Biblical Truths from West Palm Beach church of Christ

Jesus has been telling stories about what his kingdom is like. He has told a story about two sons and a story about farming tenants who refused to give the fruit of the land to the owner, which are recorded toward the end of Matthew 21. Jesus has one more parable to tell about the kingdom and about the rejection of his invitation. This parable is going to describe who can enter Christ’s kingdom and who cannot and why they cannot.

The story begins by describing a great king who is preparing a wedding feast for his son. Immediately we would be able to hear that Jesus is telling a messianic story because the prophets foretold about a wedding and wedding feast that would occur when the Messiah/Christ came (cf. Isaiah 25:6; 61:1-5). Revelation 19:7-9 likewise depicts the wedding of the Christ. The message is sent out to his constituents that the great wedding feast is prepared and ready. Come to the wedding feast (22:4). Now please have in mind that this is not your average wedding. As exciting as it might be to be invited to go to a wedding, this is the wedding for the son of the king. The expense, the glory, the size, and the fanfare would be unmatched. To be invited by the great king to his son’s wedding would be the greatest of honors…

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The prophecy of Joel begins in a jarring way. There is no introduction. There are not dates, kings, or timeframe listed. There is no warm up regarding what is happening. We are simply dropped into the prophecy. This might be a key reason for why this prophecy is not frequently taught in its entirety. But we must realize that the information God gives us through his word is intentional and not accidental. Therefore, the message of Joel is a timeless message for God’s people. Scholars argue whether this prophecy best fits as one of the earliest prophecies against Judah (around 800 BC), or just before the destruction of Jerusalem (around 600 BC), or after Judah has been set into exile and now have returned from its exile (around 450 BC). But the book does not tell us and this book was written so that every generation at any time would use the principles of this prophecy and apply it to their own day and time…

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Hebrews 11 records a number of people who by faith received their commending. If you have grown up in the pews, you likely have heard some of the people who are listed by faith like Noah, Abraham, and Moses. But there are people listed who are commended for their faith but their faith appears to be a strange faith. Isaac is one example that I want to look at in regards to his faith by which he is commended. Listen to what the writer of Hebrews says about Isaac.

By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau. (Hebrews 11:20 ESV)…

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We are picking up in the middle of a discussion that Jesus is having with the religious leaders in the temple at Jerusalem. Jesus has been challenged about his authority to cleanse the temple and teach the way he is. But the religious leaders have been dishonest, unwilling to answer Jesus’ question about John to prove his own authority. In Matthew 21:28 you will notice that there is not a break in the scene. Jesus is still in the temple complex talking to these same religious leaders (cf. Matthew 21:23). For the rest of this discussion with these leaders in the temple, Jesus is now going to tell three parables. We are going to look at the first two of these parables in today’s lesson. Lord willing, we will look at the third parable found in chapter 22 next week. These two parables are going to reveal the heart that God is looking for in his people. So our lesson today is called The Heart God Receives. Jesus is going to show the problem with the hearts of the people in Jerusalem and then reveals the right heart that God wants…

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When you look at the life of Jacob it would be fair to say that his life has been a long, winding journey. We sometimes can read about the people of God and think that they had a straight, simple path to receiving God’s promises. But Jacob’s life has been far from a straight and simple path. God has spent more than 20 years working in Jacob’s life to transform him from the swindler (as his name means — cf. 27:36) to the one who struggles with God and prevails (Israel — cf. 32:28). Genesis 35-36 conclude Jacob’s life story in the book of Genesis. We will still read about him in the rest of the book. But the rest of Genesis shifts is focus to Joseph. The focus on Jacob ends in Genesis 35-36. What God is going to do is show us how he is going to re-center Jacob’s life to make him ready to be the patriarch for God’s promises…

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In our last lesson we saw Jesus make a formal declaration of kingship in Jerusalem. He rides in on a donkey just like Zechariah prophesied the Messiah would do. His first act as the proclaimed king is to cleanse the temple. The temple was supposed to be the place where people drew near to God and worshiped God. Instead, the religious leaders had turned the temple into a place to cover over their rebellious sins. It is now the next day and Jesus is going to go back to Jerusalem and back to the temple. The demonstration and discussion is going to be all about authority. Jesus is going to begin with a physical, visible parable. Open your copies of God’s word to Matthew 21 and we will begin in verse 18…

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There are texts in God’s word that are hard to read. There are scriptures like Judges 19-21 where we read about horrible, sinful people doing horrible, sinful things. It is hard to read such scriptures. We do not want to read about these awful things. But these kinds of awful things happen in the world. It might have happened to you. God does not pretend that these kinds of things do not happen. Genesis 34 records such a terrible event where sin is compounded with more sin which is compounded with more sin. But why is a chapter like this recorded for God’s people to read for all time? Clearly, God wants us not to skip over such passages. God’s word preserves such accounts for a reason. The apostle Paul proclaimed that all scripture is given by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). So we are going to read Genesis 34 and think about what God is trying to teach his people about how to handle life when terrible things happen. We will also look at what God is trying to teach his people about himself…

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