The Parables of Christ no. 17
The
Two Sons
Rev. Brian Kocourek
Now, this Evening we will
continue in our study of the parables, and this evening we will study the parable
found in Matthew 21:28-32 which deals with Two Sons. Before we
read, I would like to say that there are no less than three parables that deal
with this subject on the Vineyard. This particular parable we will study has to
deal with the role of sonship. We found that there are two sons, one who had
his own will but changed it to do His Fathers will and the other who claimed to
believe and to do His Father’s will, but when it came down to it, did nothing.
And I would like to show you that this is the very condition of the sons of God
in this last hour.
The Parable begins in MATTHEW
Now, we know that Jesus had his own will, and that He
is the eldest son in a vast family of brothers. For we find in the Book of LUKE
Notice we read, nevertheless, not MY WILL so Jesus
had a will of His own, but surrendered His will to the Father.
Now, I had said that
Jesus is the firstborn Son in a vast
family of brothers. That is actually how the Weymouth Translation describes Romans 8:29
For those whom He
has known beforehand He has also pre-destined to bear the likeness of His Son,
that He might be the Eldest in a vast family of brothers;
So we can see Jesus here in this parable, comparing
Himself to the others who called themselves sons as well. And thus we are
receiving an illustration of the Doctrine of Twins. Now, notice the attitude of
the first. He had a will of his own, and was willing to change that will in
favor of the will of His Father. But the second son, said I will go and yet did
not go. 30 And he
came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, “I will go
sir”, and went not.
Notice he told the Father, your will is my will
father, and yet when it came right down to it, he did not do the father’s will,
and so he lied. Then Jesus asks the question, 31 Which of these two did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus
saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go
into the
I JOHN 3:7 Little
children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous,
even as he is righteous.
Now, what does that mean? Does that mean that we are
to do works? Because Paul said, ROMANS 4:4 Now to him that
worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5 But to him that worketh not, but believeth on
him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.
And again in ROMANS 4:1 ¶ What shall we say then that Abraham our
father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2 For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath [whereof] to glory; but not before God. 3 For what saith the
scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
4 Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. 5
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly,
his faith is counted for righteousness. 6 Even as David also describeth the
blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, 7
[Saying], Blessed [are] they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are
covered. 8 Blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
And again in ROMANS 5:1 ¶ Therefore being justified by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of
God. 3 And not only [so], but we glory
in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience,
hope: 5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
But in the JAMES
Now, brother Branham brought out the balance between
what Paul said and James in the message, WORKS IS FAITH EXPRESSED
65-1126 78 Now, my subject tonight... And hold your
Bibles now, 'cause I got several Scriptures written down here. If we don't get
too long, I'll refer to many of them. My subject is: "Works Is Faith
Expressed." Now, remember: "Works Is Faith Expressed." Works
show that faith has already took ahold. See? See? Now, we choose this because
we... I believe that it might help us to understand. Now, listen real close,
and we'll go into it like a Sunday school lesson. Here James is expressing in
his teaching from Genesis 22:1-9, what man seen in Abraham.
Again Br. Branham said, WORKS IS FAITH EXPRESSED 65-1126 156
Noah's works expressed to man, what his faith was in God's promise.
And again, he said, WORKS IS FAITH EXPRESSED 65-1126 165 Moses, his works, expressed faith in the
promise of the God that he believed
WORKS IS FAITH EXPRESSED
65-1126 188 John the Baptist expressed his faith by his
works, and when he said, "There stands One among you now."... Just
think of that. St. John, I got the Scripture,
WORKS IS FAITH EXPRESSED 65-1126
86
Now, the two men that were talking on faith: Paul justified Abraham by
what God saw in Abraham; but James justified Abraham by what man saw in--in
Abraham. See, now, James said,
"He's justified by his works." Paul
said, "He's justified by faith." But,
see, Abraham believed God; that's what God saw in him; he believed It. But then
when he went to acting as though it was already done, that's what man saw in
him. And that's the same as it is to us,
because our works express what faith we have. But if we're afraid to act on
what we believe, then we do not believe it. See, you've got to believe it.
MATTHEW
Now, in getting back to what Jesus was saying the in
parable, he continues with… and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots
believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye
might believe him.
Now, notice he was talking about doing work in the
vineyard. Now, a vineyard is a yard with vines. It’s just that simple. And we
know that the vines represent the people who are grafted in. HEAR YE HIM 56-1215 E-61 Now,
Lord, realizing that standing near, there's perhaps many, many Angels, 'cause
there's believers here, and the Bible says, "The Angels of God are encamped
(not going back and forth, but they're encamped) about those who fear
Him." Many more are being called from glory tonight to encamp around those
who've raised their hand, to teach them the way of life, how they should live.
They've raised their hands to Thee, Father, recognizing that they're not in
fellowship with Thee. They've been out
of fellowship, and they so desire tonight for fellowship. And I pray,
Father, that in Christ's Name, that You'll receive each one tonight into Your
own beloved Kingdom. Woo them by the Holy Spirit, and fill them with the Holy
Ghost, and give them Eternal, Everlasting Life. Call them out, set them in a ministry, and
give them special jobs in the great vineyard of God. If it's a little
housewife, Thou knowest where to put her. If it's a man in the office, or in
the plant, You know just where to put him to do the best work. Man on the
street, out on the farm, You know just where to put him. Thou knowest all
things, and to place positionally, where to place them. So, Father, we pray
that by the works of the Holy Spirit this night, that You will place them into
Your Kingdom, many that raised their hands.
MATTHEW 20:1 ¶ For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man
[that is] an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire laborers
into his vineyard. 2 And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a
day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the third hour,
and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 And said unto them; Go ye
also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went
their way. 5 Again he went out about
the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. 6 And about the eleventh hour he
went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye
here all the day idle? 7 They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He
saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, [that]
shall ye receive. 8 So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto
his steward, Call the laborers, and give them [their] hire, beginning from the
last unto the first. 9 And when they came that [were hired] about the eleventh
hour, they received every man a penny. 10 But when the first came, they
supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every
man a penny. 11 And when they had received [it], they murmured against the Goodman
of the house, 12 Saying, These last have wrought [but] one hour, and thou hast
made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. 13
But he answered one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not
thou agree with me for a penny? 14 Take [that] thine [is], and go thy way: I
will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? 16 So the last
shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
MATTHEW 21:33 ¶ Hear another parable: There was a certain
householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a
winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into
a far country: 34 And when the time of
the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might
receive the fruits of it. 35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat
one, and killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again, he sent other servants more than the
first: and they did unto them likewise. 37 But last of all he sent unto them
his son, saying, They will reverence my son. 38 But when the husbandmen saw the
son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and
let us seize on his inheritance. 39 And they caught him, and cast [him] out of
the vineyard, and slew [him]. 40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard
cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? 41 They say unto him, He will
miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out [his] vineyard unto other
husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. 42 Jesus saith unto
them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders
rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes? 43
Therefore say I unto you, The
LUKE 13:6
¶ He spake also this parable; A certain
[man] had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit
thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard,
Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none:
cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him,
Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung [it]: 9
And if it bear fruit, [well]: and if not, [then] after that thou shalt cut it
down. 10 ¶ And he was teaching in one of
the synagogues on the Sabbath.
DO YOU NOW BELIEVE? 52-0817
E-1 I am soliciting your prayers tonight, for
us, as we work as God's husbandmen in the vineyard of our Lord. We'd be very
happy to know that you're praying for us, and I believe you will.
LEVITICUS 19:9 And when ye reap the harvest of your land,
thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field, neither shalt thou gather
the gleanings of thy harvest. 10 And thou shalt not glean thy vineyard, neither
shalt thou gather [every] grape of thy vineyard; thou shalt leave them for the
poor and stranger: I [am] the LORD your God.
PROVERBS 24:30
¶ I went by the field of the slothful,
and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; 31 And, lo, it was all
grown over with thorns, [and] nettles had covered the face thereof, and the
stone wall thereof was broken down.
SONG OF SOLOMON
JEREMIAH 12:10 Many
pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot,
they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. 11 They have made it
desolate, [and being] desolate it mourneth unto me; the whole land is made
desolate, because no man layeth [it] to heart.
51-1 PATMOS.VISION -
CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.2 In John 15, Jesus said, "I am the
Vine, ye are the branches." He is the main Vine, that which comes out of
the original root from the original seed that has the life in it. Now the vine
does not bear fruit; it is the branches that do that. Now watch this: You can
take a citrus tree such as an orange tree, and graft into it a grapefruit limb,
a lemon limb, a tangelo limb, and other kinds of that variety, and all those
limbs will grow. But those grafted limbs will not bear oranges. No sir. The
lemon limb will bear lemons, and the grapefruit limb will bear grapefruit and
so on. Yet those limbs will be thriving off the life in the tree. But if that
tree ever puts forth another branch of itself it will be an orange branch and
bear oranges. Why? Because the life in the limb and the life in the trunk are
identical whereas it wasn't so with the grafted limbs. Those grafted branches
had their sources in other kinds of life from other trees, from other roots,
from other seeds. Oh, they will bear fruit all right, but they won't bear
oranges. They cannot because they are not the original.
51-2
That's the way the church is. The vine has been split and limbs have been
grafted in. They have grafted in Baptist limbs, Methodist limbs, Presbyterian
limbs, and Pentecostal limbs. And those limbs are bearing Baptist, Methodist,
Pentecostal, and Presbyterian fruit. (Denominational seeds from which they
produce their fruit.) But if the vine ever brings forth another branch of
itself, that branch will be exactly like the vine itself. It will be the same
kind of a branch that was brought forth at Pentecost. It will speak in tongues,
prophesy, and have the power and signs of the resurrected Jesus Christ in it.
Why? Because it's thriving on the natural resources of the vine itself. You
see, it wasn't grafted into the vine; it was BORN in the vine. When those other
branches were grafted in, all they could do was bear their own fruit for they
were not born of that vine. They don't know about that original life and
original fruit. They cannot know for they were not born of it. But if they had
been born of it, that same life that was in the original stem (Jesus) would
have come through them and manifested through them. John 14:12, "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he
do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto My
Father."
69-1
EPHESIAN.CHURCH.AGE - CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.3
Now
out of this first key that we have received of the Lord, there comes another
and slightly less wonderful truth. I said that the
69-2
EPHESIAN.CHURCH.AGE - CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.3
Now
let us be very careful that we are not confused at this point. Thus we will
seek the Word to validate this claim. Let us go back to the Book of the
beginning, Genesis. In the Garden of Eden there were TWO trees. One was good;
one was evil. One produced LIFE, the other produced Death. There were two
children who originally offered sacrifices to God. Let me repeat that, they
BOTH offered sacrifices to God. Genesis 4:3-5, "And in process of time it
came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the
Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat
thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain
and to his offering He had not respect..." But one (Cain) was evil, being
of his father (that Wicked One), while Abel was righteous before the Lord.
Again, there were two children from the flesh of the same parents. They were
the twins of Isaac and Rebekah. One was the elect of God and the other was
reprobate. Both worshipped God. In every single case there was worship of God
involved. In every case the evil hated the righteous and persecuted the
righteous. In some cases the evil destroyed the righteous. But notice. They
were planted together. They lived together. They both made claims upon God and
worshipped God.
93-1
EPHESIAN.CHURCH.AGE - CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.3
See
how it started out in the early church. It was called deeds. Then it became a
doctrine. It became the standard. It became the unbending way. It finally took
over and God was pushed aside. Oh, it started so small, so quietly, so
inoffensively. It looked so good. It seemed so sound. Then it caught a hold,
and like a python, it squeezed out the very breath and killed all the
spirituality there was in the church. Oh, that false vine is subtle. It is like
an angel of light until it gets a hold on you. Now I want to say that I believe
in leadership. But it is not the leadership of men I believe in. I believe in
the leadership of the Holy Ghost coming through the Word. I believe also, that
God has set men in the church, men who are gifted by the Spirit; and they will
keep the church in order. I believe that. I believe also that the church is
ruled over by men that God sends to take charge. But that rule is BY THE WORD,
so that it is not men really ruling but the SPIRIT OF GOD, for the Word and
Spirit are ONE. Hebrews 13:7, "Remember them which have the rule over you,
who have spoken unto you the Word of God: whose faith follow, considering the
end of their conversation."
93-2
EPHESIAN.CHURCH.AGE - CHURCH.AGE.BOOK CPT.3
But
see what was happening back there. That false vine was getting a hold and it
was teaching that rulership by man was right. It taught that the church had to
be governed. It taught a control over the people, but instead of doing it God's
way, they simply took authority and vested all the spiritual power in their own
hands and came out with a holy priesthood standing between God and the people.
They went right back to the old Aaronic system. They became antichrist for they
disposed of His mediator-ship and imposed their own. God hated that. The
Ephesians hated that and any true believer will hate it too. We would have to
be stone blind not to see that same thing at work all through the ages and
right now it is the worst of all. What it was, was organization. That separated
the people. God's people are supposed to be one. By ONE Spirit are they ALL
baptized into one body and EVERYONE is to be moved upon by the Holy Ghost and
EVERYONE is to participate in the worship of God. But men wanted the
pre-eminence, so they took over control, and bishops became archbishops, and
with imposing titles they by-passed the Word of God and taught their own
doctrines. They got the people to obey them until the time came that their way
of worship did not in any way at all resemble the early days after Pentecost.
These deeds were the beginning of apostolic succession. From apostolic
succession it was one easy and quick step to "church membership" as
the means of saving grace. The Word was reduced to a creed. Antichrist by his
spirit was predominating the church.