁰“When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”

⁴¹The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.” 

⁴²Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’

⁴³I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.

⁴⁴Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”

⁴⁵When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. 

⁴⁶They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet. 

 

The forest for the trees!

³³“Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country.

·      This is Israel

·      God gave them all they need in the garden

·      And He continued to love the people of Israel 

·      He continued to show them grace and mercy

 

³⁴At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop.

³⁵But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.

·      And as a people group, they continued to defy Him 

·      They continued to mishandle all that He gave them

·      They abused His word

·      they used it for their own personal gain

·      and the chief priest used God's word to manipulate God's people

³⁶So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.

·      God sent His prophets to warn them

·      but they continue to defy Him

³⁷“Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’

·      and then He sent His son into the world, Jesus

·      to show them a different way

·      a better way

·      to be an example of His word

·      and an example for His people 

³⁸“But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’

·      so instead of welcoming Him

·      praising Him

·      seeing that He was the Son of God 

·      they plotted to kill Him

·      He became an obstacle in their way

·      He threatened their lifestyle

·      so He had to go

³⁹So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.

·      and eventually they killed Him

⁴⁰“When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”

·      They didn't see the forest for the trees

·      they let their own pleasures and lifestyle cloud their judgment

·      they didn't want the Messiah to come back

·      they liked it just the way it was

·      so instead of seeing Jesus for who He truly was

·      they saw Him as a lunatic or a threat to their way of life

 

the trap is set 

⁴⁰“When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”

⁴¹The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.” 

·      And Jesus laid the trap 

·      Ask the question 

·      And the answer was obvious

·      What should the owner do about the treachery 

 

God gives everyone a choice

He will put the wicked men to a horrible death

·      We all have the same choice 

·      To follow 

·      To be given the keys to heaven 

·      Or to defy God

·      We might not wear fancy robes and big hats

·      But we all make the same mistake they did

 

And Judgment will come for us all someday!

 

 

 

The hard truth

⁴²Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’

⁴³I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.

⁴⁴Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”

·      The hard truth is that Jesus will reign 

·      And there is nothing they could do to stop Him

·      And if we aren't willing to carry out His will, someone else will

·      We will all stand before Him, and we will give account 

·      We all have the choice

 

We worry about protecting the gate 

·      That if God was only in schools

·      If God was back in politics

·      That that would somehow fix it all

·      The gate is secure 

·      His plan and will is being worked out

·      Our only Job is to reach as many as we can before He returns

 

The hard look in the mirror, 

⁴⁵When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized he was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers. 

·      This was a look in the mirror moment

·      This was a realization that Jesus came to correct them

·      Not to lift them up, or solidify what they were doing 

·      But to show them the sin in their life and to turn them to repentance 

Jesus does the same with us

·      Jesus wants to show you the sin in your life 

·      Not to point out the sin in others for you to correct

·      But just like them, we don’t see the forest for the trees!!!

 

⁴⁶They wanted to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet. 

·      But like us instead of seeing the errors of their own ways 

·      They continued to try and find a way to protect their little G status

·      To protect their: 

o   Pride

o   Power

o   And money

·      Do you ever wonder why Jesus addresses the issues in the “Religious” so often

·      It’s because there is a little Pharisee in us all  

 

 

there are consequences for your actions

⁴⁴Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.”

·      Don’t let the grace and mercy of Jesus 

·      Overshadow the judgment of Jesus 

·      It is coming for us all

·      And there will be consequences for our actions 

·      If we don’t repent and turn away from our sins!