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Saying Yes to God...But Living No · In the Stillness Podcast

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  Hey y'all, it's friendly. Hope you are having a great
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  Thursday so far and I'm going to be so for real.
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  I got a spicy one this morning. This is a passage that I am
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  feeling the weight of. It's not because it's
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  complicated, but it's confronting.
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  And as I sat with it this morning, I realized if I'm
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  feeling it, I know that someone listening is probably going to
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  feel it and need it to. So before we jump right in, I do
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  want to say a very brief prayer. I just do not want this to be my
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  opinions or my emotions. I want this to be what God is
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  saying through His word and simply what He has shown me
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  today. So Father, would you speak
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  clearly through me? Guard my words.
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  Let it be your truth. Soften our hearts and give us
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  the ears to hear, not just to listen, but to hear your voice
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  God, and to respond to it. We pray this in Jesus name,
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  Amen. OK, we are going to be in
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  Matthew chapter 21, verses 28 through 32.
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  This is titled the parable of two sons.
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  Jesus said to his critics, tell me what you think of this
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  parable. There once was a man with two
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  sons. The father came to the 1st and
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  said, Son, I want you to go and work in the vineyard today.
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  The son replied, I'd rather not. But afterward he deeply
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  regretted what he said to his father, changed his mind, and
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  decided to go to the vineyard. The father approached the second
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  son and said the same thing to him.
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  The son replied, Father, I will go and do as you said, but he
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  never did. He didn't go to the vineyard.
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  Tell me now which of these two sons did the will of his Father?
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  They answered him. The first one, Jesus said you're
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  right for many sinners, tax collectors and prostitutes are
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  going into God's Kingdom realm ahead of you.
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  John came to show you the path of righteousness, yet the
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  despised and outcast believed in Him, but you did not.
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  When you saw them turn, you neither repented of your ways
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  nor believed his words. OK, well before we get a little
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  uncomfortable, we have to start here.
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  God is incredibly merciful and gracious y'all.
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  He invites everyone into His Kingdom without limitations.
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  There are no background checks or prerequisites.
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  Scripture tells us that God is actually being patient, delaying
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  judgement because He wants more people to be saved.
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  We see this in Second Peter 39. The Lord is not slow to fulfill
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  his promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards
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  you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should
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  reach repentance. That is the heart of the Father
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  in this story. Now, when I first read it, I
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  assumed, kind of, that the Son who said no was the obvious
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  problem. I mean, who would talk to their
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  father like that and just completely disregard what he
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  said? But what's interesting is that
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  Jesus flips it. The son who initially refuses
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  ends up repenting. He changes his mind and he
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  actually goes and does the work. But the other son, on the other
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  hand, he says the right thing. He looks obedient on the
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  surface, but he never actually follows through.
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  You see, he prefers the appearance of obedience over
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  actual obedience. And Jesus makes it so, so clear.
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  Obedience is not what you say, it's what you do.
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  So this parable is actually confronting the religious
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  leaders of Israel at the time that Jesus is sharing this.
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  They claimed to want and desire God's will, but their lives
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  constantly contradicted it. They were going through the
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  motions of religion while rejecting true repentance.
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  So the passage right before this that I have not done an episode
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  on, but you can go back and read it, shows those same leaders
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  questioning Jesus's authority. It's not because they wanted the
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  truth, but they wanted control. They were trying to trap Jesus,
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  and Jesus exposes their hearts. He shows that they only wanted
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  the truth if it supported their own viewpoints.
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  And here's where I believe it gets personal for us.
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  God already knows your motives. He knows if you're putting on a
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  face but are actually far from His heart.
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  He knows if you're seeking Him for show, like attending church,
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  going to Christian events, or if you're seeking him when nobody
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  else sees in the Quiet place. He knows whether your repentance
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  is real or just verbal. So saying that I'm working on it
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  while remaining comfortable in sin.
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  That is not repentance. Repentance means active turning
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  away. It's not perfection, but it is
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  direction. And I know I probably sound like
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  a broken record. I honestly feel like 1 because
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  so many of the podcasts have been harping on this.
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  But it always come back, comes back to this obedience.
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  Yes, Jesus did the work to reconcile us to God.
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  Salvation is by grace alone. But following him.
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  It takes action in a world that does not follow Him.
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  So I want to say this plainly and lovingly.
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  Y'all, God the Father, He would rather have the person who lived
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  a corrupt lifestyle, think a thief or someone trapped in
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  addiction, or to put it plainly, somebody in a strip club,
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  somebody like that who truly turns from their sin and
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  surrenders their life to him. He would prefer that than the
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  person who is calling themselves a good Christian who goes to
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  church, knows the spiritual language, but continues in
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  sexual immorality, in deception or a double lifestyle that's
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  contradicting what they say they believe.
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  And y'all, I'm saying this humbly and with love, because I
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  was the good Christian girl who was going through the motions.
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  I looked obedient from the outside, but inwardly I was not
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  rejecting sin and turning from what I knew was wrong.
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  I was just managing it. So we have to be real with
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  ourselves. The gospel is offensive.
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  Second Timothy 316, it says that it corrects and rebukes us.
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  This is meant to expose us, but this is how Scripture trains us
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  in righteousness so that we can be thoroughly equipped as
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  servants of God. And I just want you all to think
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  about Christ, the pure, blameless, spotless, perfect Son
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  of God, left heaven to be mocked and tortured and killed for the
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  very people that were doing this to him.
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  If that's not offensive, if that doesn't confront us, I don't
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  know what does. Because we cannot keep listening
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  only to parts of the Bible that we like and want to listen to
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  and just ignore the rest. Yes, we're going to mess up.
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  And there is grace. God's grace is sufficient, but
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  when you do mess up, are you doing everything you can to not
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  stay there? This means fighting it,
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  combating the sin through prayer.
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  We depend on the Holy Spirit to give us that power and asking
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  God for strength to resist temptation.
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  You seek accountability from godly friends and mentors, but
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  because God knows your heart, He is coming back to judge the
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  living and the dead. And it says all throughout
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  Scripture, but specifically in Matthew 2521, that there will be
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  a day when you hear either well done, my good and faithful
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  servant, or as Matthew 721 through 23 mentions, depart from
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  me. I never knew you, so you have to
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  ask yourself, which one do I want to hear and which one am I
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  living to hear? We have to stop excusing sin and
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  disobedience because God's word is clear.
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  Let this be a challenge for all of us.
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  Let your actions match your words.
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  Jesus says in Luke 1128 that blessed are those who hear the
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  word of God and obey it. So here's some reflection and
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  challenge questions I'm going to leave y'all with #1 Am I more
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  concerned with appearing obedient or actually doing the
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  will of the Father? 2 Is there an area where I've
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  been saying yes to God with my words, but no with my life?
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  And #3 where might God be correcting me?
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  This is not for shame, but to help me walk in righteousness
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  and holiness. So I'm going to move into prayer
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  right now. God, we want to please You, not
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  people. We don't live for man's
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  approval, as Your word says. We speak and live not to gain
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  human approval, but to honor You who tests our hearts.
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  God, search us. Would you correct us and align
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  us with Your truth? Provide us with the humility to
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  truly repent and would you strengthen us to walk in
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  obedience? We cannot do this on our own,
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  Father. It is not by might nor by
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  strength, but by your Spirit. We rely on you, Jesus.
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  We pray this all in your heavenly name.
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  Amen. OK, well that was that was a
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  challenging 1 for sure, but it was awesome to talk through and
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  just praying that the Lord continues speaking to you and
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  that you take this confrontation and really let it soak up in
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  your heart and go to His word and go to him in prayer and ask
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  Him to speak to you. I will see you on the next
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  episode. Have a great rest of your day.