Port City Faith Church
Sunday Morning - October 18th, 2026
  • House Of The Lord
  • Trust In God
  • Gratitude
  • We have been looking at the main subject of Jesus’s teaching
    The kingdom of Heaven
    First we looked at how the Kingdom of heaven is here, not as a political kingdom, but as a kingdom not of this world.
    Then we explored what it looked like to be part of the Kingdom of Heaven as Jesus described in the Sermon on the mount.
    Then we looked at the kinds of people that enter the kingdom of heaven,
    The People who like children are completely reliant on God’s mercy
    And the past Couple weeks we looked into Jesus Parables, where he described the Kingdom a couple of ways,
    As something that can bring rapid growth and affect the world around it,
    and as something so valuable that God himself gave up everything to achieve it, and that we should also be willing to give up everything to attain it.
    This week we will look at a couple more parables about the kingdom, and these ones really emphasize a backwards or upside down nature of the Kingdom - I’ll explain what that means soon.
    We are going to start with something we mentioned last week, after the rich young man went away, as he was unwilling to give up everything to follow Jesus look what peter said:
    Matthew 19:27–30 ESV
    Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
    This is Matthew’s version we usually read Mark’s version,
    and we talked about this last week, that Jesus promised the 12 disciples who gave up everything to follow him, a hundredfold what they had given up,
    But notice his last statement “the first shall be last, and the last first.”
    from here he dives straight into a parable to illustrate his point:
    Matthew 20:1–16 ESV
    “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”
    The Kingdom of heaven is like a vineyard, and the master hires workers to help during the harvest,
    and throughout the day he hires more, always promising them the same wage
    so that by the end of the day there are some who only worked one hour, compared to others who worked 12 hours are all getting paid the same.
    Now if that makes you mad, I understand that. “we worked 12 times longer! why are they getting paid our wages?”
    Why are they being rewarded for being lazy?
    And the master responds, You agreed to work for this price, and i am paying your agreed upon wage, and it is a fair wage for the work they did,
    But i chose to be generous with those who came later.
    The reward of the kingdom of Heaven is the same for each of us, from the greatest Saint, to the lowest of sinners who repented.
    In fact the first person to taste of the fullness of the Kingdom of Heaven, the first to enter Heaven following Jesus’s sacrifice, was a thief, who was crucified for his crimes alongside Jesus.
    Luke 23:39–43 ESV
    One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
    Before Jesus’s death we are not quite sure what happened to the souls of the righteous, those who had died before his sacrifice changed everything,
    What we can put together from Scripture is that they all went down to the realm of the dead, and the righteous were kept aside, and when Jesus died he was able to free them and bring them to heaven.
    And Paul writes that he ascended leading captives in his train,
    but the thief on the cross went straight to paradise, the first person to enter Heaven above, was one of the worst sinners.
    Jesus says this in plane language shortly after the death of his cousin John the Baptist
    Matthew 11:11–15 ESV
    Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.
    Jesus calls John Elijah who is to come, this is based on a prophecy in the old testament where God says he will send Elijah to herald the coming of the Messiah,
    So the Jewish people were constantly waiting for the return of Elijah, arguably the greatest prophet, to tell of the coming Messiah,
    Jesus says John filled that role,
    and that he was the Greatest person born of women,
    one of the few people who was truly righteous, outpacing even Moses, and David, and Samuel.
    and then he says that the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.
    Because John was the last of the prophets - the line that started with Samuel and went through Elijah,
    and they all suffered and died without seeing the fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heaven,
    Not until after Christ died
    And so those of us who live after Christ, and put our trust in Christ, we get to experience it fully.
    So even the least in the kingdom of Heaven is greater than John.
    But there is another parable that explains that some of the people who thought they would be first, don’t even make it at all.
    Matthew 22:1–10 ESV
    And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.” ’ But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
    Now in the context of this parable Jesus is speaking with the religious leaders of Jerusalem,
    In fact this comes just just after a couple of the parables we discussed two weeks ago, The parable of the two sons, and the parable of the tenants.
    When the Chief priests tried to challenge Jesus’s authority.
    So Jesus is saying “Look I made your family, the Levites, the family of Aaron the brother of moses, to be priests, to be those that lead the people into God’s Kingdom,
    and now that the Kingdom of God is here, you guys were supposed to be the ones leading everyone into it, you were the first to receive invitations,
    But you have let your own internal politics, your own debates, and attempts to grab power keep you from embracing the kingdom of God,
    And in some cases you have outright rejected it, because it threatens your positions of power - killing the servants of God,
    so you have lost your invitation, and now everyone else is invited to take your place.
    And you will ultimately be destroyed.
    And Church this happened, The priestly order of the Jewish people was destroyed,
    and we, Christians, have become the new priests of God, called to bring people into the Kingdom of Heaven.
    The priesthood was supposed to be the first in the kingdom of heaven, instead they missed out entirely.
    But their heritage as Priests of Israel was not enough to get them in.
    your parents’ faith does not save you,
    your ancestors’ faith does not save you
    You have to accept the invitation
    And it’s not just the priests, its also the pharisees, who were not priests, but were people who tried to adhere to all the laws of the old testament, and to all the rules they added so that they would avoid breaking the laws.
    They thought they would get in on their own righteousness,
    they could not,
    being a good person does not save you,
    following all the rules cannot save you
    You have to accept the invitation
    But the parable does not end there.
    Matthew 22:11–14 ESV
    “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”
    Someone shows up to the wedding without a suit,
    And again this is a wedding of a prince, so we could say it is a black tie event
    So he is kicked out.
    Church this is a warning that just because we are all called to join the Kingdom, doesn’t mean we can all just show up, and expect the reward,
    We do not get in on our own terms,
    We get in on God’s terms.
    Now, this is a parable, a story to illustrate a truth.
    It does not mean you have to show up to church in a three piece suit,
    It also doesn’t mean you have everything right when you accept the invitation.
    Jesus calls you as you are,
    But once you make that decision to follow Jesus, He will help you become who he wants you to be.
    the person in this parable came as they were, and never changed. He wanted into the kingdom, but he never repented, he wanted the reward, but was not willing to do any of the work.
    So church, this is what the kingdom of heaven is like,
    You don’t get in just because of your heritage, or your good works, or being a nice person, or following all the rules, or having christian parents,
    Jesus invites you, and you have to accept the invitation.
    and then once you accept the invitation, you need to work with the Holy Spirit to begin changing into who God wants you to be.
    And its not the works that save you, it is your faith - your complete and total trust in Jesus, and that faith produces works, but if you don't have true faith, you wont do good works.
    Your faith makes you willing and able to do the good works.
    And it is that willingness to change, to do work that brings you the reward,
    And the people who have had faith all their life and worked hard for the Kingdom will enter the Kingdom just as much as the person who comes at the last hour, and doesn’t have that much time to do works.
    The Thief on the Cross, was first.
    John, The Disciple that Jesus loved, was the last of the 12 to enter.
    But we all receive the reward.
    So Church, if you have not accepted the invitation, do so, and prepare to come to God on His terms. By faith in Jesus.

      • Matthew 19:27–30ESV

      • Matthew 20:1–16ESV

      • Luke 23:39–43ESV

      • Matthew 11:11–15ESV

      • Matthew 22:1–10ESV

      • Matthew 22:11–14ESV

  • Death Was Arrested
Port City Faith Church
portcityfaith@gmail.com
(315)-342-5333
http://portcityfaith.com
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