We know that salvation is the
work of the triune God. God the Father chose an innumerable
host before the foundation of the world and gave them to his
Son. God the Son, in the fullness
of the time, was made of a woman, that he might redeem those people
from the curse of the law. And God the Holy Spirit applies
There's so great salvation to the hearts of his chosen people. Now, if you will, let's turn
to Mark chapter 12. We're continuing to study from
the gospel according to Mark. Mark chapter 12. Our text begins with the word
and. which is of course a connecting
word and it connects this chapter to the previous one and tells
us that what we are reading took place on the third day in the
week in which the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. And Mark tells us he began to
speak unto them by parables, that is plural. And yet he only records this
one, the one we are going to look at today. Matthew, in the
Gospel of Matthew, we also read that our Lord on this day spoke
the parable of the two sons, the ten virgins, and the parable
of the talents. And he began to speak unto them
by parables. would include, and especially
include, those who we saw last week came to him and asked him,
by what authority doest thou these things? And we explained
that by these things, it meant the fact that he took charge
of the temple, cleansing it, and that he was teaching in the
temple. By what authority doest thou
these things? The chief priest, the scribes,
and the elders, that is, the religious leaders of the nation
of Israel. Of course, his disciples were
there as well. But I wanted to point that out,
and he began to speak unto them by parables. them, of course,
the chief rulers of the nation of Israel. And here's the parable. And I have two parts to the message
this morning. First, I want us to look at the
parable itself. It is called the parable of the
vineyard. A certain man planted a vineyard
and set a hedge about it and digged a place for the wine fat
and built a tower. let it out to husbandmen and
went into a far country. And at the season he sent to
the husbandmen a servant that he might receive from the husbandmen
of the fruit of the vineyard. And they caught him and beat
him and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another
servant. And at him they cast stones and
wounded him in the head and sent him away shamefully. And again
he sent another, and him they killed, and many others, beating
some and killing some. Having yet therefore one son,
his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying,
They will reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among
themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the
inheritance shall be ours.' And they took him, and killed him,
and cast him out of the vineyard." So here's the parable. It's very
easy to understand. First of all, the certain man
who planted the vineyard represents God the Father. A vineyard is
a place of grapevines. And a vineyard just doesn't appear. Now this world, this earth, is
under the curse because of Adam's sin. And you know what does appear
anywhere, everywhere? Weeds. But for a vineyard to
appear, someone has done some work. And the work here is ascribed
to God the Father. He set a hedge about it. Now
this is necessary to keep out those animals and things that
would destroy the vines. And then not only that, he digged
a place for the wine fat. That's where the grapes would
be squeezed to produce the fruit of the vineyard, that is, the
juice of the vineyard. And then also he built a tower
Now a high tower was necessary for watchmen to get up in the
tower and to watch, to make sure that no one would harm the vineyard,
that no one would destroy the vineyard. So that part of the
parable is very easy to understand. It represents God the Father.
Now I want you to hold your places here, but look back with me to
Isaiah, the book of Isaiah, chapter 5. The vineyard, of course, represents
the nation of Israel. Isaiah, chapter 5. Now will I
sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard
in a very fruitful hill. And he fenced it, and gathered
out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, built
a tire in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein. And he looked that it should
bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O
inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you
betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more
to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I
looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild
grapes. And now go to, I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof,
and it shall be eaten up, and break down the wall thereof,
and it shall be trodden down, and I will lay it waste. It shall
not be pruned nor digged, but there shall come up briars and
thorns. I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it, for the vineyard of the Lord
of hosts is the house of Israel. and the men of Judah, its pleasant
plant, and he looked for judgment, but behold, oppression or righteousness,
but behold, a cry. So the vineyard represents the
nation of Israel in our Lord's parable. The fruit that God looked
for might be summed up in the scripture in Amos chapter six
and verse eight, where we read, He has showed thee. God showed
the nation of Israel. And one way that He showed them
was through the giving of His law. He has showed thee, O man,
what is good. What is good and what does the
Lord require of thee? What does the Lord require? but
to do justly. Now that word justly, of course,
is righteous. To do righteously and to love
mercy and to walk humbly with thy God. In other words, the
law was given to show man, not to justify man, not to save man,
not to make man right with God, but the law was given to show
men, to show you, to show me, to show all of us that we need
a Savior. We need a Savior. Why? Because
we come short of the glory of God. We do not keep the law of
God, nor can we obey. The natural man cannot obey God's
law. God's law is holy. Man is unholy. God's law is just. Man is unjust
by nature. God's law is good. And man by
nature is not good. There's none good, God said in
Romans chapter three. There's none good, no, not one. So in this parable here, we see
first of all, The certain man represents God the Father who
planted the vineyard, who did everything for his vineyard.
And did you notice there in Isaiah, it said that he planted a choice
vine. That is the nation of Israel. Of all a choice, he chose Israel. Of all the nations of the world.
He chose Abraham and made of him the nation of Israel, and
they were his chosen earthly people. A choice fine did God
plant, and God looked for fruit, and what did he find? Not good
grapes, but sour grapes. They became unrighteous, they
became unjust. The last thing they thought of
was mercy. They were judgmental. They were
critical. They were self-righteous. They
were proud of themselves and their so-called righteousness. Now, the second thing we see
in this parable, God looked for faith, really. That's one word. It solves what God was looking
for. He looked for faith, for men
to recognize this is God's law, this is what God requires, and
I'm not able to live up to that law. I've broken that law, and
I need a savior, and I need to trust in the one that God has
promised to come into this world. Now the second thing in the parable,
the husbandman, in our Lord's parable here. The husbandmen
represent the religious rulers of the nation of Israel. The
owner of the vineyard sent a servant to receive the fruit of his vineyard. Well, the husbandmen, they beat
him. They beat him and sent him away
empty. And they didn't do that just
once. May have begun with Moses. May
have begun with him. But there was a whole line of
prophets that God sent to the nation of Israel. In fact, in
Jeremiah chapter 7 and verses 25 and 26, we read, God speaking,
since the day your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt
unto this day, I have even sent unto you all my servants, the
prophets, daily rising up early and sending them. Yet they hearkened
not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck. They did worse than their fathers."
God sent prophet after prophet after prophet to the nation of
Israel. Remember Elijah, one of the greatest
of the Old Testament prophets, and how he had that confrontation
with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. And he said, let's
decide this issue once and forever. The God who answers by fire,
let him be God. If Baal be God, let's serve Baal. But if God be God, let's serve
God. Of course, you know the story. 450 prophets of Baal, they cried
and cut themselves and did everything they could to get Baal to answer
by fire and consume their sacrifice, but Baal As Elijah said, he might
have been sleeping. He might have been on a journey.
Cry a little bit louder. But no, Elijah steps to the stones
and repairs the altar of God and prays a very simple prayer. And fire came down from heaven,
consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stone, and licked up the
water that they had poured over the sacrifice and the trough
around the altar. And yet Elijah, after experiencing
that, we know that he was afraid for his life because of wicked
Queen Jezebel. And he takes off running. He
ends up in a cave, and God came to him, spoke to him, in a still,
small voice. Maybe God's speaking to you today,
a young person. And you may expect to have some
tremendous, earth-shaking experience. Forget about that. Maybe God's
speaking to you like He did Samuel. Samuel. God's speaking. in a still, small voice. And Elijah told the Lord what
he was doing there in that cave. And Elijah said this, he said,
I've been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children
of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, now
listen, and slain thy prophets with the sword. Now he was right
about that. But he was wrong in thinking
when he told the Lord, I'm the only one left. I'm the only one
left. And God assured him, I have 7,000,
Elijah. I have 7,000 in this nation of
Israel who have not bowed their knees to Baal. The nation of
Israel as a whole and its religious leaders were
a rebellious, stiff-necked people. Yet God always, God always had
what is called His remnant according to the election of grace. Sometimes
we are tempted, no doubt, to think that we are the only ones.
We're the only ones, yet we must always remember that there's
always an election of grace in this world. The number may be
large or it may be small at any given time, but all, A-L-L, all
of those whom God foreknew, that is those upon whom God set his
love from before the foundation of the world, that they all that
he foreknew he did predestinate them, and them he also called,
and them he also justified, and them he also glorified." God
always has His people, His saved remnant in this world. And yes,
He will until the time Jesus our Lord comes back again for
His church. could be today. God always has
his people here. But the husband, this is the
way they treated the prophets of old. And then the one son, the man
had one son. This speaks, of course, of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is God's only begotten son. God has many sons by adoption. I know that there are many of
God's sons here this morning, and I love you and I thank God
for you. He has many sons by adoption
in this world. All of them are believers. They
believe, they trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He only has one
son, who is his only begotten son. his son that he calls, and
this man in this parable called his well-beloved son. It's easy to see why God would
love his son, isn't it? Isn't it? Why he would love his
darling son? Why he'd love any of us, that's
the mystery. That's the mystery. He had one
son, only begotten son, who was his well-beloved son. And I want
you to notice that this man in the parable, he sent his only
begotten son or his only son with a perhaps, thinking perhaps,
maybe, maybe, They will reverence, they will
recognize that this is my son, my well-beloved son, and they
will receive him. That's the way the man in the
parable sent his son to these husbandmen. But we know that's
not the way God the Father sent his son into this world. He didn't
send his son with a maybe, a perhaps, they will reverence my son. He
sent his son into this world knowing that man would nail him
to the cross and say, away with him. We'll not have this man
to reign over us and cast him out of the vineyard. So that's the parable. Now, the
second part of my message, I want us to consider our Lord's two
questions. after he spoke the parable here. Two questions in verses 9 through
12. The first question, what shall
therefore the Lord, this is Mark chapter 12 verse 9, what shall
therefore the Lord of the vineyard do? What's he gonna do? They've killed his only begotten
son. What's he going to do? Now, Matthew
tells us that it was the chief priests, the scribes, and the
elders who answered the question. Wouldn't be hard to answer. You men here today who have children,
put yourself in that position. What would you do? What would
you do to those who murdered your well-beloved son? Wouldn't be a hard question to
answer. They got it right. Their answer was exactly on the
money. He will come and destroy the
husband and give the vineyard unto others. He will come and
destroy the Lord in AD 70. He did not come personally, but
the Roman general Titus, who was a servant of the Lord, He
came and with his army he destroyed the vineyard of those who had
killed his son. That is the nation of Israel
and they were dispersed, carried into the uttermost parts of the
world as slaves, as captives. The city itself was destroyed.
Now here's the second question. Have you not read the scriptures?
Notice verse 10. And have you not read this scripture?
Now if I went down on the street and just picked people at a random
and said, hey, have you ever read this scripture? They might
not think too much about that. But the Lord asks this question
of men who've spent their lifetime. That's all some of them did.
was read the scripture, copy the scripture. And our Lord asked
them, have you not read this scripture? I have no doubt in my mind they
had read the scripture. Many of them probably could have
quoted that Psalm, Psalm 118. They knew by memory much of the
Old Testament. I have no doubt that they had
read the scripture, but think about this. They fulfilled the
scripture in rejecting him. They read the scripture. In fact,
the apostle Paul, later in the book of Acts, he was preaching
in a synagogue and he said this. Now listen to the Jews there. For they that dwell at Jerusalem,
that's his husband, and their rulers, because they knew him
not, nor yet the voices of the prophets, which are read every
Sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him." In other
words, many of these men who condemned the Lord Jesus Christ,
who turned thumbs down on him, They read the very scriptures
Sabbath after Sabbath in the synagogues that spoke of him. But they had no understanding,
no spiritual understanding. The psalm of Psalm 118, the verse
is verse 23, or 22 and 23. Let me read it to you. The stone
which the builders refused, they refused it. These builders, these
religious leaders, the stone which the builders refused has
become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It
is marvelous in our eyes. The stone which the builders
rejected is Christ. Many times in the word of God,
God is is referred to as the stone, their stone, that is the
stone, the gods of these other nations. Their stone is not like
our stone. It speaks of his strength, a
stone as strong, of his firmness, cannot be moved, of its everlastingness. The stone, the Lord Jesus Christ,
which the builders refused, has become the headstone of the corner. And I like to think of Christ
as a head, as a cornerstone. I love to think of him as a cornerstone,
but we know that he was also the foundation stone. Look with
me at one other verse, Isaiah 28. And in this verse, we see
that God spoke of him as both the foundation stone and the
cornerstone. Isaiah chapter 28 and verse 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, behold, I lay in Zion, the church. Zion, many times you've
come to Mount Zion. It refers to the church, the
general assembly of the firstborn, the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone. Now not just any stone either,
a tribestone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
confessed upon this rock, I will build my church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it. You know, poor, lost, ignorant,
deceived, Men have tried to make that refer to a fallen man like
you or me, that stone. Upon this rock, they say, well,
that's Peter. Oh, no. Oh, no. This rock is
Christ. This stone is Christ that God
laid. And he's a tried stone. He was tried every way when he
came into this world, and yet he could say, which of you convinces
me of sin? He's a precious stone. We can't
even begin to comprehend how precious he is. Not only that, but he is A sure foundation. A sure foundation. A sure foundation. Did you hear
me? Did you hear God's word? A sure
foundation. And everyone who believes in
Him shall be saved, shall not make haste. Why? Because he's
a sure foundation. He's the surety of the covenant
of God, the covenant of grace. You build your hopes, your confidence,
your thought of salvation on anyone else or anything else,
even upon you and your works. You have built on a foundation
that is like building on the sand. And one day it's going
to go out from underneath you, and you're going to be left without
anything. No, God said, I lay in Zion for
a foundation stone, and those who build upon him, those who
trust in him, shall not be ashamed. Notice he's also the cornerstone. This verse here in Isaiah, and
of course we have the scripture in Ephesians as well that speak
of him as the cornerstone. Now I said I like to think of
him as the cornerstone. I like to think of him as the
foundation stone too, but this cornerstone, what does a cornerstone
serve for? What does it serve for? It brings
two together. That's what it serves for. It
brings two together. And this cornerstone brings us
to God. He's the only one who may bring
you to God. He's the only one. And number
two, a cornerstone is used for the workman to make their measurement,
take their measurements, their rule off the cornerstone. So that the walls that are built
up are perpendicular, that is, they're straight as they should
be. Those measurements are taken
off the cornerstone. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
the cornerstone. He's our rule. What are we to
believe? We're to believe his word. How
are we to live? We are to live according to his
word. He's the rule, our rule, for
what we believe and for our practice. He is our example. Now, I want to, I've got more
to say, but I don't want to tire you out. But I want to, I want
to ask you this. Look at this scripture again. Verse 11, our Lord speaking,
this was the Lord's doing. Now listen, and it is marvelous
in our eyes. And I asked each and every one
of us that question today. Is this marvelous in your eyes? Is it? Maybe one day in the past
it was marvelous, but no, is it marvelous in our eyes today
that God, that God would so love us, that he would give, he would
lay his son for this foundation stone, that he would be mindful
of us. Is this still marvelous? Is it
marvelous? We, like the church at Ephesus,
God help us never to leave our first love, Christ, our first
love, our great love. Is it marvelous in your eyes?
And our Lord said this in the same parable as recorded by Matthew. He said, this stone, if a person
falls upon it, he will be broken. And everyone who comes to Christ,
we come broken, broken over our sins, broken over our need. But he also said this, on whomsoever
this stone falls, it shall be ground to powder, the wrath of
the Lamb. We love to think about the love
of the lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, don't we, in giving himself for
us. But men and women who reject Christ, who turn their backs
on Christ, who have no need for Christ, who refuse to believe
in him, who, as Brother Ralph Barnard used to say, refuse to
stack their arms, that is, their weapons that they used to fight
against God and raise up the white flag and say, I surrender! I surrender, Lord! You're my Lord from henceforth. Those who refuse to fall on this
stone, one day this stone is going to fall on and ground you
to powder. That's the word of God. We're going to sing a hymn. Oh,
I love this hymn. My faith has found a resting
place, not in device nor creed. Oh, no. My faith has found a
resting place in Jesus Christ, this sure foundation. I trust
and pray that yours has too. Number 228.