Latest / Journey Elgin / Sunday Message April 26, 2026 - Don't Miss the Kingdom!
Transcript
- Phillip Thomas: All right, as we ⁓ transition, I I do want to to mention because I one thing that's that is in important and I'm kind of ⁓ working on as we move forward, you know, ⁓ Ephesians chapter six kind of lays out a a spiritual battle that is that is going on. ⁓ and and I believe that is that is definitely happening in our world. We've talked a lot about that. But I do think it's important for us to see things and understand the spiritual nature behind them. So if if you, you know, haven't been paying attention last night, there was a a third attempt ⁓ you know, the ⁓ on an assassination of our ⁓ of the president of the United States. ⁓ you know, it's amazing ⁓ all of the the reaction. ⁓ I I can remember, you know, I mean if you look at our history, things like this have happened before, right? I remember whenever ⁓ ⁓ r ⁓ Reagan ⁓ was shot, right? And but that was that was a legitimate crazy person, right? I mean like he he he he was, you know, with I can't r what remember the actress that he was obsessed with. I mean it it was yes, yes. the silence of the lambs, Jodie Foster, right? ⁓ and just some weird stuff. And and everybody's a little crazy if you're willing to do this. But there have been three incidences where shots have been fired ⁓ around the current president of the United States ⁓ in just over a year. That is not normal. Okay. I mean that that is normal in other places and in third world, but that is not normal here. This is a darkness. And then if you look at the immediate reaction, and listen I've said for forever, ⁓ our our president is the most ⁓ irrationally loved and irrationally hated person I've ever seen in my life. All right. ⁓ and and I know people fall on different levels here on him, but this this is not about him. He is different in his rhetoric and and just kind of even though his rhetoric is kind of normal in the other we just haven't seen it in the political realm, if that makes sense, right? Well, everyone has lost their mind. And and There were literal protesters outside of the event saying death to everyone. That they had signs that were saying death to everyone. And and w we shouldn't be shocked when eventually people start taking that stuff seriously. ⁓ but now there's even another added chaos to all of this, and I'm I'm making a point that this is this is spiritual because this does not make sense. There's even those who have been supportive of him. Who are now really irritated with some of his policy decisions, right? That that okay, fine. So that immediately, even last night, it was starting to float. ⁓ this this was probably planned. This was staged, you know, to to draw attention from negativity over here. It the chaos is everywhere. Who thrives in chaos? Satan does. This is this is a spiritual. battle that's playing out in the political realm. And ⁓ and so just be in prayer. ⁓ be in prayer. This is this is tough for a country to deal with. ⁓ and don't get caught up and swept up in all of the craziness. Step back, take a breath. The king is still the king, right? ⁓ that and and we are we will find our way through this with his help. ⁓ But but don't feed in to the craziness. ⁓ and and if you have any friends who are celebrating the fact that that there was a near a successful assassination attempt, we need to push back against how unhealthy that is. I mean that is that is a darkness that we're seeing in our country ⁓ that we need to to that they that only God is going to bring light to. But He is. the light of the world. So want to ⁓ the next couple of weeks, ⁓ we're gonna be in Matthew, ⁓ and ⁓ we're gonna be in Matthew twenty one today, ⁓ twenty-one and twenty-two. And and looking at some parables, ⁓ I do want to kind of say this is gonna be the first time I think ever ⁓ Molly and I are going to to be gone two Sundays in a row. ⁓ we're going to Alaska on a cruise. ⁓ this is our our twenty-fifth anniversary is this June. And so we're taking a Alaskan cruise and ⁓ and I I hate missing two Sundays. ⁓ but that's the cruise ship told me I had to. ⁓ because they they they they leave on a Sunday and get back on a Sunday. ⁓ so we're excited about about that. But ⁓ we'll be leaving here in a couple of weeks. ⁓ and so I'm gonna do ⁓ parables these next couple of weeks and then we'll pick it up. ⁓ Wes is gracious enough that ⁓ he he does a wonderful job and so come and support him. ⁓ you you will be blessed. ⁓ God definitely uses uses him. ⁓ he's he's at H E B right now and by the way it just I I s Tom I said I wasn't gonna go down rabbit holes but I I I am. w God has used Wes in amazing ways and and and what he has done in his life. ⁓ I mean he's now ⁓ assistant manager and within the next few months will probably be the manager of the deli in his own H E B. ⁓ it's it's really cool to see see how he has allowed God to work in his life. So the parable I want to look at, we're gonna look at three and parables are interesting. ⁓ parables are a way of teaching ⁓ that give a a short story ⁓ that's that has a larger point than the story itself. Does that make sense? And you have to be real careful, ⁓ especially in scripture of dissecting the story itself, because if you do that, sometimes you can miss the spiritual truth that's behind it. ⁓ and and Jesus taught through parables quite a bit. ⁓ and we see parables in the Old Testament ⁓ as well. And I wanted to start with these because it kind of fits with ⁓ what we've been talking about leading up to ⁓ to Easter. We talked about kind of the salvation history, right? Of how how God has been ⁓ the his redemptive plan throughout history. ⁓ and and then we ⁓ we spent quite a bit in I think on our Good Friday service actually read through ⁓ the woes that that Jesus ⁓ was saying to the ⁓ to the religious leaders. And remember we talked a lot about, you know, why were the religious leaders so angry and how did things turn so much? ⁓ well there's some very familiar parables that if we just take them individually, we we actually may miss the broader point that Jesus is getting to. And ⁓ and I want to to read these three. So Jesus has ⁓ entered into the ⁓ entered into Jerusalem during the triumphal entry. Remember, and then he ⁓ clears out the the the temple, right? ⁓ you know, so that would have, you know, kind of made some people mad because they were making money off the deal, right? And it was sanctioned by the religious leaders. The you know, you couldn't just go in and, you know, sell the pigeons ⁓ for the sacrifices without b getting okayed. ⁓ you know it They were kind of like some of our NGOs today, right? They they were sanctioned by the government, they were taking our money, and they were defrauding everyone. Right? We need we need to put some whips together and drive out. Okay. And it would be scriptural. ⁓ But that's what was was happening. And so so Jesus is is clearing that out. ⁓ so People are are upset. If you remember, he curses the fig tree. We talked about that, how the fig tree was kind of representative of of Israel, and that that yes, they were still producing leaves and stuff, but they weren't producing fruit. ⁓ and then that's when we get into these parables. So it's important to know the context of that. So in Matthew chapter twenty-one, starting in verse twenty-eight, the parable of the two sons, ⁓ the The religious leaders have been trying to trap Jesus, saying, Hey, who what authority do you have to do this? And Jesus has kind of shut them up and with all of his answers and kind of made it to where they realized, ⁓ we better just quit talking. But Jesus does not quit talking. And ⁓ and he says, ⁓ what do you think? A man had two sons. So he went to the first and he said, Son, go and work in the vineyard today. And he answered, I will not. But after he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same, and he answered, I will go sir go, sir, but did not go. Which of the two sons did the will of his father? They said the first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, the tax collectors, the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, You did not afterwards change your minds and believe him. All right. So he's talking. Who's he talking to? He's talking to the religious leaders. ⁓ they they were representative of of Israel, right? And so God had formed this people group from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, ⁓ in order to to the Messiah would come through them, and they then they would they would still be representative of that. That was The ultimate plan, if you will, was that ⁓ this people group would begin to live out the the Ten Commandments, that that kind of code, that kind of life, right? And and that they would continue to grow and impact the world, which by the way, they did. ⁓ they they were a a geopolitical player. and then the messiah would come through that people, and that people group would then lead the way on pointing to the Messiah. That makes sense. That's what was supposed to happen. Clearly that wasn't happening. And and Jesus is la laying that out. So he has these two sons. And the first son ⁓ just flat out says, No, I'm not gonna go. And then later goes, ⁓ you know, I I guess I better do it, right? I'm I'm I I I'm scared of what dad's gonna do, whatever the reason is, you know, finally he gets up and does it. The other son says, Sure. I'll go, but then doesn't. That second son is representative of those religious leaders, right? They were playing the game. They they thought they were doing what was right, right, in their minds, but they had kind of created their own religious structure that that was based on on what God had given them, but they had basically closed their eyes and and ears to hearing or seeing. the coming Messiah. Right? That they were just gonna, here's here's how we're gonna do it, and we're not going to pay attention. We're not going to change. Jesus, talk about ticking them off. Basically says, yeah, the second son, he is completely wrong. The first one, who initially didn't want to, but then repented the tax collectors, right? That that was always kind of a representative of sinners. And ⁓ I I actually know someone who works in the IRS now and they're really sweet. So this is it's always but but the tax collectors of today, right? Most people don't have good good feelings when they say that. Well back then it was even worse because there was a lot of fraud. And today there is a lot of fraud that is is is wrapped into those systems, right? That's why we just inherently don't like that. Right. And so so Jesus is using that ⁓ that that those, those unrighteous ones, now they're the ones that are doing what is right. Right. So he's saying, you religious leaders, you've messed it up. And but now look at these people. I mean I'm he's thinking of people like Matthew, who was a tax collector, but who now is following the Messiah, right? ⁓ the prostitutes, those who Turn their life around, who repented. And even though they initially had rejected, now they are following. And ⁓ and so so Jesus is is making that comparison to the religious leaders. And ⁓ and and then Jesus doesn't stop, right? And I think it's ⁓ it's always important for us to kind of put ourselves in that real shoes. You're listening to this, the religious leaders, he's saying this right to their face. Right, they're not reading it in a manuscript down the road. He's actually saying this to them. And others around are hearing this. And so then he goes into another parable. And ⁓ that is in verse thirty-three. Says, Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, leased it to tenants, and went in another country. When the season for fruit drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to get the fruit, and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, stoned another. Again he sent other servants more than the first, and they did the same to him. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, They will respect my son. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, This is the heir, come, let us kill him and have his inheritance. And they took him, threw him out of the vineyard, and they killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to the tenants? The religious leader said to him, He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their season. Jesus said to them, Have you never read the scriptures? The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to people producing its fruits, and the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on any one it will crush him. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard this parable, they perceived I love that, they perceived that he was speaking about them, and although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds because they ⁓ held him to be a prophet. All right, so this is Definitely escalating. The the parables are are escalating. ⁓ and so the the parable is very simple. ⁓ a master who's kind of representative of God has a a vineyard, ⁓ he entrusts that ⁓ to to tenants. They are not doing what they should be doing. So he begins sending his representatives, telling them, Hey, start growing grapes, right? Get off your rear ends and get to work, right? And they decide, no, we're just going to kill them, and finally it escalates to where he's going to send his son. ⁓ and and it it's it is interesting what they say there. It says, Let us kill the the heir, because then we will get the inheritance. Now in in the the law in that day, if there was no heir to a to to to a place and and and It was basically whoever you know, name it, claim it, right? If you if you live there, you could claim that as yours. If there was now no legal air, then if you're there, it becomes yours. Right? So that's kind of in the parable, that's the thought process is like, ⁓ we'll take this vineyard, it will now be ours because now we have ⁓ we've even gotten rid of the air, right? So legally it will be ours now. Now Look at that in a spiritual perspective. What had the religious leaders done? Right? They had taken this religion and this faith that came from God, and they had been faithful with it at times, but now they wanted control. They were not open to the new things that God was going to do through his son, through the Messiah. Now to fully understand this, I'm going to read these very very short. But this actually points back to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter five. The religious leaders, the reason that they perceived he was talking about them was because he was talking about them. But the vineyard what had been used before as the nation of Israel in Isaiah chapter five says, Let me sing for my beloved my song, ⁓ my love song concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, planted it with choice vines, he built a watch tower in the midst of it, he hewed out of a wine vat in it, and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard than I have not done in it? When I look for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured, I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste, it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briars and thorns shall grow up. I will also command the clouds that the rain no longer rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting, and he looked for justice and But behold bloodshed for righteousness, but behold an outcry. So this had been prophesied years and years before, and now is coming to fruition. They would have recognized the language that Jesus was using, that they were blind to the big picture of how Jesus and how God was going to bring salvation to everyone. Right. And this is this is important. It's not a direct connection, but but there are definite applications for us today. Do we get so caught up in the way that we do church or do our religion or hold on to our theology? Right? Maybe you have a reformed theology, a Calvinist theology, a this theology, or a that theology that we get That we basically make that the object of what it means to be righteous, that we guard that, or we guard our denomination, or we guard this aspect of religion. And all of a sudden we're missing what God is really trying to do. Because all of us can fall and falter just like they did. The last parable it's in verse twenty or chapter twenty two. And again, Jesus spoke to them in a parable saying, Don't you know that the religious leaders by this time are like, ⁓ gosh, he's got another one? It's like we get it enough Enough, please take his mic, right? But Jesus goes on The Kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for a son, sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent another servants, telling them to th to those who were invited, See I have prepared my dinner, my oxen, my fattened calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast. But they paid no attention, went off one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feasts as many as you can find, and those servants went out in the roads and gathered all who they could find, both good, ⁓ both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there was a man who had no wedding garment, and he said to him, Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then the king said to his attendants, bind him hand and foot and cast him out and To the outer darkness in that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few are chosen. All right. So it's like, whoa, that takes a turn, right? So so what is this? This is clearly in the same theme. So what has the theme of these parables been? That those who were initially called, those were who initially chosen, they have they're missing the Messiah, they're missing the big picture. That God wanted them to be part of, but they're they're missing it, right? And there's consequences for that. ⁓ so for example, for the Jewish people today, I believe there's still a connection with with with the Jewish people, but salvation only comes through Jesus Christ. So just because you were born Jewish doesn't mean you're going to find salvation. If you accept Jesus Christ. You will find salvation. Just like if you were born Catholic, you don't automatically receive salvation. If you were born Methodist and go through the confirmation process, okay, you've gone through the process, but that doesn't mean that you're guaranteed salvation. That only comes through Jesus Christ and through accepting Jesus Christ. Not that your parents accepted him. Not that they were really good and really faithful and drug you to church every Sunday, right? At some point you have to make that decision. Right. And so this parable is saying, okay, the religious leaders, they were the ones that the wedding feast was open, right? The Messiah is coming. The wedding feast is here. He's and he's so what he says, hey, y'all are the ones that have been chosen. Time to come in and enjoy the wedding, right? And what do they do? They're like, nah, we don't want to do that. We like it the way that it is. We're not we're not ⁓ thinking about that. Some even go to the ⁓ lengths of killing the messengers. Now you look at the history of Israel, what happened? As the country matured and became a political entity, they would start to stray, and what would God do? He would send prophets. To try to bring them back. What would they many times do to those prophets? Many times they would be killed, or they would be shunned, or they would be completely unlistened to. Right? So this is clearly about them. So then it's like, okay, fine. Y'all don't want, y'all don't want to accept the Messiah? All right. Moving on. And so now it opens up to everyone else. Well, that's really good for us, because j just so you know, I can't speak for everyone. You do not fit the Jewish part. You are a Gentile, all of us for the most part. Right? And and so what is this parable doing? Saying, okay, now I'm opening up to everyone because that was the plan all along, right? The Messiah was opening up salvation to everyone. Right? And so people start coming in. It's a great story. They're like, this is wonderful. I it it's open for me too. And then it takes this weird turn because there's this one guy. And remember, this is a parable, right? God doesn't go around, you know, looking for people who aren't dressed right and binding them and throwing them out. Right? That's probably a good thing. But but but we have this this scene of this one person that's there that's just like, yeah, everybody else was here. You know, I'm still in my, you know, my my jams and tank top, right? And if you know what jams are, yeah, you you're you're officially old. And and so someone that's not dressed for a wedding, right? That is just there because everyone else is there. And what happens? Well, the king says, Wait, you're not here for a wedding. You have to be here for the wedding, you have to have accepted the invitation to come to the wedding. And so therefore you're Actions reflect that. There's a decision process that has to be made. And it it's not just following the crowd. So even for wedding feast is open, salvation is open, but you must make the decision to believe in Jesus Christ. And then that should lead to your life changing. Right? You change out. Of the clothes that you were wearing in the field, and you put on the clothes to go to the wedding banquet, because you're a new person now. Right? So you've it you have to accept the invitation and then your life changes. That is what Jesus is saying through these parables. And ⁓ and it's very interesting because right after this, he's gonna go into the woes to the religious leaders, and it just keeps getting, he's warning them, y'all are missing. The point. For us today, it is so important that we don't miss the point of the gospel message. That we don't miss what it truly is all about. Serving Christ and living in light of what Christ has done for us. It's not, it doesn't mean that we just go and help the poor. It doesn't mean that we just go and partner with Care Portal. To help kids. Those are all good things. But the gospel message is that we are sinners. And that Christ has come to offer us new life in Him. And then when we accept that, then we start seeing the world differently. And so now we want to go and help and make a difference. Too often, I think, many of our churches. Have taken out that redemption aspect and have focused more on, hey, let's just be good people. Let's just, let's just go and serve others. Let's just go and be nice and be kind. All can be good things. But listen, you can do all that stuff. You can be a very kind person and still get thrown out into the outer darkness because you have not accepted Jesus Christ as the way. the truth and the life. That's what Jesus was trying to get across to those religious leaders. Don't allow Don't allow our traditions and our religion to to can just put you in a box that you can't get out of. Make sure that you are looking at the one who offers salvation, the one who gives new life, who has invited you to the wedding feast, and now you are there and you choose to live for him and go and make a difference in the world around you. Let's go to him and