Lord of the Vineyard

Thank you, Ron. Appreciate that this morning.

Do you want to take your Bibles from Mark chapter 12 this morning?

Mark 12 · chapter mention

Mark chapter 12 as we continue on our series going through the book of Mark

Mark 12 · chapter mention

and just seeing how God has revealed His Son Jesus Christ to us through the Gospels.

And we find here in Mark chapter 12, we're in Tuesday of the last week here before the crucifixion.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

And Tuesday in the temple, we find here was a long day for our Lord as He was faced with multiple rounds of questioning.

And we're going to walk through those.

And this is one of those days in the life of Jesus that has much recorded about it.

And so we're going to begin here earlier in the day.

If you remember last week, the scribes and the elders and the chief priests had come and questioned Jesus about His authority.

You know, who gives you authority to do these things?

And Jesus had replied back to them about the question of John the Baptist.

By whose authority did He come?

You know, who is He?

And they thought they could bring everything to a stalemate by saying, we don't know.

You know, but we're going to find here this morning that Jesus had much to say about this as He brings forth a parable to them about the landowner that planted a vineyard.

And He prepared and He protected the vineyard that He left in the hands of a husbandman.

And this was something similar.

We're going to find this idea and concept we're going to read about.

Today we would call it sharecropping.

You know, where you have a portion of land that somebody takes and produces on.

And then the owner expects fruit or reward to be manifest from it.

And so Jesus brings them with a very familiar illustration that they would have known and understood in His day,

which is really a dynamic that's very practical.

We understand the spiritual through the physical of the things that we can relate to with that.

And so we need to understand, though, that as a parable, the Bible tells us here very clearly this is a parable.

So we need to interpret it as a parable, okay?

A parable is simply this.

It's a parable is just a common, a fictitious narrative of common life conveying a moral.

You know, in other words, it's something about common life that everybody would understand that had a moral attached to it

or some sort of moral reality attached to it to say, okay, you need to understand the principle here,

and this will help you do it.

And so we see here this morning as Jesus is going to use this tool to help His disciples

and help the leaders to grab a hold of that.

And so if you found Mark chapter 12 this morning, we're going to stand together in honor of the reading of the Word of God.

Mark 12 · chapter mention

And we're going to read down through this parable here that the Lord gave here this morning.

And so we find here in Mark chapter 12, it says,

Mark 12 · chapter mention

And he began to speak unto them by parables.

A certain man planted a vineyard and set a hedge about it and digged a place for the vineyard

and built a tower and led it out to husbandmen and went into a far country.

And at the season he sent to the husband and the servant that he might receive from the husbandman of the fruit of the vineyard.

And they caught him and beat him and sent him away empty.

And again he sent unto them another servant.

And at him they cast stones and wounded him in the head and sent him away shamefully handled.

And again he sent another and him that they killed and many others beating some and killing some.

Having yet therefore one son is well beloved.

He sent him also last unto them saying,

They will reverence my son.

But those husbandmen said among themselves,

This is the heir, come let us kill him and the inheritance shall be ours.

And they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard.

What shall therefore the Lord of the vineyard do?

He will come and destroy the husbandmen and will give the vineyard unto others.

And have ye not read this scripture?

The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner.

This is the Lord's doing and is marvelous in our eyes.

And they sought to lay hold of him but feared the people for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them.

And they left him and went their way.

Let's pray.

Heavenly fathers we come before you this morning Lord as we see here today the parable of the vineyard.

The Lord of the vineyard.

Lord we pray just would reveal those truths to us today Lord that we would need.

Lord to realize the facts about you that are revealed in it.

To understand how those things apply to us as individuals even today.

And Lord we pray just work in a mighty way.

We ask it all in your precious name.

Amen.

May you be seated.

You know as we find here today we know from the end the parable definitely hit home.

You know.

The Bible makes it clear that they knew the parable was spoken against them.

You know those that had came and questioned Jesus' authority.

Remember Jesus didn't directly answer the question of authority.

But this parable is that.

It gives them a practical application of the idea of authority.

And the structure of why there is this level and this dynamics of authority.

And it hit the point very directly to them.

And he did this by pointing out three facts about God and what God has done.

And what God is going to do.

You know we're going to look at those things that Jesus pointed out this morning that hit home with them.

Because they're the same three things that are going to hit home with you and me.

When we understand what Jesus was telling them about through this parable that is here.

You know we notice here as we begin in verse 1.

When he spake to them he says a certain man planted a vineyard.

You know.

In other words we're going to see here this man planted a vineyard.

And he prepared all the things that were necessary for it to succeed.

You know as you read through verse 1 you find that he planted it.

He put a hedge about it.

That was a way of protection from the animals.

He put a tower so they could watch over and protect and defend the vineyard.

We're going to see here that all these things were prepared.

And so we're going to see here the first thing that Jesus is going to point out to them very clearly is God's goodness.

The goodness of God is something where we need to start to understand that God is a good God.

He is good to us.

And we're going to see here he was good to Israel because this idea of a vineyard is directly connected to Israel.

And we're going to look at that here in just a moment.

But understand God's goodness to us.

He starts out at this point with them because the leaders had just questioned his authority.

And Jesus replies here using a picture of a vineyard.

Now I want you to understand in the temple they tell us that in Herod's temple on the front doors of the temple area there was a big grape vine that was engraved upon the doors.

In other words this picture of a vineyard, a picture of grapes, a picture of all these things was very clear to the children of Israel what they were talking about and how it was connected.

And we find here that Jesus uses this picture of the vine and God had been good to Israel.

And the picture here is that he had brought them out of Egypt into the land of promise and put them into the land.

You know, take a look over into Isaiah chapter 5 for a moment.

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

Isaiah chapter 5 because Isaiah the prophet uses this same illustration.

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

That Jesus brings forth.

That's the other reason I think they understood it very clearly because they would have known Isaiah's writings.

And Jesus made a parable directly from this because you'll see the correlations that are here.

You know, Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 1.

Isaiah 5 · chapter mention

Notice what it says.

Now I will sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard.

My well-beloved hath a vineyard and a very fruitful hill.

And he fenced it and gathered out of the stones thereof and planted it with the choicest vine.

And built a tower in the midst of it and also among the winepress made a winepress therein.

And he looked and it should bring forth grapes and it brought forth wild grapes.

Verse 3.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard,

what could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it?

Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild grapes.

You know, Jesus here is using this same illustration as the vineyard and the master of the vineyard.

The man who owned the vineyard, who took and planted and prepared and protected all the things that were there.

It was a picture of Israel.

And he says he lent it out to husbandmen.

And to understand, if we look down in Isaiah, look down in chapter 5, verse 7.

It says,

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant.

And he looked for judgment, but behold, oppression.

For righteousness, but behold, a cry.

You know, you see the parallels that Jesus uses here from Isaiah in this parable.

It stood out very clearly in their mind that what he was speaking of was them.

You know, the parable is very direct here in this,

because God's goodness is revealed that the vine was planted and protected.

It had the hedge to keep the wild beasts out.

It had a wine press.

That's that wine fat that's mentioned there.

And a place, you know, it's a place to process the vineyard and along with the tower.

And clearly the Lord was good.

You know, the Lord's been good to us by giving us all that we have.

When we understand what he has given to us, God is good.

Clearly he is good to us.

Even today, you think about all the things God gives to us.

You know, we have all the things around us.

We have the very creation.

We have the things that God provides.

You know, even the rain that falls and the sunshine we have is from the goodness of God.

God gives it to us.

But we see here the pictures of a man that left his vineyard in the hands of the husband to work the vineyard,

giving them a share to enjoy.

Now, notice at the end of verse 1 here, he says this,

You know, the husband here represent those that were to watch over the vineyard while the master was gone.

There was a direct connection between those leaders that had come and addressed him.

It was their responsibility of their position to guide and direct the nation.

To guide and protect and oversee and to keep on track and to make fruitful the vine that the Lord had planted,

and that is Israel.

And we see that bringing forth here.

And as we see here that the harvest was prepared,

and when this man sends his servant, which is a representative of the prophets,

to receive his share, instead of giving what's owed,

he gets a pretty cold reception.

You know, we see here what happens.

That husbandmen that were supposed to be willing to give back the reward of a portion of what they had been blessed,

refused.

And they beat the servant and sent him away.

God had been good to them, and they said,

We don't care.

You know, it's not unlike today.

Oftentimes we forget how good God is to us.

And we look at him and say, I don't care.

Jesus reminds them here of a very important fact that God gives us and reveals his goodness.

God is good to us.

Jesus makes a very important point here in the fact that God is good.

He is there.

And we find, though, that they rejected him.

You know, we need to consider how good God has even been to us today.

You know, look over in the New Testament.

Look over at Colossians chapter 1 for a moment.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

Colossians chapter 1 tells us this.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

It's just a reminder for us here this morning.

Notice here in verse 12, it says,

You know, God's very salvation that he gives to us is proof of his goodness.

Of what he provides for us.

But as we see here, this man that owned the vineyard sends his servant,

and they beat his servant, and they send him away.

We find that we see the second fact about God that Jesus reveals.

Because the second thing we see is God's grace.

Because at the first rejection,

did the owner not have a right to come and cast judgment just from one time?

He had a right to come and to retake and to regain his possession.

To have judgment and authority over it.

But I want you to see what happened here.

Because it's a picture of God's grace to us.

You know, I'm thankful God's gracious to us.

And we see here, notice, as we look through this passage here,

notice in the end it says,

And received from the vineyard the husband and the fruit of the vineyard.

And they caught him, verse 3,

And beat him and sent him away.

You know, the first one was beaten.

Verse 4, And again he sent unto them another servant.

And at him they cast stones and wounded him in the head

and sent him away, shamefully handled.

You know, here he is.

He sends the first one that's beaten and returns.

The second one has rocks thrown at him and is injured.

And returns and tells.

And the master, they send another one.

Look at verse 5.

And again he sent unto them another servant.

And at him they cast stones and wounded him in the head

and sent him away.

Excuse me, verse 5.

And again he sent another.

And him they killed.

And many others, beaten some and killing some.

In other words, we don't even have a total of how many the master sent.

And we see that he continued to send them

and make a request.

He says, Hey guys, this is what you need to be doing.

Son, I'm calling out to you.

And finally we find here in verse 6,

the landowner sends his son.

The last one to come is his son.

Saying they will reverence my son.

But we find here in verse 7,

their response was not to accept the son as a landowner

instead of plotting to kill the son

and claim the grapevine as their own.

Now I want you to see here,

this parable speaks directly to those religious leaders

in the fact about God's grace to them.

But it also speaks to us when we understand

as they were listening to that there that day,

we see a picture of God sent a man of God to Israel.

But Israel refused to heed the messenger.

You know, oftentimes we forget how many times

you read through the Old Testament,

it's filled with prophet after prophet after prophet

that God sent.

Saying, repent and turn to me.

The Old Testament's filled with prophets

that were abused and rejected.

Those that were denied what God has done.

And what God has proclaimed.

And we see here as he's continually,

he begins to send prophet after prophet.

And they were beaten and killed and rejected.

And then as we find in chapter 11,

we find the last prophet there,

John the Baptist.

You know, John was the one who came

calling for them to be prepared for the son.

To be prepared for the last that was going to come.

But remember, they refused John also.

You know, we looked at that last week in chapter 11,

how the leaders rejected John.

Remember, they didn't know what to do with John.

The people said he was a prophet,

so we don't want to make the people mad.

But, you know, we don't want to say he was a prophet,

because that means we should have accepted him.

They were in a quandary.

There was a problem that was there.

And so when Jesus speaks this parable,

you've got to remember it was immediately following.

So in other words, the conversation is still on their mind.

This dynamic is directly connected.

And we said that he sends John the Baptist,

and as they refused him,

and now they're faced with the last one, the son.

Jesus had come, the very son of God, the well-beloved,

had come and arrived on the scene,

saying, they will reverence my son.

Israel should have recognized Jesus.

They had everything that they needed to recognize him.

God had given them everything they needed

to make recognition and to acknowledge who he is.

To understand who he is and why he came.

God had given them a witness about who and how things were going to be

and how to identify the son.

But instead of accepting the witness, they rejected him.

You know, I want you to understand,

when it comes to God's grace,

God's grace is tied to the witnesses that God leaves to us

so we can understand who he is.

Because we've rejected the Lord.

We reject God and his authority.

But we have witnesses that God gives to us.

You know, today we have,

the two of the witnesses are exactly the same

as they were and have been

because, you know, the Bible tells us

that we have a witness of creation.

When you get out and see God's creation,

there's no other explanation.

People try to explain away

and they try to materialize creation.

They try to say, you know, it was an accident.

You know,

and logically in the back of our mind,

everybody understands that you don't get order out of chaos.

I would love if it worked that way.

You know,

wouldn't it be great to throw things in the garage

and they just put themselves away?

Or ladies, wouldn't it be neat, you know,

especially if you got kids at home,

if you threw clothes in the dryer

and they came out folded and pressed?

You know,

we all understand logically that doesn't happen.

You don't get order out of chaos.

Order has to happen because of intention

and something interacting

and moving it that direction.

You know, consider what Romans chapter 1 and verse 20 tells us.

Romans 1 · chapter mention

It tells us this,

for the invisible things of Him

from the creation of the world are clearly seen,

being understood by the things that are made,

even His eternal power and Godhead,

so that they are without excuse.

I want you to understand,

God gives us His creation as a witness to who He is.

When you see the masterful handiwork of the Lord,

of how everything,

you know,

oftentimes when we talk about that,

we talk about the beauty

and the things that we see

that just make us awe-inspired.

But I want you to understand,

it's everything in creation

as you study it down

all the way to the very means

of how an atom is put together.

You know,

there's a lot of things

we take for granted in science today

that we have no idea how it works.

We have no idea.

We might say,

well, I understand how it works,

but you don't know why it works.

The why is still a problem.

We don't understand magnetism

or you don't understand those things.

You understand the principles

of what it functions,

but you don't understand why it does it.

The why is God.

God designed it that way.

His creation.

But how about our conscience?

You know,

those in Jesus,

they had the world that they could see.

They had a witness all around them.

And we also have their conscience.

You know,

yes,

God gives us a conscience.

Notice what it says in Romans chapter 2

Romans 2 · chapter mention

in verse 14.

It says,

For when the Gentiles,

which have not the law,

do by nature the things contained in the law,

these things having not the law

are law unto themselves,

which show the work of the law

written in their hearts,

their conscience also bearing witness,

and their thoughts,

and their thoughts the mean

while accusing

or else excusing one another.

I want you to see here,

very importantly,

that everybody has a sense

of right and wrong.

The problem with the conscience is

a conscience can be twisted.

But I don't care who you are,

if you pin people down,

they have a conscience that says,

there's some things that I believe are right,

and I have some things I believe that are wrong.

It's innately wired within us.

God gives us a conscience

to understand

there are some things that are wrong

and some things that are right.

He gives us a conscience as a witness.

Your conscience bears witness to you.

You know,

we also wonderfully and thankfully

we have the witness of the Word of God.

You know,

today we have the Word of God,

the completed Word of God.

You know,

when you understand

in the Old Testament,

there were some things,

especially early on,

that they didn't know

or they didn't understand completely

how we do today.

You say,

why not?

Because God had not directly

revealed that to them.

But today,

we have absolutely no excuse.

We have the Word of God.

And notice how important it is.

Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 13

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

says this,

in whom ye also trusted,

notice this,

after that ye heard

the word of truth,

the gospel of your salvation,

in whom also,

after ye believed,

you were sealed

with the Holy Spirit

of promise.

I want you to understand

it's the Word of God.

Faith cometh by hearing

and hearing by the Word of God

that makes a difference.

It works upon our conscience.

It works upon our being.

The Holy Spirit convicts

us of sin

and we realize

our need

to turn to Him.

You know,

I want you to understand

we also have a witness

of believers.

Because your life

ought to be a witness

to those around you.

A testament.

And that witness

ought to go forth.

You know,

it's a great

and wonderful thing.

You know,

Matthew 24,

Matthew 24:14

verse 14,

it says,

in this gospel,

the kingdom

shall be preached

in all the world

for a witness

unto all nations.

I want you to understand

we'll just talk

a little bit here

but that word

preach just means

proclaimed.

Proclaimed means

somebody went

and said it.

That proclamation

comes from believers

of who God is

as we consider

the grace of God.

We see God's grace

with us today.

You know,

as we walk through life

we see God's grace

played out

and Jesus here

is pointing to them

and saying,

guys,

God has been good to you

and you've seen

His grace

throughout time.

You've seen

the grace of God

as God continued

to have mercy

upon you.

As He sent

the prophets

to proclaim

and now finally

He sent His Son.

when we see here

the reality

as we consider

God's grace

He's still

patiently waiting

for us

to call upon Him

because He will save.

You know,

what grace

that He would even

call us to

keep calling us

to Him

for salvation.

What grace

that He would keep

seeking

and calling

and loving

and drawing

until we come to Him.

You know,

God's grace

is prevalent today.

Consider 2 Peter

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

chapter 3.

2 Peter chapter 3

2 Peter 3:9

verse 9

tells us this,

the Lord is not slack

concerning His promises

as some men

count slackness.

You know,

sometimes people

confuse God's grace

and mercy

for God's slackness

of accountability.

don't be confused

because they are

different.

God's grace

we ought to be

thankful

because none of us

would be here today

if God's grace

was not in full effect.

Because it wasn't

for God's grace

the moment you sin

you'd be totally

100% condemned.

It wouldn't just be

a sentence

it would be

the sentence

carried out.

Notice what He says

but long suffering

toward us.

In other words

God says

I know

that you've sinned

but I still want

to give you

an opportunity

to call upon Me

to repent

of your sin

and turn to Me.

Because notice

why is He saying

He's not willing

that any should perish.

You know

a lot is said today

about God's love

that's God's love.

God's love

He's not willing

that any should perish

but that all

should come to repentance.

God says

I'm going to extend

My grace

to them

I'm going to display

My love to them

through that

and have mercy

upon them.

for all those

who will call

upon Him

Jesus

makes it

you know

we need to understand

that if we come

to Him

Jesus is clear

the rest of the

New Testament

is clear

the Old Testament

is clear

if you come

to God

and call upon Him

as Savior

He will save.

He is clear.

I want you

to look here

at verse 9

in our text

it says

what shall therefore

the Lord

of the vineyard do?

Because we see

that Jesus

has revealed

God's goodness

He reveals

God's grace

but I want you

to see

Jesus now

points that

God

will be glorified

above all.

He reveals

the glory

of God.

God's glory

is revealed

that He will

hold to account

He will hold

all mankind

to account.

Notice what

He tells us here

how is the answer?

You know

what should

the Lord

of the vineyard

do?

Well what's

the premise

of that?

How should

the Lord

of the vineyard

respond

when the one

sent

have been

beaten

and killed

and rejected?

and when

they take

the one

that He

sent

His well

beloved

His only

beloved

Son

when Jesus

came

and then they

took here

in just a few

short days

you're going

to find

that these

men

took Jesus

and they

nailed Him

on a cross

they rejected

once again

they rejected

the Son

Jesus was

telling them

what was

going to

happen

He understood

the hardness

of their

hearts

notice what

He says

here

He says

He will

come

and destroy

the husband

and will

give the

vineyard

unto another

notice

what's

happening

here

after

repeated

attempts

to come

and to

reconcile

and to

make

provision

He says

finally

it's too

late

I want you

to understand

there's coming

a day

it's too

late

it's going

to be too

late to

repent

we understand

that without

a doubt

the leaders

caught the

moral of

the story

they understood

the authority

that Jesus

had

had and

who gave

him

that

authority

as Jesus

reveals

these things

this morning

because after

repeated

attempts

finally

God says

that those

that have

rebelled

against the

Lord's

command

are going

to face

judgment

accountability

you know

God cannot

be a just

God

if he

doesn't

hold to

account

justice

requires

accountability

now where we

get caught up

in that

often times

is we

think God

ought to

do it

right now

the problem

with that

is

have you

ever noticed

that when we

want God's

judgment

right now

it's usually

on somebody

else

you ever

notice that

that's exactly

in our

mind

isn't it

they

deserve

it

the reality

is what

I deserve

it

I deserve

God's

judgment

but the

good news

is

is Jesus

came

Jesus

is the

one who

took care

of the

judgment

for me

when we

understand

that they

had rebelled

against the

Lord

and faced

judgment

look in

Romans

Romans 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11

for a

moment

because

Romans

11

deals

with

Israel

and we

see here

some

things

it says

well

because of

unbelief

they were

broken

off

and thou

standest

by faith

be not

high-minded

but fear

for if

God spared

not the

natural

branches

take heed

lest he

also

not

spare

not

thee

I want

you to

understand

what's

taking place

here is a

warning

to even

us today

to understand

to understand

the importance

of what

God has

done

his

goodness

and his

grace

to us

this

final

messenger

the son

the one

whom they

rejected

we're going

to find

here that

God removes

Israel

Israel's

cut off

this is

Daniel chapter

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

9

happening

that

Israel

is cut

off

for a

time

I want

to make

that clear

because God

says he gave

it to another

he didn't

create

a replacement

for Israel

he put

Israel on

hold

because one

day God's

going to

finish

holding them

to account

when we

understand

what's

happening

I want

you to

understand

that we

are now

the vineyard

of the

Lord

in holding

the truth

of the

word of

God

and proclaiming

it the

local church

is the

foundation

of those

things

when we

understand

the importance

here

look over

in 1

Peter

because remember

Jesus said

that they

were going

to come

and condemn

the husband

and give

it unto

another

I want

you to

understand

New

Testament

believers

have been

given

this

responsibility

and we

have the

same

responsibility

that those

in Israel

had

we have

the same

accountability

1 Peter

1 Peter 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2

look at

verse 9

it tells us

this

but ye are

a chosen

generation

a royal

priesthood

a holy

nation

a peculiar

people

that ye

should show

forth the

praises of

him who

hath called

you out

of darkness

into his

marvelous

light

which

in time

past

were not

a people

but are

now the

people of

God

which had

not obtained

mercy

but now

have obtained

mercy

I want you

to understand

that God

took

and Israel

is on hold

God has

removed that

from them

and has given

it unto

his church

unto the

believers

today

and we

understand

the importance

of it

I want you

to know

this morning

as we

look at

this

the reality

of God's

goodness

God has

been good

to us

God's been

gracious

to us

those same

facts hold

true today

just as

Jesus was

calling them

to repentance

I want you

to understand

Jesus wasn't

condemning them

directly

in the sense

of saying

I'm picking

you

I've

rejected you

no the fact

is they

rejected him

he gave

them a

parable

that they

might

understand

that their

conscience

might work

that the

Holy Spirit

might prick

their heart

and say

you know

what

he's

right

you know

what

he's

accurate

about

what

he's

saying

you know

what

I'm

guilty

the

reality

of that

that mercy

that God

gives

I want

you to

know

that very

clearly

that God

is good

and God

is gracious

but I want

you to

understand

he also

is going

to hold

sin to

account

his glory

demands

an accounting

look back

in Romans

for a moment

Romans chapter

Romans 11 · chapter mention

11 again

look down

at verse

22

look at

the beginning

of this

verse

you know

behold

therefore

the goodness

and severity

of God

I want you

to understand

when God

judges

God judges

accurately

and completely

you know

today we

have a lot

of question

about judges

and courts

and legal

systems

but I want

to tell you

there's no

fancy lawyer

going to get

you off the

hook

when it

comes to

standing

before the

Lord

they might

try to

sweet talk

themselves

out of

things

or try

to manipulate

or maneuver

but the

Bible

tells us

there's

coming a

day

and God's

going to

open up

a book

a book

in which

your life

and every

thought

everything

of your

life

has been

recorded

I want

you to

understand

that

look how

Jesus

replies to

them

look down

here in

verse 10

and have

ye not

read this

scripture

now that

was kind

of a

rhetorical

question

considering

the crowd

when you

got the

chief

priests

and the

scribes

and the

elders

there

of Israel

it's really

a rhetorical

question

because all

of them

have probably

read this

many times

now look

what Jesus

says

the stone

which the

builders

rejected

has become

the head

of the

corner

this was

the Lord's

doing

and is

marvelous

in our

eyes

you know

Matthew's

account of

this

adds this

he says

this about

it in

Matthew

21

44

it says

whosoever

shall fall

upon this

stone

shall be

broken

but whomsoever

it shall

fall

it will

grind him

to powder

the reality

is this

Jesus is

the corner

stone

he is

the stone

you either

fall upon

it for

mercy

or later

it falls

upon you

now logic

if you're a

logical person

I would

much rather

be on top

of the stone

calling for

mercy

than it

would be

to be

under

the stone

Jesus

is asking

you today

to fall

upon the

stone

of him

to understand

that he

is the

one

just as the

leaders there

that day

had to make

a choice

you and I

have a choice

to make

today

that's what

everything

came down

to

either you

will fall

on Jesus

and be

broken

in conviction

and repent

and turn

to him

or one

day

the stone

is going

to fall

upon you

and crush

you to

powder

the choice

is yours

the choice

is yours

because God's

offering you

a chance

to be saved

he's offering

you a chance

to have all

your sins

forgiven

he's offering

you an

opportunity

to avoid

hell

and make

heaven

with him

your eternal

home

God is there

he's calling

you

the question

is how

are you

going to

respond

because you

got two

choices

you can either

come to him

or reject

him

that's where

those men

stood that

day

look at

verse 12

look at

their response

and they

sought to

lay hold

on him

but they

feared the

people

here they

are

living their

life based

on opinion

again

opinion

and perception

sadly

today

opinion

and perception

keep many

people from

Christ

because they're

more worried

about what

somebody else

thinks than

what and

where they

stand between

them and

God

for they

knew that

he had

spoken the

parable

against

them

and they

left him

and went

their way

I want

you to

understand

today that

you have

a choice

you can

either turn

to God

or you

can walk

away

the reality

is everybody

in the room

here makes

a choice

today

there's

going to

be a

choice

made

what

choice

will you

make

this

morning if

you need

to come

to the

Savior I

encourage you

to come

we can have

somebody show

you clearly

from God's

word how

you can be

saved

because I

want you to

understand it's

not my

way it's

not the

preacher's

way it's

not a

historical

way it's

God's

way

there's no

other way

I encourage

you not to

walk away

but maybe

you're here

today and

you know

that you've

called upon

him that

you've been

mercifully upon

the stone

been broken

by the

conviction of

the Holy

Spirit

maybe you

know clearly

there's a

time in your

life when

you called

upon him

as Savior

maybe you

just need to

take a few

moments today

to remember

God's

goodness to

you

and his

grace

that we

ought to

come to

him

heavenly

father as

we just

finish here

this morning

lord with an

opportunity

an opportunity

to respond

to your

word

lord I

pray that you

have your

hand upon

each heart

each life

here today

you know

each one

just as you

knew the

hearts of

those men

there that

day

you know

the hearts

of each

individual

in the

auditorium

this morning

lord I

pray that

your spirit

would work

in a

mighty

way

you know

the need

of each

one

lord we

just ask

that be

met

today

and that

we would

respond

to you

and lord as

we turn this

invitation to

you and your

spirit lord we

pray that you

just work

mightily in

hearts here

today

and this we

ask in the

precious name

of Jesus

amen

heads are

bowed and

eyes are

closed