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1:43The next several years saw slow, halting spiritual growth in him, but he eventually became one of the most powerful evangelical preachers in British history and a powerful force for the abolition of slavery. The people who knew him marveled at the transformation from a man of deep sin to a man of deep faith in Christ, and many came to faith through his life and ministry of grace. While he was preparing a sermon in 1779 entitled Faith's Review and Expectation, he wrote a hymn to go along with the sermon. Now, you may not have ever heard of that sermon, but almost everyone who's been to church knows that hymn by heart. The preacher that used to be a wretched slave captain was John Newton, and the hymn was Amazing Grace.

2:41So today, we're going to look at a passage that speaks of the power of the witness of a life transformed by God's grace. Matthew 21 begins with the triumphal entry of Jesus on what we call Palm Sunday, his triumphal entry to Jerusalem on the last week of his life, his earthly life. And in that chapter, we read of a series of events that got the attention of the Jewish leaders. That day when he came into town, people threw palm branches on the ground and they declared, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. This is a messianic greeting. He ran the money changers out of the temple, and in their place, he taught with authority.

3:38Now Jesus has come into the temple. He's run out the money changers, and in their place, he has a crowd, and Jesus is teaching right under the nose of the religious leaders of Israel. And so, in Matthew chapter 21, they've confronted him, demanding to know his source of authority. For three years now, he's been on the scene, and he's been walking in the land, and they've had God in the flesh in their midst. They've seen him work great miracles, they've heard of his teaching, they've seen him feed the multitudes, heal the sick, make the blind to see, the lame to walk, and they've seen sinners' lives transformed. Yet, they are so entrenched in their pride and their Power, and their hearts are so hard that they cannot recognize the very God they claim to serve when they confront him face to face, witnessing his life, his teaching, and his ministry firsthand. So they ask him a question about his authority. And this is the background setting of our passage today. So let's begin. We're going to back up and begin reading in Matthew chapter 1, verse 23.

4:59Now when he came into the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people confronted him as he was teaching and said, By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority? But Jesus answered and said to them, I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell me, likewise, I will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, where was it from? From heaven or from men? And they reasoned among themselves, saying, If we say from heaven, he will say to us, Why then did you not believe him? But if we say from men, we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet. So they answered Jesus and said, We do not know. And he said to them, Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.

5:55So they refused to believe John the Baptist, who has prepared the way for the Messiah. And testified to his identity in the person of Jesus Christ. In doing so, they also refused to believe that Jesus is their long-awaited Messiah. And in this parable, the first of three that he would tell in Matthew 21 and into chapter 22, Jesus begins with a very simple question to them before he quite harshly condemns their unbelief. So let's read today's passage, starting in verse 28.

6:33But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not. But afterward, he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second son and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir. But he did not go. Which of the two sons, or which of the two, did the will of his father? And they said to him, The first.

7:07Jesus said to them, Assuredly, I say to you, that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But tax collectors and harlots believed him. And when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him. My outline today has. Four main points driven by the organization of this parable as Jesus told it. First is the parable itself. Second is a simple question. Third is the judgment of Jesus upon the religious leaders. And fourth is his justification for his judgment. What I want you to see in this very direct teaching from Jesus is this: that to believe is to obey. Jesus, in this passage and elsewhere, makes a direct connection between genuine belief and obedience. It's not enough just to say you believe. The proof that your belief is genuine and true is when it is followed by obedience.

8:20Secondly, the key ingredient that connects genuine belief to obedience is repentance. Repentance unlocks the closed mind, repentance melts the cold, hard heart. Without repentance, there is no genuine belief in Christ for salvation. So let's look in verse 28. Jesus asks this question, but what do you think? In other words, let me ask you a question. We read in verse 23 that Jesus is asking his question to the chief priests and elders. That's who he's asking the question. Question to the chief priests and elders. They're the ones who just asked Jesus about his authority to do these things.

9:11So let's examine who are the chief priests and elders. Simply put, they're the religious leaders of Israel. The high priest and the chief priests were typically Sadducees. Now, Sadducees were the elite in the Jewish establishment, and while they were fewer in number than the more popular Pharisees, they controlled most of the wealth in the nation. They comprised most of the Jewish high council known as the Sanhedrin and were largely in control of the temple and the operation of the priesthood. The chief priests included Annas the high priest and Caiaphas, both of whom Jesus would face before his crucifixion just a few days later. So that's the chief priests. The elders were a group of Jewish leaders from different religious groups. Pharisees, Sadducees, Sanhedrin, Essenes, Herodians, perhaps even zealots. The Pharisees are the ones we're most familiar with. They are the more dominant group in Israel. Many of them were also scribes, authorities in the law. They were characterized by lawkeeping as the means to gain the favor of God. This is a very diverse group, but in spite of their theological differences, they found unity. In their opposition to Jesus. Jesus has been on their radar for some time, but he was out there. Now, he's in the temple. He's in their space.

10:45His presence there threatened the authority of the entire religious establishment. Now, we read earlier that the Jewish leaders had asked him a question about his authority, and Jesus responded with that question that really made it impossible for them to answer without condemning themselves, so they refused to answer it. Because to reject John as a prophet from God would put them at odds with the people they led, and they needed their support. But to accept John as a prophet from heaven would have required accepting Jesus as the promised Messiah, and that they absolutely refused to do.

11:24So Jesus then responds to them with another question, a less threatening one. What do you think? He's going to ask them a different question. And then he follows it with this parable. A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not. But afterward, he regretted it and went. So we examine this parable, and we find three characters. The man, obviously a father, and he has not one, but Two sons. Now, this is a parable. They're not real people, but in this situation, it describes a very familiar scenario that would lend to ease of understanding. The father apparently owns a vineyard, and every other man of that day expects his sons to do some work for him. Strange concept today, but back then that was expected. So, the man comes to the first son. He came to the first. Now, this presents an image of closeness, of a very likely constant proximity to one another. The image appears to, the sons appear to be living in their home, in the father's house, and the man said, Son, go work today in my vineyard. The father begins by appealing to the relationship that he shares with his son, by addressing him as son, which not only is a term of endearment and close relationship, but it's also a quiet assertion of the father's authority over the son. The father has the right to send his son to work in his vineyard.

13:13Go work today. Three words which make it very clear what the father is telling, not asking the son to do. Go, remove yourself from my house and go to my vineyard. Work. Labor. I have some things that need to be done in my vineyard, and I want you to do them. When? Today. Go work today. Right now. Not tomorrow. Today. How long? Today. Just today. That's all I need from you. Just a day's work. The image is a, it's like a conversation at the breakfast table. The father and his two sons, and he's passing out assignments. Go work today. Where?

14:06In my vineyard. You don't have to go looking for work. I have some for you to do. The father's command is not vague. It's not ambiguous. It's not a request. It's not even unreasonable. Son, go work today in my vineyard. Well, the action moves quickly to the response of the first son. And the expectation is that the son will quickly say, Sure, Dad, happy to help out. Jesus' parables kind of do that. But instead, we get a bit of a shock. He answered and said, I will not.

14:45The first son responds to his father by openly refusing to do what his father told him to do. And it's a very abrupt refusal. It's not today. Or it's not, Father, I have other plans, just, I will not. And I think we can hear Jesus saying it that way as he's telling this parable: I, the captain of my soul, will the master of my fate, not a rejection of his father's command. My will is that I will not do your will.

15:29The image is intentionally one of an ungrateful, rebellious, willful young man who is extremely inconsiderate of his father. It was shocking to these religious leaders that the parable took this turn. It gives the image in the parable of a straightforward verbal rejection of the father's command, and in doing so, a rejection of his father's authority. The first son's verbal response is an open, openly rebellious and disobedient. But the parable gets even more interesting as this shocking verbal response by the first son is then quickly followed by this intriguing phrase, but let's just stop there, but. When that word appears, yet, however, but, you know, something's about to change and it's significant. I can't tell you how many times in My Bible, I've circled the word but in different places. God seems to use this word as a neon sign. Look out, something interesting, something important is coming. And here a significant change does occur because this openly rebellious, disrespectful, defiant, disobedient son, but afterward regretted it and went.

16:56Afterward, later. The word indicates some passage of time in order for God to fulfill his purposes in this rebellious young man's heart. We don't know how much time, could have been just a few moments, but it couldn't have been very long because his father wanted him to work today, and he goes today. The focus quickly moves to the son's emotions. He regretted it. And then this regret is followed with a simple action. He went. He obeyed.

17:35And the significant detail about the first son is that after first refusing to go and work, he afterward obeyed. He went. The word here for regret is the Greek word metamelemai. And I had to practice a long time to say that. Hold your applause until the end. Metamelemai, it describes a feeling of deep sorrow. It means a care to. One afterwards. It repents one to repent oneself. The King James Version translators use the word repent here, but New King James and most others use the word regret. I'll talk about this more later, but I think it's important here to note that this sorrowful emotion, this regret by the first son, resulted in him changing his mind from what he had said earlier. I will not. And instead, he went.

18:31He went to work in his father's vineyard that day. He obeyed his father's command after first disobeying and afterward regretting his insolence and disobedience. So, we've got the first son in his initial response to his father, one of open rebellion, followed soon with a combination of emotion and action, of sorrow and obedience. Let's look at the next part of the parable, verse 30. Then he came to the second and said likewise. He comes to the second son and says the same thing, go work today in my vineyard.

19:09Well, the action very quickly highlights the second son's initial response of willingness and respect. He answered and said, I go, sir. I go, sir. The son very respectfully replies in the affirmative to his father and even conveys the appropriate term of respect. Of respect. The Greek word used there is kurios, sometimes translated Lord, but here translated sir. This term is curiously absent. Well, I wouldn't say curiously, it's noticeably absent in verse 29 in the response from the first son. He doesn't say that, although some translations put it there in italics.

19:55But this sounds like a very agreeable reply to the father: I go, sir. But then Jesus adds this shocking response, but he did not go. I go, sir, but he did not go. So this son, while telling his father very respectfully that he will go and work, he does not. What he said sounded good to his father, and it sounded good to the people hearing the parable. This son's got it all together. But we see that it was only lip service. He does not follow through with obedience. He instead disobeys his father. So you get the picture. Jesus is presenting an interesting contrast as he sets up his question to the religious leaders. Here we have one son who said he would obey. Oh, no, he would not obey, but he did. Contrasted with a son. Second son who said he would obey, but he did not. So after crafting this scenario, this comparison between the two sons, Jesus asks what really should be, seem like a very simple question. He asks a very simple question: which of the two did the will of his father?

21:27The choice is only between these two sons, the disrespectful rebel who refused to go, but then he actually went, or the one who respectfully said he would go to work, but ended up not going to work. Now, the choice, if we're honest, really isn't that difficult, right? Here's that, they didn't even have to consult with one another like they did about John's baptism. I don't know. Here they just said, Jesus said to him, no, they said to him, the first. So their answer is, the first. Of course, the first. The one who did the will of his father is the one ultimately who did what his father told him to do. It was the first son who actually obeyed his father. And in spite of what the second son said he would do, he did not do it. Now, you parents are sitting out there thinking, neither of sons makes me all that happy, right?

22:24But you do see that only one of them has a happy ending. Now, moms, have you ever had a kid who says that he would take out the trash or mow the grass or something but doesn't do it? I mean, how does that make you feel? Not very happy, right? Either you're going to have to do it or you're going to have to talk to the son, or maybe you're going to say, wait till your father gets home.

22:49Or perhaps you ask your kid to clean up his room and he bows up and he says, I'm not going to. And then, surprise, a few minutes go by and you find him doing it anyway. Has anybody ever had that happen? Don't raise your hands. Sure. Now, we still need to talk about that initial attitude, but this is going to be a very different outcome than the other one. Now, for you kids out there, there is a third option that doesn't appear in the parable. Parents would always prefer the son who says he will do it and then does it. Let's just get that straight right here. That's always the best course, but that choice isn't presented in the parable.

23:30So the first son is the one who did the will of his father. Why? Because he obeyed. Obedience is the key. That was the response the father was looking for, not for lip service. Now we move on to the judgment. Jesus has told the parable, and he is going to use that parable as a parable of judgment against these Jewish leaders. So we're going to talk about. In the second half of verse 31, the judgment. These religious leaders have given the correct answer, but in doing so have unwittingly brought condemnation on themselves. Continuing in verse 31, Jesus said to them, Assuredly, truly, Amen.

24:19This word affirms their answer, but it also gives affirmation to the judgment Jesus is about to render. He says, Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. Before you, you who thought you were in the kingdom already because you deserved it. You're the leaders of Israel. You're sons of Abraham. You got it in your heritage. No, Jesus intentionally makes the most offensive comparison possible to the Pharisees' sensibilities. He puts them lower than tax collectors and harlots. This would have been especially offensive to the chief priests and the elders. Tax collectors.

25:08They were universally despised in Israel for many reasons. Number one, they collected tax money for the government. We're okay with that today, I guess, but back then, that put them at the lowest part of society. Secondly, they worked for the Romans, and the Romans were oppressors. So the tax collectors were looked upon as traitors. Traitors, collaborators. And thirdly, tax collectors earned their own wages by whatever they could take from the people beyond what was actually owed in the tax. They would bump it up and try to get you to pay more than what you owed. So they were cheaters. That was how they made their living. No wonder they were so reviled. So, tax collectors, the lowest of the low in society.

25:57Harlots. Well, do you want me to explain the harlots? Well, they were reviled for reasons of extreme sinful behavior. Let's just leave it at that, okay? You can look it up. But together, the tax collectors and the harlots represented the lowest of the low, man or woman. The complete catalog of the worst sinners in society. And Jesus says that they will enter the kingdom of God, heaven, before them. These are the religious leaders, the purest and most holy of all the people in the land. It was outrageous and intentionally so. Jesus calls out their self-righteousness by claiming that the worst sinners imaginable are closer to the kingdom of God than they are. And to put a finer point on it, this was Jesus' way of saying they've missed heaven altogether.

26:53How can this be? Well, Jesus gives his justification for his judgment in verse 11. 32. Verse 32, For John came to you in the way of righteousness. Now, how did John come in the way of righteousness? Well, preparing the way from the Messiah, we read about it earlier, offering the baptism of repentance. The kingdom of God is at hand. And with a single word, for Jesus links their lack of suitability for heaven with their response to John the Baptist, whose authority they rejected. And to reject John was to reject Jesus as their Messiah. So, with respect to this rejection, Christ presents three reasons why the tax collectors and harlots were more suited for heaven than they are.

27:43One, and you did not believe him. You did not believe John when he came to you in the way of righteousness. Two, but tax collectors and harlots believed him. And three, when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him. Let's look at each of these three reasons separately. Well, first of all, can you see in this one verse, there is one word that shows up three times. What is it? You can look at your Bibles.

28:20Believe. Believe. Now, when Jesus says something one time, it's important. When he says it three times, that's like an exclamation point. It's very important. Let's look at for a second. This is a verb, pestuo. It's a verb to believe, to have faith, to trust, to have confidence in. It's an active verb. It is action. It's not just intellectual assent, understanding some facts. It's not lip service. To believe is to obey. In the Bible, we frequently see belief juxtaposed with obedience, underscoring that true belief, true faith, results in action, in obedience.

29:10Jesus declares in John chapter 8, if you hold to my teaching, you are truly my disciples. In Hebrews chapter 3 and 14, Hebrews interprets the wilderness generation wandering in the wilderness, their failure as unbelief, and he links their disbelief with disobedience. And James, James chapter 2, he also points out that intellectual assent alone is insufficient. James 2:19, you believe in God, you do well. The demons also believe and tremble. So belief doesn't get you there. Even the devil and his demons know that there is God. They believe that there is a God. The first reason given by Christ as to why They are further from the kingdom of God than these worst of sinners is their unbelief. And you did not believe him, he says. So Jesus is likening the chief priests and elders to the second son in the parable, who said the right thing, but did not obey. You can't just say that you believe. True belief, I mean, belief is necessary, of course. True belief, though, is followed by action, obedience. And notice the structure of this passage. The parallel is clear. The second son did not obey his father, and the Jewish leaders did not believe. So, like the second son, they have not done the will of the father. To not believe is to not obey, or to not believe is to not obey is to not believe.

30:57Do you remember what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7, verse 21? Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. So, here Jesus even links this entering the kingdom of heaven is not to what you say. You can say, Lord, Lord, all day, but those who do the will of my Father, he links it not to what you say, but what you do. Do. And we're not talking about a works-righteousness system here where you earn your way to heaven. That's exactly what he's trying to defeat. Because, see, these religious leaders said they said all the right things. They said they would obey. They even acted very respectfully and piously in the temple. But when John calls them to repentance, they rejected their need for that. They were secure in their self-righteousness, in their many good works. They believed smugly that they actually deserved to enter the kingdom of God because of their own efforts and their own righteousness. But they did not believe or accept John as the prophet from God. They rejected John, and in doing so, they rejected Jesus as their Messiah. So the first reason for this judgment, their condemnation, is their unbelief.

32:20Their lack of obedience meant a lack of belief. The second reason given by Christ as to why they are further from the kingdom of God than these worst of sinners is that even the worst of sinners did believe him, believed John. But tax collectors and harlots believed him. So you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and harlots did. He's contrasting the two just like he contrasted the first and second son. Now Jesus invokes the first son from the parable. These tax collectors Collectors and harlots are like the first son. They were openly rebellious, living a sinful life. They were disobedient, but afterward had a change of heart and obeyed.

33:12Again, Jesus makes a direct parallel. The first son went, the tax collectors and harlots believed. So they're the same in the passage. We see the obedience of the first son as a juxtaposition for the belief of the tax collectors and the harlots. Which son did the will of the father? The first one, the one who obeyed his father in spite of his initial rebellion. The will of the father is that we turn from that rebellion, we repent, and we obey. To believe is to obey.

33:50The sinner who is lost, but then found, is closer to the kingdom of heaven than those who give lip service to God and never follow him in obedience. Then, lastly, and I think with a note of sadness, Jesus gives this third reason for their condemnation. The third reason is their hard hearts. Because he finishes verse 32 with this phrase, and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him. When you saw it, what was it they saw?

34:30The chief priests and elders saw firsthand the lives of sinners, like tax collectors and harlots, changed, transformed by their repentance and the resulting obedience to the gospel. Even tax collectors and harlots' lives were changed. And there are several examples that we have in Scripture that they would have seen firsthand. I read one this morning, Luke chapter 3, where we read earlier about lives that were transformed by the preaching of John the Baptist as he made them aware of their sin.

35:05There's a tax collector there, there's soldiers, there's others. And Luke 19 has another one. We won't turn there, but you're all familiar with the story. You all sung about it. It's about another tax collector named Zacchaeus. I hear you singing. Okay. Zacchaeus, he was a reviled tax collector. Yes, he was a wee little man. But he was a reviled tax collector, one of the most wretched sinners in society. But his life was transformed by Jesus because he followed through with obedience. That was the fruit that proved his faith was genuine. His life was transformed. Everyone saw it. His obedience was the result of his belief, and Jesus affirms his faith by saying, Surely salvation has come to this house.

35:59We'll look at one. More here, and you can turn to Luke chapter 7 if you want to, because we've talked about tax collectors. We needed to find a harlot. Luke chapter 7 in verse 36. The woman's not specifically identified as a harlot, but I'll let you make up your own mind. Luke chapter 7, verse 36. Then one of the Pharisees asked him, Jesus, to eat with him. And he went to the Pharisees' house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and stood at his feet behind him, weeping. And she began to wash his feet with her tears and wipe them with the hair of her head. And she kissed his feet and anointed them with the fragrant oil. Now, the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, he would know who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner. So while her sin is not explicitly stated here, it's strongly implied by this language and the reaction of the Pharisee that she's most likely a harlot. She's a woman of the city who is a sinner. But her opulent sacrifice, Of this expensive oil and her broken heart as she weeps and anoints Jesus' feet with her tears, wipes them with her hair. These are the actions of a rebellious heart that's changed in its direction and now goes into worship in submission obediently by anointing the feet of her Savior. And Jesus accepts as evidence of her faith in him, he forgives her sins.

38:02So there were many transformed lives. We've just looked at a few of them here that the Jewish leaders saw firsthand. A tax collector, harlot, rebellious people now following Christ in obedience. They were lost. Now they're found. But they saw it and it had no effect on them. When you saw it, you did not relent and believe, you know, like that first son who did the will of his father. So that's the third condemnation. It's like another chance. You didn't believe initially, but you're witnessing these transformed lives.

38:52How does that affect you? Just like the second son. No impact, no emotion. Their hearts are hard. So, my question to you is: How hard is your heart? Are you unaffected by the proclamation of God's word? Do you see others who were wretched sinners come to Christ and their lives are transformed? Does that not move you? Does that not melt your heart toward the Savior? Because you see, what is missing in the heart of that second son? I will, sir. But he did not go. What causes the first son to go from rebellion to obedience? We see it again here in verse 32, and it's translated as relent. There are other translations I know. That's one of the more popular ones. We saw it in verse 29 in the first son. It was translated as regret. The Greek word, metamelemai, to repent, to regret, to change one's mind. It's actually centered on the sorrow or the emotional weight of repentance.

40:12And since both verses also follow this word with an action, specifically with obedience or belief, the meaning is clearly repentance. You have godly sorrow, which Changes the heart from rebellion to belief and obedience. Repentance is a compound thought. It's emotion followed by action. And this is a work of God. It's not something you can conjure up. But you need to recognize it and respond to it. Because it's specifically the emotion of sorrow. And specifically, the action is obedience. It results from a change for the better. It's a changing of one's mind. God changes your mind, literally, the way you think about sin.

41:12You don't think of those things the same way anymore. The desire that you used to have for those things is gone, and it's replaced by God with a new desire, a desire for something better, a change of appetite, a change of interest, a change in the way you spend your time, a change in the places you go. Is your heart changed away from those things it used to do, and you have a desire to spend time in God's Word, to spend time in prayer with the Savior who died for you, thanking Him in gratitude, with a desire to be among His people.

41:54And where do we gather? We're not hard to find. We're here every Sunday morning, and many other times throughout the week. Is your desire for that so strong that it outweighs some of these other things? Your appetites change. So, I hope you can see from this parable the direct connection between genuine belief and obedience. It's not enough to say you believe. The proof of your belief, the proof that your belief is genuine and true, is when it's followed by obedience. And the key ingredient that connects the two is repentance. See, the first son was an open rebel, but he came to regret his rebellion. And he went. He obeyed his father to work in the vineyard. The tax collector, the harlot, they're like the first son.

42:54They were living initially disrespectful, open rebellion towards God, and later, having a change of heart, repentance, they believed, they obeyed, and they led a transformed life. The second son was a closet rebel. He looked good. He said good things. He told his father he'd go to work, but he did not obey. And you see no emotion ascribed to the second son at all. He seems not to be disturbed at all by his disobedience. The chief priests and elders were. Like this second son, living in secret self-righteous rebellion toward God and a life of open disobedience. Which of these two sons did the will of his father?

43:46Well, it was the first, the one who turned from his rebellion against his father and believes him and obeys. So, the question we all must consider: which of these two sons are you? Are you the one who gives lip service to Christ, but your heart sees no need for obedience? You can say how you love Christ, Lord, Lord, but there's no emotion when you disobey, when you don't follow through with genuine obedience, giving testimony to your belief.

44:26Or are you like the first son who was initially rebellious, rejecting his father's will, but repented and accepted his father's authority and obeyed him? That's the picture of genuine belief. That is the picture of salvation. John Newton, later in his life, said, I'm not the man I ought to be, but by the grace of God, I'm not the man I used to be. That should be our thought. I'll say it again. I'm not the man I ought to be. We're not there yet. We'll never be perfectly sanctified in this life. But by the grace of God, I'm not the man I used to be. He was on the right trajectory.

45:12He was like the first son, like the tax collectors and the harlots. Here is a slave ship captain, a great sinner, who repented of his life and the slave trade and was transformed into a life of obedience. That is the will of your heavenly Father, that you be like the first son. Turn from your rebellion. Turn from your rebellion and follow Christ. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have not left us to figure out this life on our own. Lord, that you've given us your word that shows us your will, that you want us to turn from our rebellion and our disobedience and even from our lip service, Lord, and to obey you. Lord, I pray that you would grant each person here that willingness, that repentance that only comes from you, that only comes from your amazing grace. We thank you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.