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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to Matthew chapter 21. Matthew chapter 21. Our focus 
this morning is on the parable of the vineyard, also known as 
the parable of the wicked tenants. Because it's such a packed section, 
we're going to just take up the giving of the parable this morning 
and then, God willing, next week we'll look at the question concerning 
the parable. the implications drawn from the 
parable and the response to the parable. But I do want to read 
it in its larger context, so I'll begin reading in Matthew 
21 at verse 23. Now, when he came into the temple, 
the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted him 
as he was teaching and said, by what authority are you doing 
these things? And who gave you this authority? 
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, why then did you 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 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 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. Here another 
parable. There was a certain landowner 
who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a wine 
press in it, and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers 
and went into a far country. Now when vintage time drew near, 
he sent his servants to the vinedressers that they might receive its fruit. 
And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, 
and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants, 
more than the first, and they did likewise to them. And last 
of all, he sent his son to them saying, they will respect my 
son. But when the vinedresser saw 
the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us 
kill him and seize his inheritance. So they took him and cast him 
out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner 
of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers? 
They said to him, he will destroy those wicked men miserably and 
lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits 
in their seasons. Jesus said to them, have you 
never read in the scriptures, the stone which the builders 
rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord's 
doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I say to 
you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to 
a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this 
stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind 
him to powder. And when the chief priests and 
Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking 
of them. When they sought to lay hands 
on him, they feared the multitudes because they took him for a prophet. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father in Heaven, we thank you for this Lord's Day. We thank 
you for the Word of God. We thank you for the worship 
of God. We come to you, Father, through the great High Priest, 
even Jesus Christ our Lord, and hopefully by the power of the 
Holy Spirit, such that the triune God would be exalted in this 
place, that you would be lifted on high, that you would be glorified 
and magnified and worshiped and praised by your people. For certainly, 
God, you called us out of darkness into marvelous light so that 
we would proclaim your praises, that we would proclaim your excellencies. So help us on this Sabbath day 
to do just that as we sing, as we pray, as we look to Holy Scripture. We pray now that you would forgive 
us for all of our sins and our unrighteousness. As we look at 
your holiness, as we look at your law, we see how far short 
we have fallen. And yet we are thankful and we 
praise you that there is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. 
We pray that even now you would wash us and purify us. And for 
any and all who have come here that are strangers to that fountain, 
strangers to the gospel of our Lord Jesus, we pray that your 
spirit would be at work, that you would bring conviction for 
sin and show sinners the Lord Christ and his ability to save 
to the uttermost. Please send forth your Holy Spirit 
now and be glorified and magnified, we pray. We ask through Jesus 
Christ, Amen. As I said, this is a particularly 
packed parable and it's going to be helpful for us, as I mentioned, 
to break it down into two parts. The giving of the parable this 
morning, verses 33 to 39. and then take up the remaining 
portion next week, God willing. But remember, the specific context 
is the Tuesday of Passion Week. Our Lord Jesus enters into Jerusalem 
triumphantly riding on that foal, the colt or the foal of a donkey, 
according to the prophecy of Zechariah in chapter 9. He is 
then praised as the son of David. in Matthew chapter 21 that is 
on the Monday and then on the Tuesday he curses the fig tree 
as we see here in Matthew 21 and then he enters into these 
various disputations with the religious leaders. It is a question 
concerning his authority. Notice in 21 verses 23 to 27, 
they ask him, by what authority are you doing these things and 
who gave you this authority? So what they want to know is 
who does Jesus think he is? Who does he think he is coming 
into their temple, turning over their tables and driving out 
the animals and the money changers? They wonder where he got the 
chutzpah that he is displaying in this particular situation. 
So they pin him, they nail him, they ask him, by what authority 
do you do this? Christ then effectively puts 
them on the horns of a dilemma by asking about the authority 
of John the Baptist. They then say, we're not going 
to answer that. And then Jesus presses them further. He gives that parable of the 
two sons. And that parable of the two sons 
indicates that they, the religious leaders, are like the son who 
says yes to the father. Yes, I'll obey your law, but 
they don't do it. The tax collectors and the harlots, 
they're like that son that says, no, I'm not going to do it. But 
then he repents and he goes and he does it. And Jesus brings 
this to bear upon them in verse 31. Assuredly, I say to you, 
the tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before 
you. John came in the way of righteousness, and you did not 
believe him. The tax collectors and the harlots, 
they however believed him, and they thus are entering the kingdom 
of heaven, and you yourselves are not. And so that brings us 
to this parable of the vineyard. He says, here, another parable. He will tell one more in chapter 
22, and then there will be a series of questions and answers, four 
of them, to summarize or to finish this particular time of his controversy 
with the religious leaders. Now we're going to spend some 
time this morning looking at various texts, because I want 
you to see how important this context is to the proper understanding 
of Matthew 24. In the next few chapters, the 
interpretation is pretty straightforward. Everybody pretty much agrees, 
but when we get to the Olivet Discourse, There's a lot of difference 
of opinion on how we are to interpret Matthew 24. I think it's absolutely 
crucial that if we understand that in Matthew 24 the Lord Jesus 
is speaking prophetically on the Tuesday night, we ought to 
understand what went on on the Tuesday day to set it in its 
proper context and to see just what Christ is referring to when 
he speaks concerning the destruction, of the temple in Matthew 24. 
Is he speaking about the temple that then stood or is he speaking 
about some future rebuilt temple? I will argue that he is talking 
about the temple that then stood because these religious leaders 
representing the nation of Israel had filled up the measure of 
their guilt and the wrath of God Most High was going to come 
upon them in A.D. 70. So these chapters leading 
up to the Olivet Discourse, it is imperative that we understand 
what's happening. So as we look at the giving of 
the parable this morning, we'll consider two things. First, the 
background, and secondly, the details. Notice in the first 
place, he says, here another parable, there was a certain 
landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug 
a wine press in it and built a tower. Now Christ has already 
used this parable or this idea of a vineyard. He's done it in 
Matthew chapter 20 and he did it here in Matthew 21 with the 
parable of the two sons. The man was a landowner, he had 
a vineyard and he tells his two sons to go out and work. But 
behind that are several things in the Old Testament. Most likely, 
Psalm 80, verses 6 to 16, where God the Lord brings Israel out 
of Egypt and He plants her as a vine. Jeremiah 2, in verse 
21, the Lord God, through Jeremiah, refers to the nation of Israel 
as a vineyard. But specifically, Isaiah the 
prophet, chapter 5, and you can turn there, because it's important 
that we see Christ is charged Christ is stated as being a prophet, 
and Christ, consistent with the prophets before him, is essentially 
doing the same things that they did in the Old Covenant. Notice 
in Isaiah chapter 5, beginning in verse 1, 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 wine press 
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 tell me, tell me, 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 briars and thorns. I will also command the clouds 
that they rain no rain on it." Now note the interpretation that 
God through the prophet gives. Verse 7. 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." 
Sounds very much like what Jesus is doing here in our parable 
of the vineyard. He has come to condemn national Israel, specifically 
the religious leaders in Israel, and as a result of their covenant 
unfaithfulness, their breaking of God's ordinances to them, 
they will be judged as a result of that. That is precisely the 
context in Matthew 21 as well. Notice in Isaiah, the benefits 
given by God, verses 1, 2, and 4. The sinfulness of Israel, 
verses 2, 4, and 7. the judgment promised by God 
in verses 5 and 6, and then the application, as I've said, in 
verse 7. So I hope that you see this particular 
background. When we get to verse 45, these 
religious leaders understood that Jesus spoke these parables 
about them. And it's important that we as 
well understand that Jesus spoke these parables about them because 
it will be helpful for us when we get to all of it to try and 
understand what Christ is speaking about. Now let's get to the details 
of our parable in Matthew 21 verses 33 to 39. The identification 
of the parties involved. The landowner is God the Father. 
The vineyard is Israel and the kingdom of God. The reason why 
is that Israel was the localized dwelling of God's kingdom on 
earth. There's an instance where Solomon 
sits upon the throne of Yahweh. David is that Messiah. David 
is that Davidic king that rules over the expression of God's 
kingdom on earth. So Israel slash kingdom of God. We see that in verse 43. Therefore 
I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and 
given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. The vinedressers 
or the tenants are the leadership of Israel. including the priests. The servants of the landowner 
are the prophets of God, and obviously the son of the landowner, 
everybody should get this one right, it's, yes, you guessed 
it, the Lord Jesus Christ. So this is his purpose here. 
They have rejected the prophets, including John the Baptist. They 
are rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ. They will exclude him 
from the city and execute him outside of the city. And Jesus, 
what he has announced prophetically in chapter 16, 17 and 20, he 
now underscores by way of parable to the very men that are going 
to execute him. Now notice specifically the setting 
of the parable. The landowner planted a vineyard, 
just like what we see in Isaiah chapter 5 as well. The landowner 
protected the vineyard. That's the purpose here. There 
was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around 
it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Why would you 
do those things? To keep animals out? To keep 
foreign intruders out? To keep persons away from your 
vineyard? that aren't supposed to be there. 
We see in this God's protection over Israel. We see God's provision 
over Israel, such that in the prophet Isaiah, God says, what 
more could I have done in order to benefit these people? He's 
not talking about ability, he is demonstrating his benevolence. 
I gave them everything. I endowed them with blessings 
from on high. I gave them mercy after mercy 
after mercy, and yet I look for justice, I look for righteousness, 
I look for goodness in the land, but what do I find? Oppression 
and robbery and all manner of evil. So we see God's providence, 
God's protection, God's provision, God's benefit over these people. 
And in the parable it works as well with reference to the economics 
of the situation. What we find is the landowner 
has put in a great deal of investment, right? It ain't cheap to protect 
a vineyard. It ain't cheap to build towers. 
It ain't cheap to dig hedges or dig ditches and put hedging 
up so that you can keep out intruders. So what does that imply? The 
landowner has a right and a title to recompense. In other words, 
he's made a substantial investment such that when he comes looking 
for repayment or looking for his share, it is perfectly legitimate 
and perfectly consistent that he does expect these particular 
things. Now notice he leases this out 
to vinedressers or to tenants. And essentially what these men 
would do, would they farm a piece of property that the owner owned, 
and from their fruit they would pay him a portion of it. And 
when it says that he went into a far country, we need to understand 
this is a parable. God didn't leave the universe. 
God didn't go hang out on Pluto while, you know, Israel and the 
old covenant people just sort of did their thing on earth. 
It's speaking in the manner of men. It is a parable designed 
to instruct us something. And in this particular instance, 
the stress lies upon God's long suffering, God's patience. God's kindness, God's goodness. Chrysostom says, and went into 
a far country. That is, he bore long with them, 
not always bringing the punishments close upon their sins, for by 
his going into a far country, he means his great long suffering. That's what's in view here. Not 
that God left the world, left the universe, and just sort of 
did his own thing while Israel did their thing. No, it's a convention. It's a matter. It's a literary 
matter by which, in this parable, it instructs us concerning God's 
way toward them. Now notice, the Lord God, the 
landowner of the vineyard, wants his fruit. And we see that Israel 
rejects the prophets and Israel rejects the Messiah. Note, the 
landowner sent his servants to collect the fruit or the payment. 
And this is probably after four years. Again, underscoring the 
great amount of patience involved in this whole transaction. It 
took several years for vines to grow and to start to yield 
grapes. I think some of you out there 
have grown grapes and you could probably confirm that. I'm looking 
for my grape growing brothers. It takes a while. Doesn't happen 
overnight. It's not like tomatoes. I mean, 
when we lived in Palmdale, as hot as it was, we had tomatoes 
coming out of our ears. They were, you know, easy to 
grow, quick, and, I mean, pretty severe weather conditions, and 
yet we always seemed to have a lot of tomatoes. Not so with 
vineyards. Now notice, the landowner sent 
his servants to collect the fruit or payment, just like in the 
prophet Isaiah. He expected it to bring forth 
good grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. Verse 4 of Isaiah 
5, Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, 
did it bring forth wild? Verse 7, He looked for justice, 
but behold, oppression, for righteousness, but behold, a cry for help. Same 
sort of thing going on in this passage. Verse 34, Now when vintage 
time drew near, He sent His servants to the vinedressers, that they 
might receive its fruit. You see, it's legit that God 
who has called his people to himself, carved out a land for 
them, given them every blessing, put them in the land of Canaan, 
protected them in various and sundry ways, it is legit for 
him to expect fruit. In Matthew's Gospel, we see the 
same sort of emphasis upon fruit necessary. When the Baptist is 
out preaching in the wilderness, what does he say to the persons 
who come? He says, bear fruit consistent with repentance. We see this in Matthew 7 in the 
Sermon on the Mount. The Lord Jesus emphasizes the 
necessity of fruit. We see it in the parables of 
the kingdom. The Lord Jesus emphasizes the necessity of fruit. There 
is a corollary that we ought to appreciate at this particular 
juncture. As the New Covenant people of 
God, He still demands fruit. When you get to the book of Revelation, 
chapters 2 and 3, the Lord Jesus comes to the churches, and if 
they are not fruit-bearing bodies, He threatens to withdraw the 
lampstand from their midst. What's the implication? What 
should the Church of Jesus Christ learn from a passage like this? 
It's not enough for us to be deadbeats. It's not enough for 
us just to occupy a space on a Sunday morning or a Sunday 
evening. It is not enough for us to make 
some sort of a profession but be dead inside. Brethren, if 
the Lord God Almighty has called us to Himself by sovereign grace 
and has cleansed us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, it 
is our privilege, it is our joy, it is our delight to bear fruit 
to Him, to yield ourselves unto Him. This is what Paul says in 
Romans chapter 12. We are to present our bodies. We are to present our bodies 
as living sacrifices unto the Lord. I was just thinking about 
this this morning with reference to the Lord's Day. Praise God 
He doesn't say, Lord's weak. As abysmal as we are separating 
one day out of seven for Him, imagine if He demanded a week 
out of the month. We'd be beside ourselves. I mean, it's tough for us to 
render obedience to Him on the Lord's day, without our minds 
wandering, without our thoughts going, without our desires to 
be elsewhere. Imagine Lord's weak. Imagine 
the Lord's month, one month out of 12, you give to Him fully 
and wholly. How would it be with us? Would 
we be like, wow, I don't know what to do. I just don't know 
what I'm going to do. It's going to be a real difficulty. 
Brethren, it is our privilege as the people of God Most High 
to yield fruit, to bear fruit, to shine as lights in a crooked 
and perverse generation, to hold forth the word of truth, to be 
a faithful body, not to be like those Laodiceans that were neither 
hot nor cold. that were lukewarm and such that 
the Lord Jesus is going to spew them out of his mouth. So much 
of the professing church today seems to be that way, lukewarm. And when Jesus speaks that way 
to the Laodiceans, he doesn't mean, I want you to be a cold-hearted 
atheist. No, hot things in your mouth 
are good, cold things in your mouth are good. It's the lukewarm 
that is wretched. And that's why he threatens to 
spit them from his mouth, just like Old Covenant Israel was 
threatened that the land would vomit them out. And that is precisely 
what happens. You see, it's legit, it's right, 
it's good that the landowner requests fruit. Now notice what 
happens. Jesus has already spoken to the 
lack of fruit in Israel. He spoke to this on Tuesday morning 
by cursing the fig tree. He found no fruit upon it, so 
he curses the fig tree and he says, no fruit will ever grow 
on you again. So he's affirmed that they are indeed fruitless, 
but he wants to demonstrate or illustrate here that this is 
nothing new. So the landowner sent his servants, 
these are the old covenant prophets, including John the Baptist, to 
them that they might receive its fruit. Notice in verse 35, 
and the vinedressers took his servants. They beat one, killed 
one, and stoned another. It's terrible, isn't it? I mean, 
we just read through this, well, yeah, you know, we're used to 
that. Let's just look at a few applications of this in the lives 
of God's people. 1 Kings chapter 22. First Kings 
chapter 22, that instance where Ahab wants Jehoshaphat to join 
him in battle against Syria. Syria had possessed Ramoth Gilead 
and Ahab says, we own Ramoth Gilead but we don't want to go 
depossess it from the Syrians all on our own. So he marshals 
the assistance of Jehoshaphat, the southern king. Josh, a fat, 
being a southern king, says, shouldn't we hear from the prophets 
before we march into battle? So Ahab says, of course, I have 
many court prophets. They'll come up and they'll tell 
us what we ought to do. And of course, all these prophets 
come and they lie. Yeah, go to battle, you'll win. Yeah, go 
to battle, you'll do great. Yeah, go to battle, you'll do 
fine. Then the question is asked, is there no other prophet? Yeah, 
there's one prophet, Ahab says. His name is Micaiah, but I don't 
like him because he doesn't tell me what I want to hear. Boy, 
isn't Ahab typical of the church today? I don't like him because 
he doesn't tell me what I want to hear. We like preachers who 
tell us what we want to hear. We don't want preachers who tell 
us the truth. We want preachers to make us feel happy and feel 
good and feel, you know, best about ourselves. We don't want 
preachers to tell us that God is angry with the wicked every 
day and if you don't repent, you're gonna go to hell. We don't 
like those kind. Micaiah was one of those kind. 
He stands before Ahab, the question is asked, and Micaiah with tongue 
firmly planted in cheek says, yeah, go to battle, you'll be 
peaceful. Go to battle, you'll be victorious. Ahab knew that 
he was inserting tongue in cheek because he didn't always say, 
those sorts of things concerning Ahab. So Micaiah tells him the 
truth. You're going to lose. You're 
going to go into battle and you're going to lose. You're going to 
be toast, which intriguingly is precisely what happens. Now 
notice in verse 24. verse Kings 22 verse 24. Now, Zedekiah the son of Canaanah 
went near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, which 
way did the Spirit from the Lord go from me to speak to you? He 
struck him on the face. Why? Because he told him the 
truth. This happens to Jeremiah the 
prophet in Jeremiah chapter 20 verses 1 and 2. Again, you can 
turn there. It's good for us to be aware 
that what our Lord Jesus is doing is bringing judgment to bear 
upon a people of whom God bore long with and sent prophets to 
in order to call them to the right path in obedience and in 
fruitfulness. Notice in Jeremiah 20 verse 1, 
Now Pasher, the son of Emer, the priest who is also chief 
governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah prophesied 
these things. And Pashur struck Jeremiah the 
prophet and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of 
Benjamin which was by the house of the Lord." When you read Jeremiah the prophet, 
do you think he's a man that should be struck in the face? 
No, of course you do not. It says they killed the prophets. 
Jesus says they killed the prophets. Remember that massacre of prophets 
under Jezebel, Ahab's wife. What a happy couple they were, 
huh? What would you give them for a wedding gift? Machetes? 
Poison? Guns, if they're available? I 
mean, Ahab and Jezebel, what a combo. What a power couple. 
They'd be looked at today as just that, a power couple. Yeah, 
powerful and exterminating the people of God. 1 Kings chapter 
18, verses 4 and 13, refers to the massacre of the prophets 
through Jezebel, the wife of Ahab. as well in the prophet 
Jeremiah in chapter 26. Uriah, the prophet, is executed. And interesting, when we look 
at Jeremiah, it is in a similar context with our Lord's ministry. Our Lord is preaching in the 
temple confines. He's going to prophesy against 
that temple, very specifically, and that is what Jeremiah is 
doing additionally. It's a difference in terms of 
years, but it's the same emphasis. Jeremiah is prophesying the destruction 
of Jerusalem and the temple via Babylon through Nebuchadnezzar 
and the Babylonians. Jesus is doing the exact same 
thing, but with reference to the Roman assault upon Israel. Notice in Jeremiah 26, verse 
20, now there was also a man who prophesied in the name of 
the Lord, Uriah the son of Shemaiah of Kirjath-Jerim who prophesied 
against this city and against this land according to all the 
words of Jeremiah. And when Jehoiachin the king 
with all his mighty men and all the princes heard his words the 
king sought to put him to death. But when Uriah heard it he was 
afraid and fled and went to Egypt. Then Jehoiachin the king sent 
men to Egypt El Nathan, the son of Achbor, and other men who 
went with him to Egypt. And they brought Uriah from Egypt 
and brought him to Jehoiakim the king, who killed him with 
the sword and cast his dead body into the graves of the common 
people." And then Jesus speaks of stoning as well. You can turn 
to 2 Chronicles chapter 24 to see an instance of this. 2 Chronicles 
chapter 24. I think this helps us understand 
what Jesus means in chapter 23 of Matthew when he says the blood 
from Abel to Zechariah. Zechariah is treated here, his 
stoning death, in 2 Chronicles 24. Do you know what Jesus is 
saying when he says from Abel to Zechariah? Now in English 
it works out nicely, it's A to Z. But he's speaking about the 
entirety of the Hebrew canon. The Hebrew order of the biblical 
books begins with Genesis and ends with 2 Chronicles. So when Jesus says, from Abel 
to Zechariah, he is saying, in essence, every good man that 
the Lord and his four barons sent to you, instead of embracing 
him, instead of listening to him, instead of repenting because 
of your sinfulness, you have persecuted. You have destroyed. And in Zechariah's case, you 
have pummeled to death with stones, which is to add insult to injury. Notice 2 Chronicles 24 verse 
20, Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, 
the priest, who stood above the people and said to them, Thus 
says God, Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, 
so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the 
Lord, He also has forsaken you. So they conspired against Him, 
and at the command of the king, they stoned Him with stones in 
the court of the house of the Lord. Thus, Joash the king did 
not remember the kindness which Jehoiada, his father, had done 
to him, but killed his son. And as he died, he said, the 
Lord look on it and repay." Chamberlain points out, with reference to 
this idea of stoning, as killing is more severe than beating, 
so is stoning more severe than killing. For stoning carries 
connotations of execution on the grounds of religious apostasy. So essentially what Jesus is 
saying is that these wicked tenants accused these prophets of false 
prophecy and then actually killed them and stoned them in the case 
of Zechariah. And therefore it implies disgrace 
as well as death. So this first round that the 
Lord God sends to the nation of Israel They beat him, they 
kill him, and they stone him, or stone them. So what is the 
Lord's response? What's the landowner do? Now 
it's precisely here where the parable takes a decisive change 
in terms of reality. This is an unreal scenario, isn't 
it? The landowner wouldn't send more 
prophets. The landowner would send the 
Roman army. The landowner wouldn't then send 
his son. He would have already sent the 
Roman army. But remember, it's a parable. 
And at times, parables exaggerate particular things in order to 
highlight something that is true. And in this case, the truth is 
that God is long-suffering. God is patient. It never ceases 
to amaze me to talk to persons who have a problem with the Old 
Testament. They say, wow, it's full of wrath 
and judgment and fury. No, it isn't. It is an amazingly 
patient document. If you would have been God for 
30 seconds and your subjects were as disloyal to you as you 
are to Him, you would have wiped them out. But not God. He bears 
long. He is truly long-suffering with 
the nation of Israel. The fact that he sends more prophets, 
and the fact that he then sends the son of his love. Now, before 
you start to think, this only has to do with the religious 
leaders in the first century. No, there's application to be 
made here. All of you have been subjects of God's patience. Each 
and every one of you in this room have been subjects of God's 
patience. How do I know that? Because you're 
not currently in hell. That's how I know that. You have 
all benefited from the patience of God. And you know what Paul 
says? That the patience of God is designed 
to promote in you? It is designed to promote repentance. You know how I know God is patient? 
You're not in hell. You know how else I know God 
is patient? Because you're still not in hell. 
You are to use that patience or to see that goodness of God 
as a provocation, if you will, to repent. The conclusion ought 
to be God has not dealt with me as he ought. God has not treated 
me as he ought. God has not rewarded me as he 
ought. Therefore, I'm going to flee 
to him and seek further mercy and seek further grace. And I'm 
going to be so bold as on the warrant of Holy Scripture to 
plead with him that he cleanses me in the blood of Jesus Christ. 
It's the patience, it's the long-suffering, it's the goodness of God that 
ought to lead you to repentance. Well, the same was true in Israel's 
case. God sends a delegation of prophets. They beat them, they kill them, 
they stone them. So what does God the landowner 
do? He sends more to them. And it says they did likewise 
to these prophets. A few more passages because I 
want us to understand this particular emphasis. There are other Old 
Testament references to Israel's rejection of the prophets. 2 Chronicles chapter 36. 2 Chronicles 
chapter 36, again a light context with what our Lord Jesus is going 
through. 2 Chronicles 36 is just prior 
to the fall of Jerusalem to Babylon in the 6th century B.C. And note one of the reasons for 
that fall. Note one of the reasons for God's 
cutting off the covenant people. Notice in 2 Chronicles 36, 15, 
and the Lord God of their fathers sent warnings to them by his 
messengers, rising up early and sending them because he had compassion 
on his people and on his dwelling place. Do you see that? Do you see how it is such an 
affront to a holy God when He pours out compassion? When He pours forth mercy? When He demonstrates kindness? 
When He exercises long-suffering? When He doesn't immediately cast 
you off into hell? If instead of repentance, you 
harden your heart, you harden your neck, you continue to be 
unfruitful, you continue to raise your fist at Him, Notice verse 
16, but they mocked the messengers of God, despised his words, and 
scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord arose against 
his people, till there was no remedy. That's another thing 
I ought to remind you of. God is patient. God is full of 
long-suffering. Romans 2.4, that long-suffering 
ought to lead you to repentance, but there is a day coming. when that patience will stop. It happened in the 6th century 
when Babylon came via Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the city. You see, 
God is patient with Israel. God is patient with Judah. God 
raises up early and sends messengers to them because he's compassionate 
upon his people. But they mocked the messengers 
of God, despised his words, scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath 
of the Lord arose against his people, until there was no remedy. 
You see, that patience ultimately ended. And the same thing is 
true in our Lord's teaching. Jesus is talking about that particular 
group of men. Jesus is talking about those 
religious leaders. They perceive that he is speaking 
about them. And then Jesus prophesies the 
destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Guess what happened in A.D. 70? Do you know that? Jerusalem 
was destroyed. Jesus says in Luke 21, when you 
see Jerusalem surrounded by her enemies, know that her desolation 
is near. Why do you think Jesus, in terms 
of warnings in the Olivet Discourse, is warning people in Judah? These 
aren't cosmic judgments! What sort of a thing would that 
be if in Matthew 24 it's speaking to the physical second coming 
of our Lord Jesus? What does it matter where you 
are? What does it matter if you're giving suck to children? What 
does it matter if it's the Sabbath day? If that Matthew 24 is speaking 
to the second coming of our Lord Jesus when he judges all things 
and ushers in the eternal state, it really makes no sense. But 
if it's a localized judgment that affects the nation of Israel, 
specifically Judah, for their covenant unfaithfulness to the 
Lord God, then a warning about believers fleeing to the mountains 
of Judea makes perfect sense. And interestingly enough, when 
Titus and the armies converged upon Jerusalem, they backed off 
for a time. Guess what the persons who listened 
to Matthew 24 and remembered the words of the Lord Jesus did? They ran. They went to Pella. They chilled out until the destruction 
was over because their Lord, in his grace and in his mercy, 
warned them. See brethren, Christ is a prophet 
and Christ is speaking to a covenantally unfaithful people. And Christ 
is bringing judgment to bear upon them. That's the context, 
that's the issue, that's what we need to appreciate. There 
is a like statement in Nehemiah 9.26. There is a like statement 
in Jeremiah 7, 25 to 27, but I want to look quickly at some 
New Testament references to see indeed that this is Israel's 
lot, or had been Israel's lot, in God's dealing with them. Luke 
13, verses 33 to 35. Luke 13, 33. Nevertheless, I 
must journey today, tomorrow, and the day following For it 
cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. 
I'll tell you one better, brethren. Do you know that city that is 
guilty in the book of Revelation? What is their chief aspect of 
guilt? It's blood guilt. They were a 
great city, as we saw in the reading in Revelation 17, that 
was glutted on the blood of the martyrs. You see Matthew in Matthew 
24, Luke in Luke 21, Mark in Mark 13, give us the little apocalypse. John gives us the large apocalypse. The subject matter is precisely 
the same. It is the fall of Jerusalem because 
of her unfaithfulness to the living God, because the Lord 
bore long with Israel, because the Lord sent messengers to Israel, 
and instead of receiving them, instead of repenting, instead 
of forsaking, they beat one, they killed one, and they stoned 
one. And then they would have the 
gall to see the sun, the heir himself, and they would seize 
him and take him outside of the city and they would execute him. 
They had indeed filled up the wrath to the uttermost. And that's 
what the New Testament teaches us. That's what the scriptures 
declare. Notice in Acts 7 at verse 52. Again, another key passage because 
Stephen is on trial for the same thing that Jesus was and that 
Jeremiah was. Speaking about the temple, look 
at Acts 6, specifically in verse 13. They also set up false witnesses 
who said, this man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against 
this holy place and the law. For we have heard him say that 
this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place. You see, this isn't 
some whack job interpretation. This is what the church believed. They heard the Olivet Discourse. 
They acted upon the Olivet Discourse. And now Stephen is being brought 
up on these charges that he said that Jesus was going to destroy 
this place. What place? The temple. Notice 
in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 2. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 2, verses 
14 to 15. I told my wife this morning, 
thank you for having our kids over this afternoon because I 
might die in surgery. You go, wow, I had just that 
1% mindset. You know, they always give you 
this margin of when, you know, everybody's successful when you 
go through this surgery, but there is this minuscule margin. 
You know, I'm the guy that goes and buys the phone off the shelf, 
and there's a hundred of them, and I get the one that doesn't 
work. You know, it's just kind of the thought, you know, I gotta 
make sure that, you know, it's nice to have all our kids over 
for lunch today if something should go wrong, and they, instead 
of removing the hip bone, put it through my chest or something, 
then it would have been good to have seen my children. So 
I'm rehearsing some of this ground so that subsequent preachers 
who take over after me and keep on in Matthew 24, this groundwork 
will be laid. Because brethren, what it touches 
on is the doctrine of the end times. And there's a lot of confusion 
about the end times. There's a lot of confusion about 
the beast, about the Antichrist, about the man of sin. There's 
a lot of confusion about how we understand what's going to 
happen when Jesus returns. And I think a mass of that confusion 
comes from failing to reflect upon Jesus' teaching. I realize 
they'll say the same thing concerning me, but could it be clearer what 
Jesus is doing here? He's tracing the history of Israel. 
He's giving us biblical theology. He's going to bring that home 
after chapter 22 in chapter 23 with a series of woes to you, 
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. He's going to tell them that 
you have filled up the measure of God's wrath. And then he leaves 
Jerusalem, he goes back to Bethany, he sits on the Olivet, and he 
gives the prophecy concerning the destruction of the temple. 
Why in the world would we conclude he's not talking about that temple? 
Why in the world would we possibly conclude that maybe that temple 
but another future temple? There is no future temple. There 
is no rebuilt future temple in Palestine. The temple of God 
is Christ. It is God, or it is Christ wherein 
God and sinners dwell together in blessed communion. And in 
fellowship, Jesus is the reason that the temple existed. And 
now that Jesus is here, we don't have to go about building a temple, 
reinstituting animal sacrifices, going through those old covenant 
motions. The old covenant has passed away. Isn't that what Hebrews 7, 8, 
and 10 are all about? Isn't that the emphasis of the 
apostle there in Hebrews? We have a better covenant built 
on better promises that affords a better hope. Why? Because we 
have Jesus, the surety of a better covenant. We don't look to rebuild 
temples. We look to worship our God through 
the Lord Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, in what we are supposed to do. And what we are supposed to do 
is gather together in churches, just like we're doing this morning. 
So, if I drop dead cam and you keep going, hopefully this will 
be somewhat helpful. Notice in 1 Thessalonians 2.4, 
For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God, which 
are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you also suffered the same 
things from your own countrymen, just as they did from the Judeans, 
who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets, and have 
persecuted us, and they do not please God and are contrary to 
all men. Notice, "...forbidding us to 
speak to the Gentiles that they may be saved, so as always to 
fill up the measure of their sins. But wrath has come upon 
them to the uttermost." What is he talking about? He's talking 
about when you see Jerusalem surrounded by its enemies, then 
you'll know that its desolation is near. These men knew what 
was coming. These men understood the Olivet 
Discourse, and these men acted consistently with that. But most 
powerfully is in the immediate context, in Matthew 23. I've 
alluded to that. God willing, we will see it someday. 
But in Matthew 23, essentially we see Jesus indict them for 
their hypocrisy. And note in verse 30 of Matthew 
23, And you say, If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we 
would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the 
prophets. Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are 
sons of those who murdered the prophets. We wouldn't have murdered 
them, but you're the sons of the men who murdered the prophets. 
And you too are guilty. Verse 32, fill up then the measure 
of your father's guilt. Serpent, broods of vipers, how 
can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore indeed I send 
you prophets, wise men and scribes. Some of them you will kill and 
crucify and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues 
and persecute from city to city. He's talking to the Jewish leaders. In Matthew 10, when he gives 
his disciples their instructions for a preaching mission, he says, 
you will be delivered up in the synagogues. Who was the first 
chief persecutor of the church? It wasn't Rome. It was unbelieving 
Israel. Now, if you think that sounds 
anti-Semitic or the New Testament reflects an anti-Semitism, it 
doesn't. Because after AD 70, the Jewish 
nation went into the ranks of all other nations. The emphasis 
now is to preach the gospel to Jews, to tell them to repent, 
to believe on the Lord Jesus, not assure them that they've 
got a geopolitical future because of old covenant prophecy. No, 
those old covenant prophecies are fulfilled in and by Christ. And if there is earthly application, 
it is in the church. Now, this is where the dispensationalist 
goes nuts, but I think the scriptures validate this interpretation. Notice, Jesus then says, verse 
35, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the 
earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah. 
Again, I've already rehearsed this. A to Z in English, but 
a whole Old Testament canon, right? Genesis to 2 Chronicles. That's what Abel and Zechariah 
represent. Genesis and Zechariah. I'm sorry, 
2 Chronicles. Son of Berechiah, whom you murdered 
between the temple and the altar, assuredly, I say to you, all 
these things will come upon some generation that exists in the 
future. No, this generation. Some say, well, Matthew doesn't 
always use it that way. Yes, he does. Every time Matthew 
uses this generation, it means, get this, this generation. The 
generation to whom Jesus speaks, not the generation that is present 
when these things come to pass. No, this generation. He's just 
spent a whole day disputing with them. He just spent part of a 
day pronouncing woes upon them. He just says that you have filled 
up the measure of guilt. And now he's going to talk about 
wrath coming on a future generation? It doesn't make any sense. He is talking about this generation. Notice, verse 37, O Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those 
who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather 
your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her 
wings, but you were not willing. See, your house is left to you 
desolate, for I say to you, you shall see me no more till you 
say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. So back 
to 21, I hope that you see in this particular instance what 
we have is the rejection of the prophets and then the father, 
the landowner says in verse 37, then last of all he sent his 
son to them saying they will respect my son. Again it's a 
parable speaking in the manner of men. God the Father knew absolutely 
positively that they would not respect his son. but it is a 
parable spoken to man in the manner of man to instruct us 
concerning what Jesus is speaking to. Notice, the landowner's assumption, 
they will respect my son. Notice as well, Jesus' self-identification. Jesus refers to himself as the 
son of the landowner of the vineyard. Now, these men didn't have to 
be reminded to go back to Isaiah 5 to see that it was Yahweh who 
owned this particular vineyard. These men understood all too 
well who owned the vineyard of Israel. These men understood 
all too well who owned the kingdom of God. And Christ identifies 
himself as the son of Yahweh. Notice the expectation concerning 
the son. They will respect my son. Gil 
says, the son of God is to be reverenced equally as his father, 
since he is in nature and glory equal to him. And it is the will 
of his father he should be so reverenced as he is by the angels 
in heaven and by the saints both in heaven and in earth. He said, 
but did these husband men reverence him? No. They despised and rejected 
him. They reproached and traduced 
him as the vilest of men and used him in the most cruel and 
barbarous manner. So the father, the landowner, 
last of all, he sent his son to them saying, they will respect 
my son. Note their response in verse 
38. But they said, or when the vinedresser 
saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize 
his inheritance. So they took him and cast him 
out of the vineyard and killed him. Now, it is truly an intriguing 
thing that these men understood that he was talking about himself, 
about them. Verse 45. And then in verse 46, 
they fulfill this parable. See the folly of sin and that 
it renders persons foolish. They're fulfilling the very thing 
that he just taught them. They wanted to lay hands on him. 
That's Caesar, isn't it? But they feared the multitude 
because the multitude reckoned that he was a prophet. Absolutely 
amazing. The very parable that Jesus is 
teaching them is fulfilled by them right before our eyes. Instead 
of repenting, instead of bowing, instead of singing with the multitudes 
and the infants, Hosanna to the son of David, they want to seize 
him, they want to eject him from their city, and they want to 
crucify him. That is precisely what is in 
view. They want to seize the son, they want to kill the son 
and seize his inheritance. Again, Gil, concluding that they 
could be rid of him, their nation would be in peace, their temple 
would stand, and temple worship and service continue. And they 
remain in their office and authority undisturbed. You see, Jesus was 
a threat to the status quo in the first century. They can't 
allow that. They've got to get rid of him. 
Jeremiah was a threat. We can't allow that. We've got 
to get rid of him. Micaiah is a threat. We can't 
allow that. We've got to get rid of him. 
Uriah, he's a threat. We can't allow that. We've got 
to get rid of him. That is the history of this people. Now remember, 
it's not every one of them. There are two sons in the first 
parable. There is a believing remnant 
within Israel. It's a beautiful thing. Paul 
tells us that in Romans 9.6. Not all Israel is Israel. It's 
not the very nation itself, and it's not ethnicity that's in 
view. It is faith with reference to 
our living and true God. Now notice. This is consistent with our Lord's 
repeated announcements, Matthew 16, 17, and 20, and then they 
execute their plan. Verse 39, so they took him and 
cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. That is precisely 
the order, isn't it? That is precisely what happens 
in Matthew 27, John 19, and according to Hebrews chapter 13, he is 
outside the camp. That is where this deed is transacted. D.A. Carson says that the rejection 
of the Son, verse 39, by the leaders is the final straw that 
brings divine wrath on them. Davies and Allison say the rejection 
of Jesus is the climax in the story of rebellion against Israel's 
God. Don't miss the Christological 
claims. Yes, Jesus identifies as the 
son of Yahweh, but he identifies with the prophets. He identifies 
with those messengers sent from the land owner to call Israel 
to repentance and faith. And so in their rejection of 
the Lord Jesus, it is the climax of their rejection of Israel's 
God. So what do we learn? If you're 
sitting there saying, wow, that does sound like Old Covenant 
Israel, you're not alone because the religious leaders perceive 
that. Look at verse 45. Now, when the chief priests and 
Pharisees heard his parables, plural, that means the parable 
of the two sons and the parable of the vineyard, they perceived, 
they knew that he was speaking of them. So the history of Israel, 
it's not pretty, is it? If you're a reader of the Old 
Testament, you have to admit that. How long do they go under 
a good king where everything's great and they're honoring God 
and they're glorifying God and everything's just going wonderfully? 
It's not long, is it? It's one failure after another. 
Interestingly enough, after the giving of covenants, more often 
than not, you see dismal failure. Noah comes out of the ark. God 
covenants with Noah. What's the next scene? Noah drunk 
and his sons engaged in wickedness. We see this pattern of God's 
command and failure. We see this pattern of God's 
command and rebellion. We see this pattern of God's 
law and the inability of persons to fulfill it. Because one of 
the functions of the Old Covenant was to point to Christ. was to 
continually show them that there's one hero in Israel. As great 
a guy as Samson is, and as much as I love Samson, he was not 
a perfect man. As much as David is a hero and 
he's a great man, he wasn't a perfect man. Israel was being tutored 
by God in the Old Covenant to look unto Jesus. The history 
of Israel displays that. It demonstrates that. It evidences 
that throughout. And it is a tragic history. A second lesson that I think 
we ought to learn, and I touched on this briefly so we'll just 
touch on it briefly again. The responsibilities associated 
with covenant membership. You see the Bible is very clear 
what happens to professors who are without fruit. Professors 
who do not love, professors who do not worship, professors who 
do not... I'm not talking about professors 
that teach at college. I'm talking about those who profess the Christian 
faith. We're saved by grace alone, through 
faith alone, in Christ alone. Accompanied by all other graces. 
In other words, if we're justified freely by His grace, we will 
embark on the life of sanctification. That's fruit bearing. That's 
production. That's yielding a harvest. That's 
demonstrating the fruits of the Spirit. That's living in a manner 
that is consistent with God and His Word. That is both individually 
and corporately to please the landowner. Because He saved us 
for that particular reason. Not so we'd lay around and play 
indeno and say, isn't it great to be, you know, children of 
God? No, we're to serve Him. And you read the book of Revelation, 
chapters 2 and 3, and Jesus does threaten to take the lampstand 
from among them. What does that mean? It means 
to close down their churches. Why? Because they're lukewarm. 
They're neither hot nor cold. They're of no benefit in the 
city of Laodicea. They're proud, they're arrogant, 
they think they're rich, they think they have no need, but 
you don't know. You're blind, you're naked, you're destitute. 
Yet Jesus, even in that one, in Laodicea, says, repent. Repent. I chasten those whom I love. 
In the third place, I think you ought to ask yourself, in light 
of this particular parable of the vineyard, how do you respond 
to the servants of God? How do you respond to the servants 
of God? In other words, we can look at Israel and say, wow, 
that was pretty wretched what Ahab had done to Micaiah. That's 
pretty wretched what they did to Zechariah. It's pretty bad 
what they did to those Old Testament prophets. In fact, if you read 
the book of Hebrews in chapter 11, you see what God's people 
endured. for their faith in the living and true God. Just look 
at the ministry of the Son. How did they receive Him? They 
didn't. They seized Him, they cast Him out of the city, they 
took Him outside the camp, and there they crucified Him. How 
do you respond to the servants of God? There's no prophet today, 
there's no Isaiah that's going to occupy this pulpit, there's 
no Jeremiah or Zechariah or a Micah or a Haggai or any of those men 
that are going to fall out of heaven and stand here and preach 
to you. But with reference to those who actually bring the 
Word of God through faithful exposition and application, how 
do you receive it? Is it rejection? Is it, I can't 
wait for it to be over? Is it, this is miserable and 
terrible and I can't stand it? Or is it, God in heaven, help 
me to embrace your word and not to be the bump on the log that 
I have been, but to get serious about my Christianity and start 
producing fruit. Because if God is looking for 
fruit as a gracious and patient landowner, and I'm not producing 
fruit, and pastors up there are telling me I should produce fruit, 
God help me! I don't want to be like this. 
I don't want to be miserable. I don't want to be the sort of 
person that professes to be an apple tree and you can't find 
an apple on it. How do you receive the servants 
of God? How do you receive preaching? How do you kids receive it? Would 
you be with them in Zechariah's day, picking up stones to throw 
at him? Would you have laughed as that false prophet smacks 
Micaiah? Would you have sat idly by while 
Uriah was being put to death, fetched from Egypt? I mean, he 
made it to Egypt, let him go. No, can't let him go because 
he actually said something we don't like. Go fetch him, bring 
him back here and put him to death. You see, brethren, there's 
two ways to respond to God's servants. You receive it, and 
by God's grace act upon it, or you reject it. You continue to 
despise, you continue to reject. Now, you look more polished, 
and you look nicer, and you look better than those persons that 
were chucking rocks at Zechariah, but you may have that self-same 
rebellion in your heart. You may be throwing rocks in 
your heart just to silence the man or a parent that happens 
to be preaching to you the word of the living God. This doesn't 
just apply in a pulpit. It applies in the living room. 
Your father, your mother is teaching you the truth of God's word. 
How do you respond to that? Oh no, I don't need that. Oh 
no, I got it all figured out. Yeah, you're 12. That's convincing. Or 22, yeah, I'm sure you got 
it all figured out. You just want to grab them and 
say, no you don't. You need to listen to what God's Word says. 
You know, parents, I think we can teach our children something 
about how we receive preaching by example. If we as parents 
are snoozing in church, our kids are never going to feel the weight 
of importance when it comes to hearing in church. We all talk 
about that. We need to preach the gospel 
with our words and we need to exemplify a godly life. How are 
we exemplifying a godly life when it comes to the Lord's Day 
ethic? How are we exemplifying a godly life when it comes to 
coming to church? You know, the psalmist said, 
I was glad when they said to me, let us go to the house of the 
Lord. If there is a groan in unison on a Sunday morning from 
so-and-so's house, that's not Davidic. Don't be amazed when 
your kids at 20 or 25 say, I don't want to go to the house of the 
Lord. He never taught me that it was 
something I should want to go to. How do you receive the servants 
of God? I'm bringing this home, don't worry, we're going in a 
minute. Which, by the way, we should be able to listen to longer 
sermons, just kidding. So another thing, fruitfulness 
means two hour sermons, just kidding. I know now you're raising 
up in your heart saying, now this is a servant of the Lord 
we don't particularly like. Let's get him out of here. Just 
don't stone me. That's what I ask. Note the doctrine 
of God as conveyed to us in this parable. The goodness of God 
is seen in his providential separation of and his protection over his 
people Israel. The goodness of God is seen in 
the extreme lengths he goes to to provide for them. I already 
mentioned the prophet Isaiah chapter 5, 4. What more could 
have been done to my vineyard that I have not done in it? That's 
not the sort of question that he's asking for actual input. 
Okay, what more could I have done? If I gave you more towers? 
If I gave you more? No, no, no, no. It highlights 
his generosity. It highlights his benevolence. 
It highlights his goodness to them. Remember when the prophet 
Nathan indicted David, the king of Israel, And God the Lord thunders 
against him. He says, I gave you wives, I 
gave you houses, I gave you possessions. If that was too little, I would 
have given you more. What does it underscore? The 
height of David's sin. God the Lord in his goodness 
had been so benevolent to David, and David went, he committed 
adultery and he committed murder. That's the vein in which Isaiah 
5.4 comes to us. That's what I hope that we'll 
appreciate. God has been benevolent. God has been good. God has been 
gracious. What have you done with it? What 
have you done with it? Sitting here this morning, not 
in Christ. Flee to Christ. Believe on the 
Savior. Don't tarry, don't wait, don't 
stay away, don't continue in rebellion. If God in His infinite 
grace and mercy has put you under the sound of the gospel in His 
patient forbearing, then don't slight this or reject it or neglect 
it, but flee. You know what the answer is to 
those who see themselves as sinners before a holy God? Believe on 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that beautiful? Believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Not go out, make a billion dollars 
and bring that to the front of the altar. No, believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Not go out and perfectly comply 
and fulfill every bit of God's holy law. One, I know you'll 
never be able to do that, but two, if you did do that, you 
still got a whole heap of sin behind you that needs to be dealt 
with. The answer of the gospel is to believe. If God in His 
goodness has put you under preaching, if God in His goodness has put 
you under faithful parenting, if God in His goodness has given 
you a Christian spouse who gives you that truth or makes it such 
that you hear that truth, then believe. Don't reject the servants 
of the Lord. Don't resist Him. Don't say no 
to Him. That patience and forbearance 
should lead you to the to repentance. That's what Paul says. Do you 
despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and long-suffering, 
not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? That is something that I hope 
you'll think about today. That is something that I hope, 
if you're an unbeliever, you take home with you. You say, 
why am I an unbeliever? Why do I continue to resist? 
Why do I continue to reject? Why do I continue to walk in 
my sinfulness when a good and patient God has continually provided 
these signposts pointing me to His beloved Son? And we ought 
to appreciate, as we close now, the willingness of the beloved 
Son. The Father sends the Son. The Son goes willingly. The Son knows what He's going 
to. The Son understands what these 
persons did to Zechariah, to Micaiah, to Uriah. The Son knows 
of their intention. And yet, He submits to the Father. He comes into a world that will 
not only reject Him, but will seize Him and will throw Him 
up on a cross to crucify Him. But praise be to God. He doesn't 
stay on the cross. He doesn't stay in the tomb. 
This is one of the reasons I think Psalm 118 is cited by our Lord 
Jesus. The stone which the builders 
rejected has become the chief cornerstone. Jesus is speaking 
to his resurrection and his exaltation in the very passage where he 
says, they will seize the son, they will take him outside of 
the city, and they will destroy him. Yeah, but the one you reject 
is the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. This 
is marvelous in our eyes. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for your word, and we thank you for giving us the 
truth concerning the history of Israel. If we reflect but 
a moment on this passage, we see it's our history as well. 
Several times, so many times, rejecting the servants of God, 
rejecting the overtures that come through the preaching of 
the gospel, and in fact, rejecting the Son of God himself. Lord 
in heaven, I pray that you'd open our ears and our hearts. 
I pray that you would cause the forbearance, the patience, the 
goodness of God to provoke sinners in this place to repentance. 
We ask that you would go with us now, watch over us in the 
remainder of this day. Bless Mike Kirkpatrick as he 
preaches tonight. Give us ears to hear the Word 
of God. And we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.