The Man Who Had Two Sons is Put for God; and His Two Sons Are Two Classes of Precious Immortal Souls, Matthew 21:28 (1879)

Read 1 Cor. 1:18- Matt. The man who had two sons is put for God; and His two sons are two classes 21:28 pc. [of mankind] of precious immortal souls. The Two Sons In a very emphatic sense they who have [accepted of Christ] taken Xt to their hearts as their Savior and their Master, are in Scripture styled Gods sons, and are permitted to rejoice in this distinction. / But these are not His only son. He has many others./ Of these the parable now before us mentions two classes: which, taken together, represent the whole of mankind outside of the family of true Christians. Our Lord is addressing the Pharisees those men who prided themselves upon the possession of a righteousness, which, with nothing added to it or altered in it, was, as hy believed, sufficient to eutille them to a safe standing before God. With these He contrasts publicans and harlots those who rather prided themselves upon having no righteousness at all; and, caring but little for human law (only enough to keep them out of its arresting clutches) acted with no reference to divine law, whose penalties were too shadowy and too distant to give them any immediate concern. Parable of The Two Sons Wilson h. Feb. 9. 1879. 100 100 10,000 450 5200 12 45 70 90 4) 450 112 450 12 900 400 6400 2 God has thus three kinds of sons: those who trust in Xt and follow Him: those who trust in themselves and follow the Pharisees: those who trust in [the devil] themselves and follow the devil: Christians, moralists, profligates: they who are resolved to reach heaven in the Bible way, they who think to reach heaven in their own way, they who are careless about reaching heaven in any way\: children who are obedient to their heavenly Father, children who are [disobedient] insubordinate, children who are [recklessly] defiant. Yet [all are] even the worst are His children still: even those who [simply dont] positively hate Him. [love Him]. The parental relation is not destroyed however it may be shocked by the childs wicked conduct. / It may no longer be a happy relation: but it exists nevertheless. For it is with the great Father above as it is with [an] [the] every earthly Father who is at all true to [natural] the instinct of paternal love. / However deeply his offspring may offend him however rebeliously 3 [outrage] trample upon his authority, and recklessly outrage his forbearance the father heart, although well-night broken, still holds to the wretched truant. / It may be necessary, for the sake of the other children, to drive the persistent wrong-doer from home, to disinherit him, to disown him altogether get what anxious thoughts go out after him, what affections follow him, what helps are always ready for him, what prayers call down blessing upon his head! / The much-sketched and greatly strained he is relaxed, but not broken: and, should the wanderer penitently return, no welcome is wanting at the wide-open door, no smile at the cheerful hearth, no delicacy at the well-filled board. Who was it that implanted this undying principle in the parental heart? / It was God, who took it, [out or] a seed from His own [infinite] original fatherhood and in whom it exists with a largeness that cannot be measured. 4 There are many in our sad world who, for various reasons, have become outcasts, as, [they] only too truthfully, they are styled so degraded, some of them, as never to be touched except by their own kind so vicious, some of them, as to be [separated] compelled to separate from all companionship except that which the prison affords so murderously destructive, some of them, as that they themselves must even be killed. These outcasts are often such as [that] not parental affection itself will openly acknowledge, however it may secretly bleed for the lost ones. / Or, they are such as have no known earthly kin in every sense of the word, orphans, never met, except with a scowl never addressed, except with words that resemble a curse: impatiently tolerated, nothing more: tramps is the modern name for numbers of them: a name that oftener causes a shudder of fear than a sob of sympathy. 5 Well, even those who are the most justly despised by their fellow men the most deserving of being shunned by respectability [and as] the most rightfully avoided by the virtuous even these are precious in the sight of God for they are His sons and daughters, [even] yet bearing marks of His image traceable still amid all that moral waste and capable yes they of a sonship equal to that of any O.T. Manaesas and N.T. Saul who[m] [have] has ever returned to the divine Fathers bosoms by the home-drawings of almighty grace. / For, do you not remember that passage [in Pauls] where Paul says to the Corinthians: such were some of you i.e. thieves, drunkards, extortioners, idolators and much else: but (he adds) ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are pestified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God and [then] afterwards speaks of them as temples of the Holy Ghost. / He can make stars out of clouds; and out of those who are not yet devils such as shall be only less than angels. 6 Matt. 21:28 & c. [Now,] There is surely nothing in the [character] nature of God more touching or more inviting than [this,] His fatherliness, that extends to all, even to the lowest of mankind, and that hovers around each son & daughter of our race with a yearning [solid] solitude which has no parallel in the whole listing of human love. / When, ?, [our Savior] The Christ came and declared that He and the Father were one, He showed this oneness, not alone in the works and wonders which proved Him divine, but in the fact that He sought out the Zacchaeus's & the Magdalenes of society, and poured forth His sympathies into the surprised souls of [lepers] sinners whom the world had been taught to abhor; [and because] thus impressing everywhere that lesson which had never before been learned: of mankinds universal brotherhood: a lesson which is now [is] a [permanent] fundamental doctrine of our [Christian] practical faith, [and as practiced as the doctrine of God.] 7 Yes God is our Father. But [He [God] is] not is He less [our ruler] an authoritative Ruler because He is a Father. / In fact there is no authority so absolute as that of a Father, in comparison with which the authority of a Master, a magistrate, or a monarch is but a shadow. All earthly forms of authority, whether belonging to the political, civil, or social relations of men, are accidental and official created by men themselves, for their own purposes, and so may be modified or entirely abolished by the same power that created them. / But the authority of a father over a child is founded in nature is a divine institution [and] [and is] not a mere voluntary arrangement agreed upon amongst man to serve a given end, [seed] and which, ? they are at liberty to continue, or to terminate as they shall please: it is an essential authority which no power can set aside. / This idea of Fatherhood is, accordingly, [is] the selected type of the supreme rights of God, and of that [immoveable] supreme [authority] sovereignty which belongs to Him. / God is, indeed, 8 styled a King; but He is more: a Father-King. / His Kinghood is a figure, His Fatherhood the profoundest reality. / He may justly be compared to a King, but he is a Father. / / I submit these observations to your minds, for the reason, partly, that men are disposed to presume upon the fact that after God is after all, only their Father: thinking of Him as thus a fountain of soft and easy indulgence, as many an earthly parent is: and that ? they may treat Him with a certain off-handed slightness, as if He somehow belonged to them. / But, my main [purpose] reason for bringing so distinctly to view Gods parental authority is, because this parable of the Two Sons points to it with so direct a hand. / He here says to each Son, go, work to-day in my vineyard. / It is not a request, but a command. / It is not an entreaty, but an order. / It is not the expression of a desire, but [threat] the exhibition of a will. / It is intended to be compulsory; an impinction laid upon the necessity for obedience: a claim, not for a moment to be to be disputed: a law of duty. 9 It is, indeed, a tender bidding, as becomes a Fathers love: Son, go. / But all the same it is the laying down of law, as becomes a Fathers supremacy. Go work for me in my vineyard [as if He had [a] [an unquestionable] right to] You must [work] not only do my will, but do it unto my enrichment [an end] [which] You are a Son, it is true, but as such you do not belong to yourself: you are altogether mine; and I demand you labor on my behalf But is this the actual fact? / Does God thus claim for his own purposes, the whole time and energies of His earthly children: yours and mind, e.q. unquestionably, just as any [other] human father may claim these of his children [: with this important difference of [His] Gods favor, that His rights are first] / Until they rise into manhood, and become in their turn heads of families, [they are] children are, [if he wishes it] bound to work for the father, [just as] of he shall so require: only of course they are [not] never under obligations to do wrong i.e. They must never disobey the Great First Father who is above all other subject fathers: those very fathers being His sons. We and all we have are His absolutely and forever I knew that is the folly of some to suppose that 10 they are at liberty to criticise the divine commands, to find fault with them, and to honor only [those] such of them [which] as they shall deem [good] worthy of their attention. / No. / We are free [no farther than] [and] just [to ask] so far as to assure ourselves that: [are] this and that [His] are His commands: / But, when thus assumed, we posses no more right to disregard them that we have to wage war agt His [throne] life. / His laws may be distasteful to us even seem harsh, and [be distress fuel] distressing: but we dare not set them aside. / / It may, however, be safely, and always, taken for granted that whatsoever He bids us do is for our own welfare as truly as it is for His. [benefit or as SS better word] [it for His glory.] / The son cannot faithfully help the father to increasing fortune without himself sharing in its advantages. / The more the head of the family acquires, the more his entire household is bettered. / The higher he rises, the higher they rise. / When, ?, God demands our all to be employed in His service, He demands this as well for our sake as for His. 11 We shall have the richer inheritance. / Take for illustration the bidding of the parable: work in my vineyard. / What is vineyard? / I answer: The soul is Gods vineyard, and [it] thus it is that needs cultivation. / Mans great work is to till [it] his own soul into beauty and fruitfulness, to break up its hard ground, to uproot its noxious weeds, to develop its [nature] cutine resources, and to build walls for its defence. / In other words, each mans fruit and chief work is to get his soul renewed, and made into a fit habitation for the Lord Almighty to dwell in is to obtain a sonship in the Heavenly Fathers family far above, and far different from, [the] his sonship [that which he has] by nature is to become a Christ like son is to grow within [Him] himself a vine whose fruits shall be those of Gods own Spirit, is to set an example of willing, of cheerful, of unstinted obedience, to each and every precept of the gospel, is to [live] act in view of the divine favor is to lay hold through Jesus atonement, of everlasting life. 12 And why should a man thus work why become a thorough Christian why join hand and heart with the active and stirring members of Gods churchly family why help on the redemption of a lost world? That Gods [glory] Saviour-love may be spread and magnified, and He Himself be enriched by the increase of jewels in His treasured house of grace? / Yes, surely. / The father deserves this at the hands of His children. / But, then, what riches does the soul [itself] gain by labors so self-rewardful! / It gains everything that is worth the having. / It gains eternal wealth: [It gains heaven.] It gains itself: a value greater than many golden worlds. / It gains heaven. / It gains God. / And it loses only sin. Go (then) work to-day in my vineyard, is at once the most imperative and most affectionate command that could be given: for it means both Gods glory and our own. / And it is laid upon both good and bad alike 13 upon those who think themselves the best and those who know themselves the worst./ But, how far is it obeyed: / [For], whilst it ought to receive an instant obedience from every one so soon as it comes to be understood, and whilst no one can presume to disobey it without flying in the face of an authority that is infinitely rightful, yet it is a command not forced upon any. / Having altered it, the father [left the] leaves his two sons the good & the bad alone; there [was] is no further interference; the whole matter [was] is left to their discretion, that the consequences, one way or the other, might be their own. / For, Forced obedience is none. / It must be hearty, or not at all. / Indeed, this is the command: Go, work: but work, not as a slave as a child. / Work diligently but work not sullenly. Work because you find it a pleasure to do so. / Well, how was it obeyed? [I have already] [described the characters of each of the two sons:] The one son is the Pharisee: morally upright, the other is the publican: [openly moraly] flagrantly depraved. [but] [both having the same [some] father]. The worst of the two, when told to go into the vineyard, replies I will not. / But 14 [not] notwithstanding his refusal was so warm and so insolent he afterwards repented and went. / The other, though what of him? / Surely his better heart will at once [respond] yield to the bidding! / And so it does [to all present appearances] in words and even more, for this son answered and said with greatest respect: I go, sir i.e., I am already going, I am first on the way there, now: I do not need to be commanded to do this thy most reasonable will. / But, then, he, after all, didnt go [at all] one true step. / The [bad] worse son, despite his badness, did his fathers will the [good] better son, despite his goodness, made only a pretence of doing it. / Now, where it is this [bad] worse son represents [we have seen] you see in those outcasts who [in Xts day] when the parable was spoken had thrown off all religious restraints until almost no one except their heavenly Father [would [with who thing] speak] kindly [to] of them, [and] or expect any thing good from them and the [other] better son we see pictured in the conduct of those who [are] were every way respectable and in every society respected but yet who [are] were not of Xts followers, and ? needs the very same bidding into the vineyard 15 where by [true [soul-searching] xa. work, souls] [souls] souls are made over again, [need the order to do right as X [truly]] as did the most abandoner of men. / Tell, however, [these] your moral men [these] your reputable citizens [these] your careful abstainers from whatever is openly wicked the[se] men of honesty and of honor the[se] men whose decencies of behavior seem, oftentimes, quite as praiseworthy as those of the best church members tell them that they need to [work] do [ought] much [he] which they have not yet done before all can be made [right] smooth as between them and their divine Father and their reply is, not so, behold we are already righteous enough. / We go, sir: we are already on the right way / You cannot get them to see their hearts to understand, that morality is not holiness: [over] or that abstinence from [certain] open sins is not reformation - to perceive that the inward man requires a renewal, as well as the outward a look of fairness, - to comprehend the profound lesson, except ye be born again ye cannot enter the km of hn to feel, in short, that they are still sinners condemned [to] of God, and must remain such until Christ is taken for their Saviour 16 and His righteousness openly and gladly acknowledged as their one and only hope of [salvation] everlasting life. / All this is like speaking to them in an unknown tongue. / Having no sins that are big enough for them to see, or dark enough for them to be afraid of, they think they have none worth talking about. / Repentance is ? an absurdity, so far as they are concerned a coming to the cross for pardons an extravagance a prayer for mercy an infatuation a better life [of faith] an unreasonable [dream] expectation. / [They] We are safe just as we are. / We cannot, indeed, say that we love God, and that to dwell forever in the light of His presence is a hope more precious to us that every other. / We cannot say that we would rather keep close company with Gods people, esteeming their society, however humble its membership, as sweeter than that of the most [???]ly worldlings. We cannot say that we prize the work which Jesus Xt has done for our [souls] souls as containing the deepest call 17 that was ever made upon our gratitude, and that to do His will is a business [above] more absorbing to us than all else. / We cannot say that to get to that heaven which the gospel reveals, where eternal worship is eternal [glory joy] glory, and where [eternal praise or] perpetual freedom from sin is perpetual. joy. / We cannot say aught of this; but we can say that our daily conduct is above all human reproach and we are content. We do not [want] ask for mercy, we [openly want] demand only justice. / Ah there is no such fault as counting we leave no fault! But it is not this with the openly wicked. / In them there is a handle of which the gospel may more easily lay hold. / They can be convinced of evil; because, in theme the fatal disease of sin has became an outward manifestation has taken a decided shape can no longer be denied, with all its cancerous blotches there, upon the very surface. / [Ah there is no such fault as] Hence, far oftener than is the case with those whose external characters are fair 18 and winning, are these confessedly [bad] corrupt ones persuaded to [seek] cry for the Physician of souls and His balm of healing. of course it is far preferable to be [studiously] formally moral than to be flagrantly vile. / But, if this morality is satisfied with itself; if, cold and loveless and proud, it imagines that it wants nothing, and so refuses to submit itself to the righteousness which in of faith then, far better that a godless man should have his eyes open to perceive his misery and guilt, even though it must be by manifest and grievous transgressions, then that he [should] still continue in ignorance of his true state, and never find out what it is that he yet lacks to make him all he ought to be. / / It cannot be wicked that any of you, my hearers, were less good than you are but, would to God you that those of you who are relying upon yourselves for salvation were aroused to seek for [a] that divine goodness which only Xt. can give: for that saving righteousness which 19 is found only by the soul whose trust in itself is all gone and whose [only] trust is in God alone. Believe me, all that is valuable in time and happy in eternity, depends upon your living in [Christ] Gods fear and in working for Him! / / Oh, have we been sent into this world, merely that we may indulge our appetites, built tottering fortunes, rise to social influence? / [But is it not rather] Are we not here that we shd. cultivate, each of us, a character that will prepare us for, and secure to us, an endless blessedness beyond the grave? And reflect that the difficulties connected with this need feel work, increase the longer it is neglected. / The farmer may wait for a more suitable time to till his land the manner for a more propitious breeze The merchant may defer his contacts w. a more auspicious day almost every enterprise may, with good judgement, be postponed. / Pout not this [of] to which the gesful summons. / The voice is: Son, go work to-day in my vineyard. / The law of duty knows of no to-morrow.