Luke chapter 20. We want to try
to consider this very, very important parable that the Lord gives found
in Luke 20 verse 9 down through verse 18. This parable of the
vineyard and the husbandman. Let's read verse 17 and 18 once
again. Luke 20, 17, 18. And he beheld them and said, What is this then
that is written? The stone which the builders
rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. Whosoever shall fall upon that
stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it
will grind him to powder. So I'm taking a title from the
word there found in verse 17, Christ, the rejected stone, is
the head of the corner. He is the Lord of the corner. He is Lord of heaven and of earth. He is Lord and He is the chief
cornerstone, the only foundation, the only foundation of salvation
that God has laid, and He's laid just one foundation. It's not foundations. One foundation
that He has laid and that one foundation we know is none other
than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is Lord and Christ. Peter at Pentecost reminded the
people, God had made that same Jesus whom you crucified, God
had made Him both Lord and Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
only foundation stone He's the chief cornerstone that God has
laid for His gospel church. Indeed, the top lady had it right. He is the Rock of Ages. Let me
hide myself in Him. We read in Isaiah 28, 16, Therefore
thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation
stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation,
he that believeth on him shall not make haste. Never be confounded,
never be confused. We read in 1 Corinthians 3, verse
11, other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid,
and that is Christ Jesus the Lord. Now, do you have a foundation? Are you resting upon That sinking
sand? Or are you resting upon that
rock of ages? The Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this
quotation from Psalm, this is a quotation from Psalm 118 that
is found in verse 17. But I like what the Lord also
adds in that Psalm, in the next verse, Psalm 118 verse 23. And this is one of my all-time
favorite sayings. This is the Lord's doing. and
it's marvelous in our eyes. Salvation is the Lord's doing
and it is marvelous in our eyes. Everything that God does is of
the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. This Psalm 118 is
also quoted and we'll read in a little bit in Acts chapter
four. In Ephesians chapter 2 and 1
Peter chapter 2, it's quoted again in Romans 9 and Romans
10. The Word of the Lord makes much
of the Word of the Lord, does it not? All those references
there are showing us clearly that the Lord Jesus Christ is
the only way of salvation To reject this cornerstone is to
bring upon yourself and to invite the wrath of God upon you. Whomsoever shall fall upon that
stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall will
grind him to powder. Now, he that believeth on the
Son hath life, right? He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. Lord, give me faith that I might
rest upon the rock of ages, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said,
I am the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. No man come to
the Father but by and through me. There is no other way. But
this foundation that God hath laid, may he give us grace to
build upon and rest upon that foundation. Those who are blessed
of God to fall upon, bow and submit and worship the Lord Jesus
Christ. Those who build upon that foundation
of him, Christ and him crucified shall be, notice this word, shall
be shall be, verse 18, Whomsoever shall fall upon this stone shall
be broken. Now, it's a good thing to be
broken, to be broken by the Lord. And I'll tell you why. To be
broken is to be humbled. To be broken is to be convicted.
Listen to this Psalm 34. You remember this Psalm? The
Lord is nigh unto them of a broken heart. I want to be broken by
the Lord. He is neither of them of a broken
heart, and save us such as be of a contrite spirit. You see,
those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit, they bow
and submit unto the Lord Jesus Christ in the day of His power.
Remember, thy people shall be willing in the day of His power. Now, the meaning of the parable
is most obvious, is it not? Even the chief priest inscribed
They perceived, as it says in verse 19, they perceived that
He had spoken this parable against them. They even understood what
the Lord was teaching in this parable, how they rejected the
Son of Man and how they cried out away with Him, crucify Him,
we have no King but Caesar. Now, what is a parable? A parable
is a earthly story that represent a great, important spiritual
truth. The Lord, through the Gospels,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, gives these parables unto us.
This particular parable is found in Matthew, it's found in Mark
12, and it's found here also in Luke 20. It is given unto
us, And it's given to these people in that day to convict and condemn
them for their sin and rebellion against the Lord Jesus Christ.
But it's also given unto us as a caution and a warning lest
we neglect the gospel message and the privileges the Lord has
given unto us in sending the gospel to you right now at this
moment, this morning. Let us not presume that the Lord
will not remove the gospel witness from us, from this community,
from this country, and give it unto others if we neglect so
great salvation. The Lord has established the
vineyard of his people. Those in this story here where
it says the Lord, verse 9, He spake to the people this parable. A certain man planted a vineyard
and led it forth to the husbandmen and went into a far country for
a long time. The husbandmen are those Jewish
leaders who were following the law for salvation, the law of
Moses. And at a season he sent a servant
to the husbandman. The Lord sent many prophets of
old, that they should give him the fruit of the vineyard. But
the husbandman, those Jewish leaders, beat him and sent him
away, verse 11. Again, the Lord of the harvest,
the Lord of the vineyard, sent another servant, and they beat
him also, and treated him shamefully, sent him away empty, And again
the Lord sent a third servant. And they wounded him also and
cast him out. Then said the Lord of the vineyard,
What shall I do? I'll send my beloved son. We
know he's talking about himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the beloved son. That they would reverence him
when they see him. Verse 14, But when the husbandmen
saw, Him they reasoned among themselves saying, to some extent
they knew who He was. He's the heir. Let us kill Him
that we may have everything. So they cast Him out of the vineyard
and killed Him. What therefore shall the Lord
of the vineyard do unto them? What would you say? What would
you do to someone who treated someone that way? Call 911, call
the sheriff, lock them up. He shall come, the Lord of glory
shall come and destroy those wicked men, the husbandmen, and
shall give the vineyard to others. Now here he's referring to the
gospel being set to the Gentiles. So we have a blessing, we have
in them rejecting the gospel, we, we have a blessing. The Lord has established the
vineyard, He sent servants to these Jewish people. The Lord
sent many servants and prophets to help them, to show them, to
encourage them, to instruct them, but the nation of the Jews rejected
their message and they killed most of them. Turn back to Luke
chapter 13. Remember our Lord said this? Luke 13, 34. Luke 13, 34. Oh,
Jerusalem, Jerusalem. That's the husband. those natural descendants of
Abraham, which killed the prophets and stoned them that are sent
unto you, how often would I have gathered thy children together
as a hen does gather her brood under her wing, but you would
not have me to reign over you." Finally, the Lord in the parable,
the Lord and owner of the vineyards and his own well-beloved son,
that they should reverence the Son, but when they see Him as
the heir, they say, Come and let us kill Him. Now, turn over
just a few pages to John chapter 1. Remember where it says in
verse 11, John 1 verse 11, He came unto His own, His own received
Him not, but as many as received Him, To them gave he power and
right to become sons of God, even to them that believe on
his name, which were born not of blood, nor of the will of
the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. Verse 11, he came
into his own. and his own received him not."
Now, if you want to find Isaiah 53, I made a reference to this
while we were reading Isaiah 53. When they see him, instead
of worshiping and reverencing the Son, they say, Weigh with
him and crucify him, we will not have this man reign over
us. And all of that is being fulfilled
of what is said here in Isaiah 53 verse 1. Who hath believed,
I report, to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed. Verse 2,
Rather he shall go up before him as a tender plant, as a root
at a dry ground, He hath no form nor comeliness. When we shall
see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised
and rejected of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it was, our faces from him. He was despised, and
we esteemed him not." They did exactly what their wicked hearts
wanted to do, but they did what God had spoken that they would
do. He came unto His own, His own
received Him not." We know that the Lord is referring to Himself
here in His coming, in His rejection, and in His dying. Remember the
Lord said, no man takes my life from me. I have power to lay
it down. I have power to take it again. This commandment have
I received from my Father. In the fullness of the time,
God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
to redeem them that were under the law. And they said, come,
let us kill Him. Now turn back to Luke 19, verse
47. Remember they plotted and planned,
Luke 19, 47, and he taught daily in the temple, but the chief
priests and scribes and the chief of the people sought to, they
sought to, what's that word? Destroy him. Now, don't tell
me men are not sinners. Don't tell me that carnal mind
is not enmity against God. Someone said, if I'd been there,
I'd have stopped them. No, you wouldn't have. You'd
have been right with them. You'd have been right with those
Roman soldiers. Now, what should the Lord of
the vineyard do to these wicked men? The Lord asked this question
in verse 15. What should he do? Verse 16,
he answers his own question. He shall come and destroy these
wicked men, the husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard, the
blessings of the gospel, to others. He will come and justly destroy
them and give them exactly what they deserve. Now what do they
deserve? Judgment. The wages of sin is
death. And to give his vineyard to others. Now, when I read that and thought
about it, this scripture came to mind. John 10, 16. Other sheep
I have which are not of this fold, them I also must bring,
they shall hear my voice, and they shall be one fold and one
shepherd. Now, aren't you glad the Lord
has a people that will hear the gospel, that will believe the
gospel? Now, what are the lessons for
us today? What can we learn from this parable
right now this morning? What would I teach you concerning
this parable for you to take home with you this morning? Well, I can think of at least
three things. The first one is this. We see
the wickedness of men. The wickedness of men. The carnal
mind is enmity against God. That is true of every one of
us left to our own wicked heart. This book we call the Bible teaches
what we call total depravity. The total sinfulness of our own
wicked heart. Now, how did that happen? Well, there was a man named Adam. God created him upright in the
garden. Adam thought he knew a little
better than God. He thought he was smarter than
God. And he sinned against God. And it plunged not only Adam
into total ruin and sin, but it also plunged us into ruin
and sin. And Adam all died. Now, in Genesis
chapter 6 verse 5, This goes all the way back to the days
of Noah after the fall, after Adam sinned against God and pledged
Noah, Moses, and all of us into sin and wickedness. God saw,
here's Genesis 6, 5. Let me just read it to you. God
saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. This
is before the flood came. and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Now, was that true of Moses?
Was that true of Noah? Was that true of Abraham? That's
true of every human being. Every imagination of his thoughts,
only evil continually, that's why God sent that flood. and wiped out every person except
those in that boat, in that ark. And that's a picture of Christ,
those in that ark. Men left to their own wicked
heart would throw God off his throne this morning if they could
get to him. And that's exactly what those
wicked Jews wanted to do. We will not have this man to
reign over us. You really don't believe in total
depravity. You can look at other men and
you can say, ah, that man is a sinner. We see that play out
on the news every day, don't we? We see this man did that
wicked deed and this man did that wicked deed and we say in
our heart, oh, he's a wicked man. Right here is the problem. You'd do exactly the same thing
and more apart from God restraining grace. Say, well, I'd never do
that. You're deceived in your heart.
You would do that more if God did not restrain you. I've often
said this, and I'm sticking to it. If God removed the restraints,
His restraining hand from every human being, we'd all murder
each other by sundown." We'd all kill each other. I mean,
it's bad enough as God restrains wickedness. Sometimes He just
lets it go. And we see these mass murders
and different things. That's what we'd all do if God
just left us alone. Until you understand that's you,
you don't really believe you're a sinner. Now, when you say,
well, that man, that man, yeah, but right here. Right here. Do you see yourself that way?
Can you identify with Paul when he says, O wretched man, that
I am? That's me. That's me. The second thing we can learn
from this is the longsuffering of the Lord. He sent servant
after servant after servant with the word of the Lord. He sent
them Elijah. He sent them Elisha. He sent
them Jeremiah. He sent them Isaiah. He sent
them all these other prophets with the message of God declaring
the word of the Lord and they killed most of them. And the
Lord yet kept sending servants and servants and servants. He
called out those twelve apostles. One betrayed Him. He sent the
other eleven. 12 with the apostle Paul, and
sent them out preaching the gospel, preaching the gospel, all of
them died martyrs, and yet he still sends out servants to preach
the gospel. You see how long-suffering the
Lord is? Why didn't he just end this thing and wind it up? Send
us all to hell. Because God delights to show
mercy. He is long-suffering. And that's what we see in this
parable. We see the long-suffering of the Lord. Now, 2 Peter 3,
9, this is often misquoted. Let me just quote it for you.
This is the most misquoted verse in all the Bible. Did you know
that? The most misquoted verse, they always quote it, God is
not willing that any man should perish. Have you heard that?
That's not what that verse says. You see, they pick out the part
that's pleasing to the flesh. and minimizes the holiness of
God. The verse goes this way, God
is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. So who's he talking about? He's
long-suffering toward his elect, toward his people, and none of
those for whom Christ died can perish. The Lord is long-suffering
unto his people. He describes himself that way.
What does God say of himself? Well, if you want to turn with
me, you can. If not, I'll read it to you.
Over in Exodus 34, the Lord descended in a cloud, verse 5, and stood
with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. Now this
is what God says of Himself. Are you interested? Verse 6,
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord,
the Lord God, merciful, gracious, long-suffering, abundant in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity
and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the
guilty visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
upon the children of children to the third and fourth generation. And Moses made haste and bowed
his head toward the earth and worshipped God. Now, he is merciful,
he is long-suffering, but did you notice he says he will not
clear the guilty? God must somehow save us in such
a way that He doesn't violate His own holy character. And that
is the necessity of Christ being crucified for our sins. He is a God of all grace, the
Father of all mercy, the God of all comfort, and the God of
peace. That's what we see in the long
suffering of the Lord. I mean, you're not in hell yet.
You ought to be. The only reason you're not is
because God is long-suffering towards you. Now, the third thing
we see is the reality that judgment is a reality of the holy character
of God. Verse 18, Whosoever shall fall
upon that stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall
judgment. Judgment, judgment. On whomsoever
the stone of the gospel, the stone of God's justice shall
fall, the judgment of the gospel and the wrath of the Lamb shall
be eternally destroyed. Listen to this verse in Revelation
6. This is a strange prayer meeting
we read of in Revelation 6. And these folks, these folks
who the rock of the rock of ages was falling upon, they said to
the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face
of him that sitteth on the throne from the wrath of the Lamb, for
the great day of his wrath is come, who shall be able to stand? Only those in Christ. All those
that reject the gospel have nothing but a righteous holy judgment
to face before God with no hope of mercy, no hope of forgiveness,
no hope of grace. Turn with me to this scripture
found in Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, verse 28. You see, to forsake the Lord
Jesus Christ is to invite the wrath of God upon your soul.
Hebrews 10 verse 28, He that despised Moses' law died without
mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sore punishment,
you see that? Hebrews 10 verse 29, Suppose
you shall be thought worthy who have trodden underfoot the Son
of God, and have counted the blood of the covenant wherewith
he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done the spite
to the Spirit of grace. For we know him that hath said,
Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the
Lord. Again, the Lord shall judge his people." Verse 31, "...is
a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
I would encourage you to believe the gospel and rest upon the
Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to Matthew 7. Let me show
you what I'm trying to encourage you to believe the gospel. Matthew 7, 24. Therefore, whosoever
heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I likened him
unto a wise man, which built his house upon the rock. The
rain descended, the floods came, the wind blew and beat upon the
house, it fell not, for it was founded upon the rock. Everyone
that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not, will
not believe, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built
his house upon the sand. Now upon which foundation are
you building? sand or rock. And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the wind blew, and it beat upon the
house, and it fell. For it was great, and the fall
of it was great. And it came to pass, when the
Lord had ended thee, saying, The people were astonished at
his doctrine, for he taught them as one having authority." Remember
they said before, where did you get that authority? Not as described. Look back at verse 18. Luke 20
verse 18. Whosoever shall fall upon that
stone shall be broken. Now we know this stone here,
who is this stone? Christ the Lord. Christ and Him
crucified. Whosoever shall fall, bow, and
submit, believe, rest upon that stone shall be broken. To be broken is to be blessed.
To be broken is to receive mercy from the Lord. It's only of the
Lord's mercies that we are not consumed. Whosoever shall fall
on this stone, this foundation stone that God has established
shall be humbled, humbled to the point of trusting Him for
all of salvation. Now, I want you to consider this
personally right now in your heart before God. Have you, are
you, falling upon this stone, this rock? And have you been
broken in your heart, broken in your heart? The Lord is nigh
unto them of a broken heart, save us such as be of a contrite
spirit. May the Lord be pleased to do
a work of grace in our heart and to make us new creatures
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this scripture is quoted
three other times I want to read here. Turn to Acts chapter 4.
Acts chapter 4. Look at verse 9, "...if we this
day be examined of the good deed done to this impotent man by
what means he is made whole." This is Acts chapter 4 verse
10. Be it known unto you and to all the people, that by the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God
raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here
before you whole." Talking about this crippled man who was healed.
This is that stone which was set at Nod of you builders, which
has become the head of the corner. Now look at verse 12 carefully.
Neither is there salvation in any other, For there is no other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. It's the same message, is it
not? Now, turn to one other reference I wanna look at. If you'll find
Ephesians chapter two, is also given in Romans 10 and Romans
nine, but let's read Ephesians chapter two, verse 19. Ephesians
2, 19. Now therefore, now therefore
you are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints in the household of God, and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in
whom ye also are built together for habitation of God through
the Spirit. Underscore these three words,
Jesus Christ Himself. Neither is there salvation in
any other. You see, the preaching of the
gospel is setting forth the personal work of Christ. Now, in closing,
let's read this. Find 1 Peter 2. And here's the
other reference that is made to that foundation stone that
God has laid. 1 Peter 2. Verse 1, Wherefore, laying aside
all malice, and all guile, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking,
as newborn babe, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may
grow thereby. If so be ye tasted, the Lord is gracious to whom
coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but
children of God and precious. You also, as lively stones, build
up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore, also
it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone elect and precious, he that believeth on him shall
not be confounded." There's that foundation stone set forth. You
see, "...unto you therefore which believe," read verse 7, "...he
is precious unto them which be disobedient, the stone which
the builders disallowed, refused, the same is made the head of
the corner, A stone of stumbling to them, a rock of offense to
them, even to them that stumble at the word being disobedient,
whereunto also they were appointed. But you are a chosen generation,
verse 9, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people,
that you should show forth the praises of him who called you
out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you see how they used
the Word of God and preached Christ that stone, the Rock of
Ages. Now may God be pleased to give
us Holy Spirit conviction. Holy Spirit conviction. May we,
by the grace of God, fall upon that foundation and be broken,
be convicted of our sin. You see, to miss Holy Spirit
conviction is to miss true repentance. To miss true repentance is to
miss faith in Christ. Repentance toward God leads to
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. To miss faith in Christ is to
miss salvation that is in The Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me read this and I'll
send you home. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth
my word, and believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from
death unto life. May the Lord bless you to believe
the gospel.