The Parables of Christ no. 17

The Two Sons

January 14, 2004

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. This parable is also taught by Jesus in Luke 15: 11-32 as well, but since the story is the same we will concentrate our efforts on teling it from the Book of Matthew. 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 21:28 by Jesus saying, ¶ But what think ye? And by this He was saying, I am going to tell you something and I want your opinion on what I am about to tell you. Then Jesus tells the parable. “A certain man had two sons.” Now, we are not told if these two sons are twins, but just keep that thought in your mind here because when Jesus begins to actually break down this parable, He ends up showing the doctrine of Twins and the distinction between the two seeds. and he (The man that had the vineyard), came to the first, That is the eldest son, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. 29 and the eldest son , had His own opinion about this, and, He answered and said, I will not: Notice he used the word I WILL not. Notice he spoke of his own will in contrast to the will of the father. So this eldest son had a will of his own. but afterward he repented, (now, the word repent means to change the mind. This oldest son, came to the place where he let go of his own thinking and received the will of the Father And Jesus tells us here that he then proceeded to do the will of the Father) and he went.

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of LUKE 22:40 And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation. 41 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, 42 Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.

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 kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and we know that word righteousness comes from the Greek Word, dikaiosune {dik-ah-yos-oo'-nay – and it means, righteousness, integrity, virtue, purity of life, right-ness, or correctness of thinking, correctness of feeling, or correctness of acting.

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 2:14 ¶ we read, What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be [ye] warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what [doth it] profit? 17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. 18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. 19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent [them] out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

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, St. John 1:26. See? He said...They said, "You say the Messiah's coming? Why," said, "man, what's the matter with you? We been looking for Him for four thousand years." He said, "He's standing right among you now." Hallelujah. So is He tonight. (uh-huh) He expressed his faith by his revelation, because it was revealed to him that he knowed he would baptize the Messiah. He was a man thirty years old. He knowed he had to be there somewhere; he'd never knew who He was, and there He was standing right among them. He said, "There's One standing among you now, Who you know not, and I'm not worthy to loose the latches on His shoes, but He'll baptize you with the Holy Ghost. And He's right among you now." He expressed it, his faith, because he knowed in his day he was to see and baptize God's Messiah. So, you see, the people could see the expression upon him; in the way he was preaching and the way he was acting was expressing that he had a true revelation from God.

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 7:21 ¶ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. 28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as [one] having authority, and not as the scribes.

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 kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. 44 And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 45 And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. 46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.

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 2:15 Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines [have] tender grapes.

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."

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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 True Church would always try to be like it was in the Book of Acts. That is exactly right. But we have discovered that the Word also teaches an invasion of error until there is a complete blackout of truth in the last day when the Lord is about to appear. The question now arises in our minds; does God forsake His own and let them fall into a state of complete deception? On no account, for the Scripture says very clearly in Matthew 24:24, that the 'Elect' CANNOT be deceived. "For there shall arise false Christ’s, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, they shall deceive the very elect." What then? The answer is clear before us. There is a True Church and a false church. There is a True Vine and a false vine. But of course that false church, false vine body, will always try to usurp the position of the True Church and contend that she, and not the Elect, are the real and authentic. The false will try to kill the True. That is how it was in the Book of Acts, that is how it is set forth in the seven ages, and that is how it is declared in the various Epistles. That is how it has been. That is how it is now. That is how it will be. It can't change.

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.

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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."

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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.