The Parable of the Two Sons:

The Thawed and the Frozen

	There's a phrase that Jesus repeated at least twice as recorded
in the Book of Matthew.  In Matt 20:16 we read: "So the last
will be first, and the first last.  For many are called, but few
chosen. " (All Texts quoted from NKJV unless noted)

	Again, in Mat 22:14, we find similar words: "For many are
called, but few are chosen. "

	A little girl once got one of these texts mixed up when she was
repeating her memory verse. She had evidently been helping her
mother put up food, or watching her prepare food to put into the
freezer.

	The resulting text went like this: "Many are thawed and a few
are frozen."

	When I first heard that, I chuckled, as you may have just now,
but you know, that phrase has bounced back through my mind
hundreds of times, and I have often wondered if there were not a
lot of truth in the version of that text according to the young
lady. I have also frequently considered how it applied to my
life, my home, or our church.

	Jesus dealt with the thawed and the frozen on a regular basis.
To make this relevant for our day I would like for us to look at
one of His parables and see what he has to say about the thawed
and the frozen. 

	Go back with me 2000 years to a day in Jerusalem when Jesus
was escorted into town by a mob of happy people who were singing
praises to His name and throwing palm branches and their cloaks
down on the road in front of  Him as He moves towards the Temple

	When He arrives at the temple, He takes a pained look around
and sees the commerce going on in the temple. You watch as He
goes from vender to vender and scatters their moneys and lets
their sacrificial lambs run free.

	I want you to see the faces of the priests as the rabble off of
the streets pours into the temple, and begin to sing hosannas to
God.

	Can you feel the excitement of the crowd as it surrounds Jesus?
Do you hear the shouts of children praising the Lord, when their
parents are afraid to because of the Jews?

	Now I want for you to change robes for a minute. Put yourself in
the sandals of the priests and scribes. Can you feel their
disgust?

	Do you sense the anger of the merchants as they scramble after
their tinkling sliver coins and bleating lambs?

	Consider this for a minute from their standpoint:

	1. The Temple services had been disrupted.

	2. The sacrifices had gotten away.

	3. The temple had probably in some way been ritually defiled.

	They were indignant, and they wanted answers. 

 

	What would our reaction be today if our service were disrupted
in such a manner?

I imagine that we would all be highly disturbed. Even angry.

.	The next day Jesus was bold enough to go back to the temple. 
No doubt the priests had a lookout posted now to watch for this
troublemaker. And probably about the time that Jesus set foot on
the temple grounds the priests and scribes were making a bee
line for him.

	In their anger, they asked Him, :"By what authority are you
	doing these things, and who gave you this authority?" (Matt
	21:23)

	They were hoping to get Him to incriminate himself in front of
the people so they would have an excuse to murder Him.

	Have you picked out any thawed or frozen so far?

	The story continues in verse 24

	But Jesus answered and said to them, 'I also will ask you one
	thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise 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, ' then  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.

	"But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the f
	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 and said likewise. And he answered
	and said, I go, sir, ' but he did not go.

	"Which of the two did the will of his father? " They said to
	Him, "The f first. " Jesus 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."

	Which son was the thawed? The one who was cold, but warmed to
his father? Which was the frozen son? Which one started cold and
just became harder? 

 	Who was Jesus talking about when He mentioned the two sons?
Who was He talking about when he mentioned the first son? (the
one who refused to go but did) Who was He talking about when he
mentioned the second son? (the one who said he would go and he
didn't).

	Who does the father represent?

	And most importantly, what does this parable mean to Christians
living on the edge of the 21st century?

	I believe that we can agree that God is the father figure.
Throughout the Bible and in later Rabbinical parables, the
symbol of father or king stood for God. Psalms 103:13 (TLB) He
is like a father to us tender and sympathetic to those who
reverence him.

	It should be clear to believers that in the Bible we find that
God has formed us and called us all. That, I believes puts us
all  in the position of being sons and daughters of God. And
Jesus taught that every human being is called by God. 

	God, speaking to His people through Isaiah demonstrated that
the calling precedes a choosing. I believe that the Bible
teaches that God calls everyone. Whosoever will may come, Both
sons were called, chosen to do a work.

	Isa 41:9 You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, And
	called from its farthest regions, And said to you, 'You are My
	servant, I have chosen you and have not cast you away:

	Paul speaking to the Roman Christians revealed why we are
called by God: 
	Rom 1:5-7 Through Him we have received grace and
	apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His
	name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ To all
	who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to
	you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

	So if God is the father in this parable, then it follows that
the children are the ones who are called.  By the way, the
actual word used for sons in our passage can also be translated
daughters and children, depending on the context. I don't want
the ladies to feel left out.

	The calling that our Father gives us comes as a request to serve
him. And we serve Him by working in his vineyard.

	Now the question may come to your mind, "What is the vineyard?" 

	Let's see what an ancient prophet and one nearer our time have
to say.

Turn with me to:
	 Isaiah 5:1-7 Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
	A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has
	a vineyard On a very fruitful hill.  He dug it up and cleared
	out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built
	a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He
	expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth
	wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of
	Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard. What more
	could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it?
	Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, Did it
	bring forth wild grapes? And now, please let Me tell you what I
	will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall
	be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled
	down. I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But
	there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the
	clouds That they rain no rain on it. " For the vineyard of the
	LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are
	His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold,
	oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help .

	Who or what is the vineyard in that passage? 

	In the historical context, Israel was.

	Now listen to what Ellen White wrote: 

	Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 06-23-10. "If you cultivate
	faithfully the (1) vineyard of your soul. God will make you a
	laborer together with himself. And you will have a work to do
	not only for yourself, but for others. In representing the (2)
	church as the vineyard, Christ does not teach that we are to
	restrict our sympathies and labors to our own numbers. The
	Lord's vineyard is to be enlarged. In (3) all parts of the earth
	he desires it to be extended. As we receive the instruction and
	grace of God, we should impart to others a knowledge of how to
	care for the precious plants. Thus we may extend the vineyard of
	the Lord. God is watching for evidences of our faith, love, and
	patience. He is looking to see if we are using every spiritual
	advantage to become solid workers in his vineyard on earth, that
	we may enter the paradise of God, that Eden home from which Adam
	and Eve were excluded by transgresslon." (emphases mine)

	Now what does she say the vineyard is?  I see 3 things. 1 - your
soul, 2 - the church, 3 the whole world.

	Now let me ask you, has God given you a vineyard to work in? 

	I believe that it is clear that any person alive is involved
with a minimum of one of these vineyards, and probably all three
of them.

	I read a quotation from Oz Guiness, an astute observer of the
American Christian scene. I believe he puts his finger on a
problem that we may have when he says,

	"The main problem with American Christians is not that they
	aren't where they should be, but they are not what they should
	be right where they are. Doctors, businessmen, teachers, etc."
	(Living by the Book Workbook, by Howard Hendricks, p. 157)

	Where we are is usually the vineyard the Lord wants us to
cultivate! And if you have chosen a place that is not God's
first choice for you he has still called you to work in that
vineyard.  God has called you to cultivate the vineyard of your
job, your business associates, where you shop, where you have
your recreation, and wherever you find yourself in life. 

	How are you going to respond to the call of the Father to work
in the vineyard? When it comes to the call of the Father, are
you thawed or frozen. Are you water that can turn a water wheel,
or you ice, that does nothing but jam up the works?

	You may ask, "What of the one who wants to answer the call but
knows that he does not have the power to tend the vineyard on
his own?" 

	Isa 42:6 "I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And
	will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant
	to the people, As a light to the Gentiles,
	Isa 42: 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the
	prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house.

	Take heart, brother and sister Christian, God has called you and
promised that when you answer that call He will hold your hand.
Can you say "Amen" to that?

	"As the will of man cooperates with the will of God, it becomes
	omnipotent." (What does omnipotent mean?-- all powerful)
	"Whatever is to be done at His command may be accomplished in
	His strength. All His bidding are enablings." Christ's Object
	Lessons, 333

	What a promise!  God will not send me into a vineyard that He
will not help me keep!

	On the other hand what is to happen to those who do not answer
God's call?

	Isa 65:12 Therefore I will number you for the sword, And you
	shall all bow down to the slaughter; Because. when I called. you
	did not answer: When I spoke, you did not hear, But did evil
	before My eyes, And chose that in which I do not delight." 	

	Jer 35:17 "Therefore thus says the LORD God of hosts, the God of
	Israel:  behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of
	Jerusalem all the doom that I have pronounced against them;
	because I have spoken to them but they have not heard, and I
	have called to them but they have not answered."'	

	The following words are from an old engraving on a cathedral in
Labeck.

	Thus speaketh Christ our Lord to us: 
	You call Me master and obey Me not. 
	You call Me light and see Me not. 
	You call Me the Way and walk Me not. 
	You call Me life and live Me not. 
	You call Me wise and follow Me not. 
	You call Me fair and love Me not. 
	You call Me rich and ask Me not. 
	You call Me eternal and seek Me not. 
	If I condemn thee, blame Me not.

	This leaves little doubt as to the results of our choices.
Remember the answer of  the priests and scribes? Jesus said
"Which of the two did the will of his father?" The scribes and
priests said "The first." that is, the one who at first rejected
God, but later followed by doing His will. Even the priests and
scribes recognized that it was not the one who appeared the most
holy, not the one who had the right words to say; not the one
that we would look at and hold up as a model of righteousness
who did the will of the Father

	No, it was not that one, but the other one.

	It was the one who appeared to have the least going for him
that Jesus said did the will of the father. 

	What did he call those who did the will of the Father?
Prostitutes and tax collectors - who were thieves hiding behind
legal nonsense.

	I need to insert a brief note here. Jesus never upheld
sinfulness. But he constantly held forth salvation from
sinfulness. The tax collectors, the prostitutes, the scribes,
and the Pharisees, were all sinners. The only difference was
that some accepted Christ as Messiah, and some rejected Christ
as Messiah. 

	That is, some of all four groups accepted Christ, and some of
all four groups rejected Christ. But those who seemed to be
farther away from Him by human standards were actually the
closest! So don't pride yourself on your sinfulness or on your
righteousness - neither is a pathway to the kingdom.

	With that settled, let's move on. 

	What will you be called when you answer the summons to enter the
vineyard?

	Isa 62:12 And they shall call them The Holy People, The Redeemed
	of the LORD; And you shall be called Sought Out, A City Not
	Forsaken.

	I like that, don't you? When we choose to work in His vineyard,
He gives us the strength, He gives us the methods, He gives us
the tools, He calls us holy and redeemed, and sought out. And
The Word that was made flesh becomes reality in our lives.

	Can you say AMEN? Maybe even Praise the Lord.?

	It is written about Jesus Christ, "There was a division because
of Him." He divides man's destiny. All deserved Hell, but He has
"brought life and immortality to light" and is "leading many
sons to glory," Heaven instead of Hell. He has divided time in
the reckoning of many countries into B.C. and A.D. He divides
the human race into two classes -- those "in Christ" and those
"in Adam." When He was on earth there was a division among the
Jews as to His person, His works and His words.

	On a mountain in the Rockies of Canada an arch has been erected,
with the words plainly wrought on the rustic structure -- "The
Great Divide." Drops of rain falling in the same shower separate
there, some falling in one place joining a stream that becomes a
mighty river and flows to the Atlantic Ocean, others falling
only a matter of inches in the other direction into another
stream that flows to join the Pacific Ocean. Though they fall in
the same shower of rain, their destinies are hundreds of miles
apart.

	So it is in families, classes in school, neighborhoods, and
places of business. Christ is the Great Divide, and the destiny
of men for glory or despair is determined by the attitude of the
individual in service to Him.

	The thawed in their service to God, and the frozen in their
professions to God: What divides them? The same question faces
us that faced Pilate. Mat 27:22 Pilate said to them, "Then what
shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?" They all said, "Let
him be crucified. "

	What are you doing with His call in your life today?

	John 3:20 (KJV) For every one that doeth evil hateth the light,
	neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
	21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds
	may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

	Today I want for you to consider how you have responded to
Jesus. Perhaps a very good way to do that would be to ask
ourselves the question, "Why did I go to church ?"  "Do I go
because I am supposed to be there? Because my folks said come?
Because my friends are here? Because I have been coming for the
last 40 years and I don't know what else to do? Out of habit?"

	Then I want you to ask yourself: "What is my life telling about
my answer to Jesus? What do I want my life to say about my love
for Jesus?"

	Perhaps just where you are you could bow your heads right now,
take a minute to think it over. Talk with Him.

	Let Him begin the thawing process in your life right now.

	In 2 weeks we will look at the essential difference between the
Thawed and Frozen.

Pastor Laurie DeWitt