WEBVTT 00:00:04.607 --> 00:00:09.474 The following resource is brought to you by Real Life Community Church in Richmond, Kentucky. 00:00:09.474 --> 00:00:14.468 We hope you're both challenged and encouraged by this message from Pastor Chris May. 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:18.283 Matthew 21, verse 33. 00:00:18.283 --> 00:00:22.663 I forgot to open my book. 00:00:22.663 --> 00:00:27.428 Usually I have it printed in my notes, but I do not today. 00:00:27.428 --> 00:00:30.882 Here we go, verse 33. 00:00:32.439 --> 00:00:46.912 Here, another parable there was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a wine press in it and built a tower and leashed it to tenants and went into another country. 00:00:46.912 --> 00:00:52.841 When the season for the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 00:00:52.841 --> 00:01:01.280 And the tenants took his servants and beat one and killed another, and they stoned another Again. 00:01:01.280 --> 00:01:06.191 He sent other servants, more than the first, and they did the same to them. 00:01:06.191 --> 00:01:11.850 Finally, he sent his son to them, saying they will respect my son. 00:01:11.850 --> 00:01:18.152 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves this is the heir. 00:01:18.152 --> 00:01:21.507 Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance. 00:01:21.507 --> 00:01:25.246 They took him and they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 00:01:27.019 --> 00:01:31.409 When, therefore, the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? 00:01:31.409 --> 00:01:35.227 And they, this is the temple leaders. 00:01:35.227 --> 00:01:47.923 They said to Jesus he will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out of the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons. 00:01:47.923 --> 00:01:51.328 And Jesus said to them have you never read the scriptures? 00:01:51.328 --> 00:01:54.989 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 00:01:54.989 --> 00:01:57.143 This was the Lord's doing and it was. 00:01:57.143 --> 00:02:10.328 It is marvelous in our eyes and therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits, and the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces. 00:02:10.328 --> 00:02:12.943 And when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. 00:02:12.943 --> 00:02:27.665 And when the chief priests in the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking of them and although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds because they held him to be a prophet. 00:02:27.665 --> 00:02:31.084 It's the word of God for the people of God, and you may be seated. 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:42.365 Well, I'm not telling you anything. 00:02:42.365 --> 00:02:48.566 You do not know this morning, but we tend, as Americans, to be an inpatient people. 00:02:48.566 --> 00:02:50.991 An inpatient people. 00:02:50.991 --> 00:02:51.501 Is that true? 00:02:51.501 --> 00:03:03.788 Fast food, which was given to us because we couldn't take the time to sit down at a restaurant and wait on our food, fast food is now too slow for us. 00:03:03.788 --> 00:03:08.507 We actually order ahead now, so it's ready the minute we get there. 00:03:08.507 --> 00:03:19.808 Stores used to sell Christmas items at the beginning of December, then it moved to November and now it's July. 00:03:20.199 --> 00:03:20.681 Who said that? 00:03:20.681 --> 00:03:23.504 Yeah, it's crazy. 00:03:23.504 --> 00:03:28.348 Black Friday deals now begin on Thursday or before. 00:03:28.348 --> 00:03:32.264 That card debt is absurd. 00:03:32.264 --> 00:03:32.605 Why? 00:03:32.605 --> 00:03:35.211 Because we don't save up for anything anymore. 00:03:35.211 --> 00:03:36.201 Remember layaway. 00:03:36.201 --> 00:03:40.545 But we can't do layaway anymore. 00:03:40.545 --> 00:03:44.706 We can't save up because we've got to have things now that we want. 00:03:44.706 --> 00:03:56.247 Now we have apps like InstaCard Door Dash right, you don't have to wait on your groceries anymore. 00:03:56.247 --> 00:03:57.042 This is crazy. 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:18.327 If you're at a stop light and it turns green, if you're in the front and you take even a millisecond to put your foot on that gas, you apparently have crushed the guy's life behind you, and he will let you know it. 00:04:18.327 --> 00:04:22.990 He will tell you that you are number one with the wrong finger. 00:04:22.990 --> 00:04:24.202 That just happens. 00:04:24.202 --> 00:04:28.646 And so Shakespeare said this. 00:04:28.646 --> 00:04:32.692 He said how poor are they that have no patience? 00:04:32.692 --> 00:04:34.701 Think about that. 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:37.786 We're impatient with people, aren't we? 00:04:37.786 --> 00:04:42.428 We're just quick to write people off and we tend to be a bit unforgiving at times. 00:04:42.428 --> 00:04:48.490 And what's even more, you know a lot of Christians today, particularly in the West. 00:04:48.490 --> 00:04:51.365 We tend to be impatient towards God. 00:04:51.365 --> 00:05:03.370 It's like if we pray, even though you only pray five minutes a week, or only when you need something, you pray at your door in 15 minutes or less. 00:05:03.370 --> 00:05:18.505 And if he does not answer your prayer in the way that you want and or in the timeframe that you want, then you're frustrated with God and you're wondering does he even love me, does he even care about me? 00:05:18.505 --> 00:05:19.026 Why would God? 00:05:19.026 --> 00:05:22.464 We're entitled, right, but we're impatient. 00:05:24.680 --> 00:05:32.345 Warren Wersby said that Satan wants us to get impatient with God, for an impatient Christian is a powerful weapon in the devil's hands. 00:05:32.345 --> 00:05:46.449 All of this to drive home the fact that, yes, we know this, we are impatient, but praise God that he does not share in this trait. 00:05:46.449 --> 00:05:49.007 We serve a patient God. 00:05:49.007 --> 00:05:51.187 We serve a God who is long suffering. 00:05:51.187 --> 00:05:54.586 Let me just read you a couple of verses Psalm 86, 15,. 00:05:54.586 --> 00:06:02.271 But you, oh Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding, instead fast love and faithfulness. 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:04.423 First, timothy 1, 16,. 00:06:04.423 --> 00:06:20.728 But I this is Paul speaking received mercy for this reason, reason that, in me as foremost, jesus Christ might display, get this his perfect patience as an example of to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 00:06:20.728 --> 00:06:23.024 Why has the Lord not returned yet? 00:06:23.024 --> 00:06:25.930 Because he's patient. 00:06:25.930 --> 00:06:28.524 Second, peter, 3, 9,. 00:06:28.524 --> 00:06:41.605 The Lord is not slow to fill, fill his promises as some count slowness, but is patients toward patients towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 00:06:41.605 --> 00:06:46.269 I don't know about you, but I'm grateful that we serve a patient, god. 00:06:46.269 --> 00:06:51.591 I think back to my life and I think why did he not take me out a long time ago? 00:06:51.591 --> 00:06:59.990 Because he's a God of grace and mercy and a God of great patience, and I this really connects to our texts today. 00:06:59.990 --> 00:07:01.245 This is what I want to point out. 00:07:03.535 --> 00:07:12.250 God is extremely patient with sinful people, but his patients can be exhausted. 00:07:12.250 --> 00:07:15.829 How many of you have ever been really patient with someone? 00:07:15.829 --> 00:07:18.961 But then you say, man, you're trying my patients. 00:07:18.961 --> 00:07:21.982 Some of you are sitting next to that person this morning. 00:07:21.982 --> 00:07:28.487 You're trying my patients, but if you ever been to that place where it's just your, your patients has been exhausted. 00:07:28.487 --> 00:07:30.600 I've done everything I can for you. 00:07:30.600 --> 00:07:34.045 My patients has been exhausted. 00:07:34.045 --> 00:07:43.470 Do you know that we should not take God's patients for granted, because we can exhaust his, his patients? 00:07:43.470 --> 00:07:45.139 And so I want to show you this in the text. 00:07:45.742 --> 00:07:47.065 Um, three easy points today. 00:07:47.065 --> 00:07:48.637 Number one the patients of God. 00:07:48.637 --> 00:07:51.242 Number two the extent of God's patients. 00:07:51.242 --> 00:07:55.569 In number three our response to God's patients. 00:07:55.569 --> 00:08:02.115 Okay, we're going to look at his patients, the extent of his patients and our response to his patients. 00:08:02.115 --> 00:08:05.386 Number one um, let's just look at the parable. 00:08:05.386 --> 00:08:07.894 And then in the parable we see the patients of God. 00:08:07.894 --> 00:08:11.694 I'm not going to read it again, but I just going to give you a a summary. 00:08:11.694 --> 00:08:15.228 But before I do, let me just give you a little recap of where we've been. 00:08:16.052 --> 00:08:21.894 A couple of weeks ago we looked at a familiar story of Jesus storming the temple you remember that right. 00:08:21.894 --> 00:08:27.122 And he turns over the, the money tables, and he challenges the temple authorities. 00:08:27.122 --> 00:08:37.894 He drives out uh, the, the money changers, and you know the merchants and the, uh and the buyers, and he says you're not worshiping God. 00:08:37.894 --> 00:08:42.807 This is supposed to be a house of prayer, but you've turned it into a den of thieves. 00:08:42.807 --> 00:08:47.615 And so then he leaves the temple and he had a leader's permission, just starts teaching. 00:08:47.615 --> 00:08:54.195 And so the temple leaders, the chief priests and the elders, they confront Jesus in the temple and they say what are you doing? 00:08:54.195 --> 00:08:58.465 Who has given you this authority? 00:08:58.465 --> 00:09:01.914 But they're not really interested in where Jesus authority comes from. 00:09:01.914 --> 00:09:10.014 They just want to entrap him, they want him gone, they want him to say the wrong thing. 00:09:10.014 --> 00:09:15.613 And so, jesus being much wiser than they are, he doesn't give them a direct answer. 00:09:15.613 --> 00:09:16.115 But here's what he does. 00:09:16.115 --> 00:09:25.332 He gives them three parables One we looked at two weeks ago, uh, we're going to look at the second today and the third, god willing, next week. 00:09:25.332 --> 00:09:43.951 But three parables, and and it's really interesting here that the parables are kind of cryptic, right, but what he's doing is he's he's calling out the Pharisees in these parables and you'll see, at the end of our text you remember what I just read it's like the Pharisees are the and the temple leaders. 00:09:43.951 --> 00:09:54.414 They're like he's talking about us, but it's just cryptic enough, right, where they can't just flat out accuse him right there and so, uh, so here's today's parable. 00:09:57.399 --> 00:10:10.875 There's a wealthy landowner who establishes a vineyard, with the fence around it and a watchtower, and he leases it to tenant farmers and then he departs. 00:10:10.875 --> 00:10:14.394 Now, this was a very common practice in Jesus day. 00:10:14.394 --> 00:10:21.292 You would have wealthy landowners and, uh, they, they would in the Palestine area. 00:10:21.292 --> 00:10:30.833 They would buy up land, they would plant vineyards and then they would lease the land out to tenants and those tenants would work the land and then they would give the landowner a certain portion of the harvest. 00:10:30.833 --> 00:10:32.942 That was kind of their rent. 00:10:32.942 --> 00:10:36.620 So that's what's going on here, and so it is. 00:10:36.620 --> 00:10:38.025 It's a very common practice in Jesus day. 00:10:38.025 --> 00:10:40.287 That's what's going on here. 00:10:40.287 --> 00:10:41.817 And so it it harvest time. 00:10:41.817 --> 00:10:57.125 The landowner would come back, uh, he would send somebody to the vineyard because he doesn't live on this estate, but he would come back, uh, sending servants, and they would collect his portion of the harvest and then they would go about their business. 00:10:57.144 --> 00:10:58.610 All right, are you with me? 00:10:58.610 --> 00:11:01.894 All right, so here is what we have. 00:11:01.894 --> 00:11:13.565 We have this beautiful vineyard, a picture of a vineyard, you know, you conjure this up in your mind and it's bearing this beautiful fruit and it's worked by these tenant farmers. 00:11:13.565 --> 00:11:17.129 But then it takes this bitter turn, shocking turn. 00:11:17.999 --> 00:11:28.914 Um, when harvest time is near, here's what happens the master sends his servants to collect his portion of the fruit, and so at least three servants go to this farm. 00:11:28.914 --> 00:11:32.414 They're supposed to, supposed to bring the fruit back to the owner. 00:11:32.414 --> 00:11:35.333 But what happens when they arrive at the owner? 00:11:35.333 --> 00:11:36.518 If the estate? 00:11:36.518 --> 00:11:38.001 Here's what? 00:11:38.001 --> 00:11:51.789 Here's what happens in the parable One of the servants that the tenants kill one of the servants, they kick out another, or they kill another, sorry and they stone another. 00:11:51.789 --> 00:11:56.144 So they beat one, kill one, stone one. 00:11:56.144 --> 00:11:56.705 That's how it goes. 00:11:56.946 --> 00:12:03.166 All right, farmers, gracious, has hired these tenants or the landowner. 00:12:03.166 --> 00:12:07.405 He sends service to get his service, to get his portion of the harvest. 00:12:07.405 --> 00:12:12.799 And this is how they're treated Once killed, one stoned, think about that. 00:12:12.799 --> 00:12:13.783 And one's beaten. 00:12:13.783 --> 00:12:15.875 So what happens? 00:12:15.875 --> 00:12:19.806 The the the landowner gets word of this and what's he do? 00:12:19.806 --> 00:12:24.626 He sends more servants and the same thing happens to those servants. 00:12:24.626 --> 00:12:26.642 Think about that. 00:12:26.642 --> 00:12:28.181 Beaten and killed. 00:12:28.181 --> 00:12:30.383 Well then, what happens? 00:12:30.383 --> 00:12:35.769 The landowner thinks, well, let me do this. 00:12:35.769 --> 00:12:38.414 And you know what happens. 00:12:38.414 --> 00:12:43.394 The landowner sends his son to collect his portion of the fruit. 00:12:43.394 --> 00:12:46.274 And what's the story? 00:12:46.274 --> 00:12:51.355 Say the tenants put him outside of the vineyard and they kill him. 00:12:51.355 --> 00:12:52.019 That's the story. 00:12:52.019 --> 00:12:54.414 What do we do with that? 00:12:55.980 --> 00:12:58.993 You say, where, where is the patience of God seen in this? 00:12:58.993 --> 00:13:05.408 Well, let me, let me give you these allegorical elements to kind of tell you what's going on. 00:13:05.408 --> 00:13:08.582 The landowner represents who do you think? 00:13:08.582 --> 00:13:09.666 God? 00:13:09.666 --> 00:13:10.067 There you go. 00:13:10.067 --> 00:13:15.264 The vineyard represents Israel, and here's how we know that God's chosen. 00:13:15.284 --> 00:13:18.355 5-7, for the vineyard of the Lord of Host is the house of Israel. 00:13:18.355 --> 00:13:23.414 Israel was God's chosen people, and so there's the vineyard. 00:13:23.414 --> 00:13:32.369 And they're a vineyard because they were chosen to bear spiritual fruit in a dark world. 00:13:32.369 --> 00:13:35.375 They were to be a light to the nations. 00:13:35.375 --> 00:13:41.307 And so they were a vineyard supposed to bear this fruit of worship and obedience to God. 00:13:41.307 --> 00:13:53.344 And then you have in the story the tenants, who represent the chief priests and elders, the temple leaders, the religious leaders of Israel to whom Jesus is speaking. 00:13:53.344 --> 00:14:08.162 And then you have the servants who were sent, and the servants represent the prophets of the Old Testament who were sent to Israel to warn them because Israel didn't always do well about bearing spiritual fruit, so God would send prophets. 00:14:08.162 --> 00:14:11.416 And then, finally, the son. 00:14:11.416 --> 00:14:14.903 Who do you think that might represent Jesus Christ? 00:14:14.903 --> 00:14:18.629 So where do we see God's patience? 00:14:18.970 --> 00:14:30.426 Well, in the story we would have expected the vineyard owner to do what to the tenants after they, you know, destroyed his servants, obliterated his servants? 00:14:30.426 --> 00:14:36.217 I kill him, punish him, but you know what he does. 00:14:36.217 --> 00:14:39.042 This, this landowner, by grace. 00:14:39.042 --> 00:14:41.586 He says you know what, I'm going to give him another shot. 00:14:41.586 --> 00:14:47.220 And he sends more servants to collect his portion of the harvest. 00:14:47.220 --> 00:14:49.464 The same thing happens. 00:14:49.464 --> 00:14:54.157 So now, what would you expect the landowner to do? 00:14:54.157 --> 00:14:56.500 Kill him, right. 00:14:56.500 --> 00:14:58.683 Like this is the ancient world, they don't play. 00:14:58.683 --> 00:15:11.493 But shockingly, the owner is so patient and he gives the tenants another chance and he says I know what I'm going to do. 00:15:11.493 --> 00:15:13.537 I'm not going to send more servants, I'm going to send my son. 00:15:13.537 --> 00:15:18.510 They'll respect him, but they don't. 00:15:18.510 --> 00:15:23.620 They put the son outside of the vineyard and kill him. 00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:29.253 Well again, what do we do with this? 00:15:29.293 --> 00:15:31.456 God called Israel to be his people, remember? 00:15:31.456 --> 00:15:38.225 He rescued them out of Egypt, brought them through the wilderness, gave them this promised land full of milk and honey. 00:15:38.225 --> 00:15:39.831 He gave them the law. 00:15:39.831 --> 00:15:46.524 He said here's how you, here's how you can bear spiritual fruit, here's how you worship, here's how you, here's how you obey. 00:15:46.524 --> 00:15:48.894 Awful, awful. 00:15:49.234 --> 00:15:58.629 The people constantly turned their backs on God, and God would bring some form of light, punishment upon them and they would say oh Lord, we're sorry, help us, we're going to change. 00:15:58.629 --> 00:16:00.874 And then God would bless them. 00:16:00.874 --> 00:16:01.595 And what would happen? 00:16:01.595 --> 00:16:04.421 It's recapitulation, over and over and over Same story. 00:16:04.421 --> 00:16:11.500 They would turn back to false idols, they would go back to their pagan ways and they would disobey and make a mockery of God. 00:16:11.500 --> 00:16:23.304 And so the point of the story is this God could have wiped Israel out way early on, after he brought them out of Egypt, and they were complaining and grumbling in the wilderness, like so many of us do. 00:16:23.304 --> 00:16:26.013 He could have just said hey, I'm done with you. 00:16:26.013 --> 00:16:32.883 And how many times could the Lord have said hey, I'm done with you, are you, are, you, are me. 00:16:35.149 --> 00:16:37.413 But you know what God did in the Old Testament? 00:16:37.413 --> 00:16:39.414 Over and over and over. 00:16:39.414 --> 00:16:50.125 He sent his prophets to confront the people and say you need to repent or you're going to face judgment. 00:16:50.125 --> 00:16:56.697 And they would reject the prophets and persecute the prophets over and over. 00:16:56.697 --> 00:16:57.980 And God again. 00:16:57.980 --> 00:17:01.625 He could have been very justly. 00:17:01.625 --> 00:17:04.795 He could have said hey, you've rejected my prophet, I'm done with you. 00:17:04.795 --> 00:17:08.682 But oh, aren't you grateful for the patience of God. 00:17:08.682 --> 00:17:10.124 Hallelujah. 00:17:10.124 --> 00:17:12.433 Over and over and over. 00:17:12.433 --> 00:17:19.609 God gave them chance after chance, but then God sent even another servant after all of his prophets had been rejected. 00:17:19.609 --> 00:17:24.119 You know, the people might listen for a while and then they turn their backs on the message of the prophets. 00:17:24.119 --> 00:17:25.542 So God does something else. 00:17:26.570 --> 00:17:32.861 We read this in the Gospels before Jesus comes on the scene for his earthly ministry, god sends another prophet. 00:17:32.861 --> 00:17:33.281 Who is it? 00:17:33.281 --> 00:17:35.444 John the Baptist. 00:17:35.444 --> 00:17:38.095 And John the Baptist. 00:17:38.095 --> 00:17:41.842 He was going around to the religious leaders and to Israel. 00:17:41.842 --> 00:17:42.844 And what was his message? 00:17:42.844 --> 00:17:45.630 Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:17:45.630 --> 00:17:56.630 And he was baptizing people saying listen, you're not pleasing God, you're not bearing spiritual fruit Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:17:56.630 --> 00:18:02.397 And he was telling them your Messiah is here, the kingdom of God has come. 00:18:02.397 --> 00:18:03.920 You better get your life right. 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:07.105 That's the point. 00:18:08.211 --> 00:18:14.339 So we see this over and over and over God's grace and his patience towards his people. 00:18:14.339 --> 00:18:16.041 But you know what? 00:18:16.041 --> 00:18:18.384 They rejected John the Baptist, the religious leaders. 00:18:18.384 --> 00:18:22.942 They rejected John the Baptist as well. 00:18:22.942 --> 00:18:27.354 And so what happens? 00:18:27.354 --> 00:18:30.893 Jesus still doesn't wipe them out. 00:18:30.893 --> 00:18:31.875 He says here's what I'm going to do. 00:18:31.875 --> 00:18:34.054 I'm going to send my son. 00:18:34.054 --> 00:18:36.125 They'll listen to him. 00:18:36.125 --> 00:18:43.798 But no, as they rejected the prophets, they also rejected the son. 00:18:43.798 --> 00:18:46.789 They wanted to be rulers, they want to be the gods. 00:18:46.789 --> 00:18:50.798 Remember, in the story it's like if we get rid of the son, we can have the inheritance. 00:18:50.798 --> 00:18:52.907 That's what Adam and Eve wanted. 00:18:52.907 --> 00:19:00.503 They weren't comfortable satisfied being under the kingship of the Lord. 00:19:00.503 --> 00:19:06.556 They wanted to be their own gods, and that's what the religious leaders in the story want. 00:19:06.556 --> 00:19:10.608 They want to be the Messiah themselves. 00:19:10.608 --> 00:19:15.936 They want the authority, and so they reject the son. 00:19:15.936 --> 00:19:21.692 So we see here that God is extremely patient. 00:19:21.791 --> 00:19:31.833 But the second point, quickly, is this Look, if you would, at verses 41 through 43. 00:19:31.833 --> 00:19:41.573 So, jesus, let's back up just a little bit. 00:19:41.573 --> 00:19:47.164 So Jesus asked that, after he tells us parable, he asked the religious leaders. 00:19:47.164 --> 00:19:51.476 He says what do you think the landowner is going to do when he comes? 00:19:51.476 --> 00:19:53.228 What's he going to do? 00:19:53.228 --> 00:19:53.970 That's tenants. 00:19:53.970 --> 00:19:56.056 And here's what the Pharisees say. 00:19:56.056 --> 00:20:04.538 They said to him he will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to the other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons. 00:20:05.987 --> 00:20:13.351 Listen, listen, the Pharisees and the religious leaders. 00:20:13.351 --> 00:20:18.144 They don't understand yet that Jesus is talking about them. 00:20:18.144 --> 00:20:20.371 So they hear the parable. 00:20:20.371 --> 00:20:21.535 You see what Jesus is doing. 00:20:21.535 --> 00:20:25.131 He says hey, what do you think this landowner should have done? 00:20:25.131 --> 00:20:28.738 Kill them, give them a wretched death, you know a painful death. 00:20:28.738 --> 00:20:30.007 Don't make it quick. 00:20:30.007 --> 00:20:38.789 And what they're doing, by their own words, they're bringing judgment upon themselves Because they are the tenants in the parable. 00:20:38.789 --> 00:20:43.016 And so then Jesus says have you never read the scriptures? 00:20:43.016 --> 00:20:45.779 The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. 00:20:45.779 --> 00:20:48.588 This was the Lord's doing and it's marvelous in our eyes. 00:20:48.588 --> 00:21:01.955 And therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to the people producing fruits, and the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. 00:21:01.955 --> 00:21:12.538 The question what should the owner do to the tenants? 00:21:12.538 --> 00:21:16.132 And the Pharisees say destroy him. 00:21:19.105 --> 00:21:22.611 Jesus quotes then from Psalm 118. 00:21:22.611 --> 00:21:31.020 He says to them he talks about this stone that's rejected, that has become the cornerstone. 00:21:31.020 --> 00:21:33.730 Now you've got to understand that. 00:21:33.730 --> 00:21:44.357 The Hebrews are these religious leaders, they're experts in the Hebrew scriptures and Jesus is kind of poking at them here and he says hey, do you not know the scriptures? 00:21:44.357 --> 00:21:47.125 Do you not get what this means? 00:21:47.125 --> 00:21:50.064 And he quotes from Psalm 118, 21 and 22. 00:21:50.064 --> 00:21:50.164 Here. 00:21:50.164 --> 00:21:58.922 And you know that scripture, you know the stone that's been rejected now becomes the cornerstone. 00:21:58.922 --> 00:22:00.164 That's a bit cryptic, isn't it? 00:22:00.164 --> 00:22:05.075 But thankfully, this text from Psalm 118 crystal clear. 00:22:05.075 --> 00:22:09.692 Here's what he says Peter filled with the Holy this is verse eight, by the way. 00:22:10.586 --> 00:22:36.940 Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them, rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all of the people of Israel that, by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead by him, this man is standing before you. 00:22:36.940 --> 00:22:39.448 Well, now listen, this. 00:22:39.448 --> 00:22:52.164 Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone, and there is salvation and no one else, for there is no other name under heaven and earth by which men must be saved. 00:22:52.164 --> 00:22:53.227 So here it is. 00:22:53.227 --> 00:22:57.938 Peter makes it clear the stone is Jesus, the builders are the rulers of Israel. 00:22:57.938 --> 00:23:01.892 The rejected stone was the crucifixion of Jesus. 00:23:01.892 --> 00:23:04.897 The cornerstone is the resurrection of Jesus. 00:23:04.897 --> 00:23:12.317 Peter adds that it's only through Jesus, this cornerstone, that men might be saved. 00:23:12.317 --> 00:23:16.253 So here's what Jesus is saying. 00:23:16.294 --> 00:23:17.698 It's what Peter is saying. 00:23:17.698 --> 00:23:20.164 God is called Israel to be the builders of His kingdom. 00:23:20.164 --> 00:23:26.678 What a privilege, a task that they could never uphold. 00:23:26.678 --> 00:23:33.164 But by grace, god sent His only Son to do for them what they could not do for themselves. 00:23:33.164 --> 00:23:42.971 He came to show them, to teach them and to fulfill the law, but they rejected Him. 00:23:42.971 --> 00:23:46.759 They rejected the stone that God sent. 00:23:48.249 --> 00:23:50.395 And then Jesus, what he does here? 00:23:50.395 --> 00:23:53.164 He says he's saying I know you're going to kill me. 00:23:53.164 --> 00:23:57.144 The stone is going to be rejected, in other words, it's going to be crucified. 00:23:57.144 --> 00:24:04.536 But I want you to know you think you've done away with the stone, but God's going to raise up that stone and he's going to make it a cornerstone. 00:24:04.536 --> 00:24:16.105 Jesus knows, he foretells that His rejection will ultimately result in His crucifixion, followed by His resurrection. 00:24:16.586 --> 00:24:20.782 And in ancient structures such as the temple, the cornerstone was foundational. 00:24:20.782 --> 00:24:25.936 You take away the cornerstone, the whole building will collapse. 00:24:25.936 --> 00:24:46.164 And what Jesus is doing here, what Peter is saying in Acts 4, is listen, you religious leaders, I don't care how religious you are, how moral you think you are, how ethical you think you are, how good at worship you think you are, if you do not have Jesus, your religiosity, your temple will collapse. 00:24:46.164 --> 00:24:49.932 And, as a matter of fact, the temple did collapse in AD 70. 00:24:49.932 --> 00:24:52.256 Not AD 70. 00:24:57.451 --> 00:25:00.336 And so Jesus just makes the warning explicit, doesn't he? 00:25:00.336 --> 00:25:02.907 Here's what he says. 00:25:02.907 --> 00:25:04.570 He says you know what? 00:25:04.570 --> 00:25:07.876 The kingdom is going to be taken from you. 00:25:07.876 --> 00:25:13.029 I've given you every chance in the world, but you reject me. 00:25:13.029 --> 00:25:14.505 The kingdom's, not yours. 00:25:14.505 --> 00:25:16.904 He says I'm going to put you out of the vineyard. 00:25:16.904 --> 00:25:28.384 And by their own words, the Pharisees, the religious leaders' own words, they know God is just in doing this. 00:25:28.384 --> 00:25:32.948 They don't deserve the kingdom, they don't deserve to work in the vineyard anymore. 00:25:32.948 --> 00:25:38.851 And so Jesus is saying you have exhausted the patience of God, you're out. 00:25:38.851 --> 00:25:45.450 You're giving the vineyard to people who will actually bear fruit. 00:25:45.450 --> 00:25:52.750 So we see the beloved, that we can exhaust the patience of God. 00:25:54.779 --> 00:25:56.567 So how do we respond to God's patience? 00:25:56.567 --> 00:25:57.463 How do we respond? 00:25:57.463 --> 00:26:07.786 Last point let's think about the glory of his patience. 00:26:07.786 --> 00:26:12.326 Friends, we're more like the temple leaders than we'd like to admit. 00:26:12.326 --> 00:26:17.268 How often have we been stubborn, not followed the Lord? 00:26:17.268 --> 00:26:19.740 How many of you know? 00:26:19.740 --> 00:26:32.128 None of us deserve to be tenants in his vineyard, none of us deserve to be in his kingdom, none of us, in and of ourselves, can produce spiritual fruit. 00:26:32.128 --> 00:26:35.380 That's the point. 00:26:35.380 --> 00:26:41.670 None of us has loved God with our whole hearts, none of us have perfectly loved our neighbors as ourselves out. 00:26:42.839 --> 00:26:53.911 But secondly, the apex of his patience is seen in the sending of his son, who became a sacrifice, in the substitution for us, to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. 00:26:53.911 --> 00:26:58.930 And through Jesus we don't deserve to be in the kingdom, but through Jesus. 00:26:58.930 --> 00:27:07.221 Here's what happens that when Jesus died and was raised, the gates to the kingdom opened wide. 00:27:07.221 --> 00:27:15.141 So anybody who comes to the Lord, jesus Christ, by grace, through faith, they can enter the kingdom. 00:27:15.141 --> 00:27:18.945 Are you grateful for the patience of God? 00:27:18.945 --> 00:27:22.729 But he has offered us grace upon grace. 00:27:22.819 --> 00:27:24.005 So how do we respond to this. 00:27:24.005 --> 00:27:36.603 Well, here's what I encourage you to do worship him, treasure him, love him, adore him, be in awe of him, worship him with all of your hearts. 00:27:36.603 --> 00:27:40.366 We make most of his patience. 00:27:40.366 --> 00:27:54.430 Hear me when we see his patience, his love, his mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we fall at Jesus' feet and say oh, be my Lord, be my savior, I give myself wholly to you. 00:27:54.430 --> 00:27:59.606 Receive Jesus, I mean really receive Jesus. 00:27:59.606 --> 00:28:00.442 Follow him. 00:28:00.442 --> 00:28:02.982 John 1 12 says. 00:28:02.982 --> 00:28:12.487 But to all who did receive Jesus, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God and see, to receive Jesus. 00:28:12.528 --> 00:28:13.148 Here's what it is. 00:28:13.148 --> 00:28:15.025 It is to see our own depravity. 00:28:15.025 --> 00:28:18.665 It is to see that you can never earn your way to God. 00:28:18.665 --> 00:28:26.009 It is to see, as Peter said in Acts 4, that he is the only way of salvation. 00:28:26.009 --> 00:28:28.785 You've not made that decision. 00:28:28.785 --> 00:28:31.261 You can make it today, gloriously. 00:28:31.501 --> 00:28:38.507 Make that decision today, and most of you in here you would say, oh yeah, I've received Jesus. 00:28:38.507 --> 00:28:48.464 You know, I glory in the patience of God, I relish his patience, I revel in his patience. 00:28:48.464 --> 00:28:51.561 Let me ask you this what is? 00:28:51.561 --> 00:28:53.188 I think Israel would have said this. 00:28:53.188 --> 00:28:58.067 I think the temple leaders would have said this how do you know that you're a real follower of Jesus? 00:28:58.067 --> 00:29:03.551 How do you know that you really have received him? 00:29:03.551 --> 00:29:08.526 Let me tell you how it's by the production of spiritual fruit. 00:29:08.526 --> 00:29:11.787 Jesus said you can do nothing apart from me. 00:29:11.787 --> 00:29:22.164 So you, a person who does not know Christ, cannot produce lasting eternal fruit, lasting eternal fruit. 00:29:22.420 --> 00:29:24.346 Here's what Jesus says in John 14, 21,. 00:29:24.346 --> 00:29:28.604 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves me. 00:29:28.604 --> 00:29:29.500 How do you know? 00:29:29.500 --> 00:29:33.444 You love Jesus, you're following him, you're keeping his commandments. 00:29:33.444 --> 00:29:35.887 Now, don't misunderstand me. 00:29:35.887 --> 00:29:38.489 It doesn't mean that we clean up ourselves and we come to Jesus. 00:29:38.489 --> 00:29:40.226 No, we come to him. 00:29:40.226 --> 00:29:42.843 Give ourselves fully to him, your poor and spirit. 00:29:42.843 --> 00:29:53.162 Recognize our spirit, recognizing our spiritual bankruptcy, but we say Lord, I come to you, you clean me up, you clean me up. 00:29:54.759 --> 00:30:03.334 So, spiritual worship, spiritual fruit, namely worship and obedience, it's not the means of salvation, but it's the evidence. 00:30:03.334 --> 00:30:13.942 So, somebody who says well, I had an emotional experience at the altar and I prayed to ask Jesus in my heart, which the sinner's prayer is nowhere in the Bible you want to be saved? 00:30:13.942 --> 00:30:16.595 Yes, you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord. 00:30:16.595 --> 00:30:22.125 But what did Peter say when thousands of people in Acts 2 were cut to the heart. 00:30:22.125 --> 00:30:24.470 He said repent and be baptized. 00:30:24.470 --> 00:30:27.355 Without repentance there is no true faith. 00:30:27.355 --> 00:30:37.315 So the way you know that you've come to Jesus, truly received Jesus, is by the spiritual fruit that's produced in your life. 00:30:37.315 --> 00:30:45.355 And some of you have said, yes, I'm a Christian, but the fruit of your life doesn't match up with that testimony. 00:30:46.778 --> 00:30:48.079 But thank God for his patience. 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:49.742 Thank God for his patience. 00:30:49.742 --> 00:30:54.076 He should have wiped you out, he should have wiped me out at times, but he didn't. 00:30:54.076 --> 00:31:05.226 Let me remind you, you can exhaust his patience so you can respond with glory and worship I hope that's what you do but you can also respond with exploitation, and here's what I mean by that. 00:31:05.226 --> 00:31:11.247 I fear sometimes that we focus too much on the love, the mercy, the cuddly parts of God. 00:31:11.247 --> 00:31:22.650 Right, and we should love his mercy, we should celebrate his love and his patience and his beauty and his grace, on and on and on. 00:31:22.650 --> 00:31:39.306 But I'm afraid that we focus so much on that that we forgot that he's also a God of righteous anger, he's a God of wrath, he's a God of judgment, and so this is kind of the attitude that I see in the modern church. 00:31:39.306 --> 00:31:51.886 It's this Christians lift, some supposed Christians lift however they want and they're like well, god's so nice, jesus is my buddy, he's not gonna let anything bad happen to me, he would never judge me. 00:31:52.816 --> 00:31:53.738 Have you read your Bible? 00:31:53.738 --> 00:31:56.924 Were you listening to this text just now? 00:31:56.924 --> 00:32:00.661 The kingdom of heaven will be taken from you. 00:32:00.661 --> 00:32:01.983 That's what he tells the leaders. 00:32:03.394 --> 00:32:05.961 How do we exhaust God's patience? 00:32:05.961 --> 00:32:07.484 Number one it's through unrepentance. 00:32:07.484 --> 00:32:13.065 If you're living in habitual sin, you're on dangerous territory, friend. 00:32:13.065 --> 00:32:24.355 The longer you reject God's spirit calling you to repent, the softer his voice gets, and one day your heart may become completely hardened. 00:32:24.355 --> 00:32:26.144 Let me just read you this text. 00:32:26.144 --> 00:32:26.747 I'm almost done. 00:32:26.747 --> 00:32:28.375 I promise Romans 2, 4 and 5. 00:32:28.997 --> 00:32:30.060 Or do you presume? 00:32:30.060 --> 00:32:34.375 Presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? 00:32:34.375 --> 00:32:35.097 There it is. 00:32:35.097 --> 00:32:45.048 Do you presume on the riches of God's kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 00:32:45.048 --> 00:32:46.681 It's a point of it. 00:32:46.681 --> 00:32:48.550 His patience is not so. 00:32:48.550 --> 00:32:49.355 You can go on living how you want. 00:32:49.355 --> 00:32:51.640 It's so that you repent. 00:32:51.640 --> 00:32:54.686 He's giving you a chance, and here's what he says. 00:32:56.036 --> 00:33:05.730 But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself. 00:33:05.730 --> 00:33:08.940 How does that fit into your cuddly picture of God? 00:33:08.940 --> 00:33:18.224 God's patient with you, not that you can continue in disobedience. 00:33:18.224 --> 00:33:20.176 That you might repent. 00:33:20.176 --> 00:33:23.344 If you need to do that today, I pray you will. 00:33:23.344 --> 00:33:29.105 It's one way to exploit or exhaust God's presence. 00:33:29.105 --> 00:33:31.201 Another way is through self-righteousness. 00:33:31.201 --> 00:33:35.980 This is the issue with the religious leaders in Jesus' day to whom he's talking. 00:33:35.980 --> 00:33:37.463 They didn't see their need for a savior. 00:33:37.463 --> 00:33:40.818 They thought they could actually be good enough. 00:33:40.818 --> 00:33:47.150 And that's the slap in the face of the savior that died for you. 00:33:47.150 --> 00:33:53.375 Because why did he need to come if you could pull your own self up by your bootstraps and make it yourself? 00:33:53.375 --> 00:33:54.117 You can't. 00:33:54.117 --> 00:34:04.807 You've got to recognize the cross and say the cross says I've sinned and fall short of the glory of God and Jesus is my only hope. 00:34:05.655 --> 00:34:11.208 And finally, obviously, how we complete total rejection of Jesus. 00:34:11.208 --> 00:34:17.307 And I've seen this with people I'm ministering to a couple of people right now who God is speaking to their hearts. 00:34:17.307 --> 00:34:24.188 They're not Christians yet and I believe you ought to really think about whether or not you want to be a Christian. 00:34:24.188 --> 00:34:33.722 I'm not a high pressure salesman when it comes to the gospel and Jesus has count the cost, but there's a thing called waiting too long. 00:34:33.722 --> 00:34:37.027 Don't exhaust his patience. 00:34:37.027 --> 00:34:38.297