The lesson this morning will
be taken from Luke chapter 20, verses 9 through 19. In these verses is the parable of
the wicked husbandmen. Let's read these verses together.
Luke chapter 20, beginning with verse 9. Then began he to speak to the
people this parable, A certain man planted a vineyard and led
it forth to husband men and went into a far country for a long
time. And at the season, what season? God's season. To everything there's
a season. That don't just mean the fall
and the spring and the winter and so on, it has to do with
All, everything purposed to God has a season. And at the season,
he sent a servant to the husbandmen that they should give him of
the fruit of the vineyard. Not all of it, though it was
his vineyard, but just a token. He sent an ambassador there,
a servant, to have a token from the vineyard. But the husbandmen
beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant,
and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him
away empty. And again he sent a third, 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. It
may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the
husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, this
is the heir. Come, let's kill him that the
inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard
and killed him. What therefore shall the Lord
of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these
husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when
they heard it, they said, God forbid. And he beheld them and
said, what is this then that is written, the stone which the
builders rejected? The same has become the head
of the corner. Now, the parable of the wicked
husbandmen is a story declaring the authority and attitude of
the judicial and administrative leaders of the Jews. That's the
first application. He's talking to those Jews. He come in. He saw the temple
polluted with money changers and people selling sacrifices
and making money off of worship, and he cleaned that place out.
And these hierarchy who hired these men or allowed these men
to come in, and they got a cut out of it, you can bet on that.
They got a percentage of whatever was sold in that tabernacle.
This was an income for them. religion can't be supported by
gifts because they don't really love one another. It's supported
by whatever, by all kinds of things that they do to raise
money. And they came to our Lord and
they said, by what authority did you do this? Where did you
get your title? Who gave you the authority to
come in here and change what we've already okayed? And then
he gave them a question concerning John the Baptist and the authority
behind him. And they couldn't answer him,
because if they did, the people would have took him out and stoned
him. And if they went the other way, then they'd made themselves
liars. So he shut them up. And now, these men are standing
there, and the people are looking at them and looking at the Lord,
and the Lord speaks this parable concerning them. concerning them. This was the Sanhedrin.
This was the administrative leaders, the judicial leaders of the Jews. And the word Sanhedrin simply
means assembly or council. This was the high council. Sometimes
you'll see that in the scripture, the high council. And there were
two councils considered as the Sanhedrin, and maybe even more,
But one was called the Greater and one was called the Lesser.
The Lesser was an administration of men who went out and saw over
the affairs of all the little synagogues in whatever city there
was. Possibly there was small representatives
of this council in every city. I don't really know. There's
no information on them. But the Lesser consisted of 23
members And they met in every city occupied by the Jews. The great Sanhedrin was in Jerusalem,
and then later in Palestine. And they acted sort of like our
Supreme Court. That was the idea behind it.
And the high council was made up of the chief priests, elders,
notable rabbins, all sorts of men of high esteem. They become
members of this council. And this council just questioned
our Lord as to His authority. And there can be no doubt about
His first application here being to them. These were the people
to whom God's vineyard was led out or charged to. Look down in verse 19 of our
text. For they perceived that He had
spoken this parable against them. So there's your first application.
He's talking to them. In Stephen's last sermon to the
Jews, he said, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised and hardened
ears, you do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did,
so do you. Which of the prophets have not
your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which
showed before the coming of the just one, of whom you've now
been betrayers and murderers. And they gnashed on him with
their teeth and stoned him to death. The gospel of Christ was
given to them and they despised it. They refused to preach it. And they tortured and killed
everybody that did until finally they murdered the Son of God.
Now that's what our Lord showed in this parable. So God cursed
them and those who followed him. And in 70 A.D. it come to pass. What the prophecies of Old Testament
scripture described as blood up to the bridle of the horses.
They were slain, thousands upon thousands of Jews were slain
in 70 A.D. by Titus. And they were all but
wiped out. And to this day, they're blinded
by legal veil. Unto this day, he said, the veil
remaineth on me. And there's many such passages. But here's one that you're familiar
with. And what I want to show you now,
I want to tie what he said to those Pharisees, what he said
to that high council, those false prophets, what he said to them,
He's saying to us, to us. It would be a big mistake to
walk away from this and say, well, he's talking to them. He had nothing to say to me because
he spoke to the people. He didn't speak to them. He spoke
to the people about them. And there's lots of passages
here, but I want you to listen to this one. You can find this
over in Romans 11, verses 20 and 21. In the last part of verse
20, he said, Be not high-minded, but fear. For if God spared not
the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Here's Israel. Who separated
Israel? God did. Who blessed Israel? God did. Who led them through
the wilderness? Who fed them in the wilderness?
Who gave them to drink? Who went in before them and cleared
out the promised land? Was with them in battles all
the way through? God was with them. God was with
them. They were the natural branches.
But God spared them not because they despised His Son and despised
His gospel. And he said, Take heed, lest
ye also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness
and the severity of God, both are seen in the nation of Israel. You see the goodness of God feeding
them, making the bitter water sweet, blessing them in battle. You see the goodness of God toward
them. You see it all through them.
But you also see the severity of God on them which fail severity. But toward thee, goodness, if
thou continue in his goodness, otherwise thou also shalt be
cut off. And they also, if they abide
not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in." Paul was, wasn't
he? And he said, even unto this day
there's a remnant. We'd have been like Sodom and
Gomorrah, he said. but for election, but for sweet
election, sweet election. And they also, if they abide
not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in, for God is able
to graft them in again. Here then is the tie that binds
us to this parable as well as unto them. God's church has a
three-fold definition in the scriptures. Three senses, if you will, in
which it's to be understood. First of all, as the body of
Christ. When he talks about his church,
he's talking about the whole body of Christ as it's represented
in glory. Everybody. Everybody from Adam
to the last saint called. This is the body of Christ, His
elect, chosen in Christ, given full provision in Him. God being
their Father. And then secondly, the word church,
as it's found in the scripture, sometimes is talking about a
universal church, or all those everywhere and in all ages professing
to be children of God. Not necessarily children, but
they profess to be children. And ask any denomination if they're
believers, and they'll all profess to believe. They all do. They all profess to be heirs.
Talk to them. Any of them. I don't care what
denomination it is. And then thirdly, he uses the word church
as it concerns his local church. A body of believers gathered
in his name, planted of God, and governed by the Lord. And the local church is what
you and I are concerned with. That's what concerns us. We're
a local church. The church at Louisville. Just
like there was a church in Galatia. There were many churches. Or
the church at Corinth. Or at Philippi. And every true
church is a vineyard of God's planting. He plants the church. To some degree, I can get on
the internet and it shows men and women who have professed
faith, who rejoice in the gospel, who communicate with other gospel
churches. And there's no excuse for an
isolated church in this day of the computer and internet. There's
just no excuse for them. You can get on there and find
people who believe like you believe. But you can look on the internet
and there's a giant vacuum that runs right up the center of this
country. There's nothing there. West of
it, there's churches. East of it, there's churches.
But like my friend over in Mississippi used to tell me, he said, man,
you're on the frontier. You know, years ago, you'd go
to You go to St. Louis and St. Louis was it. It
was wilderness from there on. And that's what he was saying.
We're out here on the wilderness. We're out here on the line. There's
nothing out there. Every true church is a vineyard
of God's planning. I don't know why God raised...
He has people there. I suppose that's why He does
it. He has people there. He's going to call them out.
He's going to teach them. He's going to mature them. He's
going to show this world, these are my people. These are my people. So every true church is a vineyard
of God's planting, where God's husbandry. And the field is His
to plant where He will. This world belongs to Him. Doesn't
it? You plant where He will. He don't
always raise up a church where you want one. And mostly we want
it because it's handy for us. But if you're truly interested
in the glory of God and what God's doing and God's purpose,
you'll look to see where God plants his vineyard, and that's
where you'll go. That's where you'll go. The field is his to
plant where he will. There was a church at Ephesus
and a church at Corinth, a church at Thessalonica. and churches
in Galatia, and the field is His to plant where He will, and
the vine is His. We're not the vine. We're branches
grafted into the vine. Any branch that's not grafted
into the vine is not going to bear fruit. You can profess all
you want to. What causes the branches to bear
fruit is when God grafts them into the vine. And that vine is Christ. He said,
I am the vine. I'm not speculating about that.
That's what Christ said. I'm the vine. You're the branches. Oh, precious vine, the vine of
life, the godly vine, the source of all godly fruit, the vine. His name may be written on a
thousand signs, but his vine is only planted in his vineyard.
You see what he's talking to these men about? They held the
titles. They made the professions. People
looked at them. They prayed in public. They wanted
everybody to know what they were and who they were and so on.
If they did alms, they did it in front of people so everybody
could see. They had all these And there
ain't a doubt in my mind they had something recognizing them
on the sign outside of every synagogue that they controlled. And no greater blessing on any
community anywhere than for God to establish there a local church,
to plant his vine in that place. And there's no greater responsibility to those he commits it to. Us. Us. There's no greater responsibility.
I have responsibilities in this world. I have a wife. I have
children. I have grandchildren. For a long time, I had a job.
I suppose you could say the ministry is a job. I'm obligated to that,
committed to that. I have responsibilities. But
there's no greater responsibility than what's been given to us
in this local church. This takes preeminence over everything. And often it's going to clash
with it. Every true church is God's vineyard. And where God
plants his vine, he full intends to receive of the fruits when
the season comes. Now here's the vineyard. I'm
going away. I'll be back. He's gone a long
time. And these guys got all creative.
They said, well, we're going to do this. We're going to do
that. We're going to really dress this place up. We're going to
build some big gates. We're going to put a big iron sign over there.
Set the vineyard. They're going to do all this
stuff. Then the Lord comes back. And He don't come down there
Himself. He sends a servant. And He sends
a servant down there for a token of the fruit of the vineyard.
And they wounded him. They treated him shamefully. They hurt him. They drove him.
Get out of here. They sent him out empty. You're
not getting my fruit. My fruit is my fruit. You're
not getting it. Huh? Is that not false religion? My words. My words. Not yours. This is my words.
Huh? The ambassador said, no, no,
it's the Lord's Vineyard. He sent me down here for a token
of the fruit. He fully intends to have it.
Get out of here. Sent him out empty. Sent him
out empty. Oh, my. What is this fruit? The fruit
of this vineyard is that which glorifies His name. Everything these wicked husbandmen
gleaned from the vineyard belonged to God. Everything. And they were indeed beneficiaries
of it. But they wanted what God gave
them and God's part too. Didn't they? When God lets out his vineyard,
those he's let it out to receive the benefits of it. We benefit
from this plus, or I hope we do. I hope we're not meeting
here for nothing. I hope when you go home you've
benefited from what I've had to say. I hope that you've benefited
by being among one another, being encouraged by one another. coming
here and visiting with one another and saying, wow, God didn't,
He didn't just save me, He's saving the people. There are
people here like me. There are people here that love
God. There are people here just like me
can enter into worship. Like precious faith, that's what
Peter called it. They were beneficiaries of it.
We're beneficiaries of it. But they wanted what God gave
them and what God sent to have for Himself. And when God lets
out His vineyard, those He lets it out to, they receive the benefits. He tells us we're fellow laborers
with Him. But it's His vineyard, His vine,
His fruit, His place, and He's the Lord of the vineyard. What
does God require from his husband men? To receive him, to receive
his son, and to receive his servants. That's all he requires. All he
requires. To own him as the Lord of the
villagers. That's what this sending the
servants was all about. Why does God use men to call
men, minister to men? Huh? Why does he do that? Because he's going to be acknowledged
as Lord of the Vineyard. And he'll use his most unlikely
means to manifest his sovereignty. He calls it foolishness in 1
Corinthians 1. Foolishness. Please God, through
the foolishness of preaching, to save them allegedly. There's
nothing foolish about the gospel we preach, but when it comes
to men, we're just earthen vessels. We're to receive him, his son
and his servants, to own him as lord of the vineyard, and
to give him all the glory of it. He planted the vineyard,
they didn't. Worldly men and women treat God's
faithful servants just the same as they treat His Son. Isn't that what that parable
teaches? They treated the Son, they treated these servants the
same as they treated the Son. Paul said, now then, we are ambassadors
for Christ as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you
and Christ did be ye reconciled to God. They beat one, sent him away
empty. The second they beat also and
shamefully entreated him, and they sent him away empty. And
the third was wounded and cast out. And when the sun appeared,
they said, this is the heir. Let's kill him. Take the inheritance
for ourselves. And men and women who don't know
God love religion. These men loved that vineyard.
They loved it. They wouldn't have fought for
it. They wouldn't have killed people over it. They loved the
vineyard. They loved holding the title, Husband Men. I bet they had little badges
on them that said Husband Men on them. And they brought their phylacteries. They don't know God, but they
love religion and hate God. And that's the picture given
to us in this parable. They love religion. They love
religious duties. Try to take one away. Go to an
Arminian church. Try to take away one of those
duties. Try to take away anything that they have of their own making.
They love religion. They love religious duties, activities,
ceremonies, religious history and tradition. But they despise
God and his son. They wanted the vineyard and
all the benefits, but not the Lord of the vineyard and not
His hand in it at all. And knowing what I do about God
and about the way He deals with men, I know that His letting
of the vineyard was to undeserving men. They didn't deserve the
vineyard. It was not an investment. It was an act of mercy. that
he led out to them. And it's great mercy upon any
place where God plants his vine, and a great and undeserved privilege
to have such a thing led out or charged to our care. Paul
never got over his stewardship that God gave him over the gospel.
He talks about it over and over. In 1 Peter 4.10 it says, As every
man hath received the gift, Even so, minister the same one to
another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. And to
reject or refuse such things is to despise the mercy of God. How do men and women despise
the mercy of God? They're not going to say, I despise
his mercy. You couldn't torture one human
to say that. He's not going to say that. Well,
how does it show? By refusing to give God the glory. Those who despise God refuse
to give Him the glory. They would not give that man
the glory of that vineyard. He planted it. It was a working
vineyard when he let it out to him. I'll tell you another thing.
By neglecting the privileges given concerning it. There was
privileges there. And they neglected them. And
another way is by neglecting the opportunities arranged because
of it. There was a season coming. They should have been prepared
for it. He told them he was coming back. And another way is by ignoring
the means ordained to bring it to pass. Don't do it. Don't do it. Men, as much as I taught on this
subject, and yet, men and women still ignore the means. Ignore the means. Well, here's the warning, verse
18 of our text. Look at it. He's the stone. He just told them that. He said,
here's what's written. The stone that the builders rejected,
the same as made the head of the corner. Whosoever shall fall
upon that stone, that chosen stone, that foundation stone, that stone laid of God in Zion,
he shall be broken. He's not going to be the proud
man that beats his servants and cast him out. He's a broken man. When the king comes, he's ready
to give him whatever he asks for, isn't he? He's ready to
give whatever he has, he knows was a gift of God. And if God
requires it, he's going to give it to him, whatever it is. Whosoever
shall fall upon that stone shall be broken, brought to repentance
and faith, made willing in the day of God's power. But on whomsoever
that stone shall fall, Boy, here's the reverse of it. On whomsoever
it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. Nothing left. Nothing left. And if you despise
the privileges and opportunities God's given us, He'll take away
the privileges and the opportunities. He'll just take them away. He'll make such things as might
have been the very means of our salvation, He'll make that the
basis of our everlasting ruin. And nothing offends God as the
blatant neglect of His gospel, the assembling of His church,
and His gifts to chosen sinners. Nothing offends God more than
that. You know, we get angry. Now I'm talking about myself
here, I'm not single. Anybody else out, just me. I
get angry and words come out of my mouth sometimes and I feel
so bad. Why did you say such a thing?
Why did you say such a thing? That's nothing compared to neglecting
the privileges that God gives you. That's like God saying,
here's this one I love, And I've made this especially for you
and he hands it to you and you spit on it. That's what he's
talking about. Neglect. Neglect. Here comes
the lord of the vineyard. He gave him the vineyard. He
gave him the fruit. He gave him benefits of it. He
gave him everything. And he comes down just for a
token. Just for a token. Yes, lord, we've set aside a
special bottle for you. Here's your token. No. You ain't
getting no token. Whoa! Whoa! You spit on His love. That's
what you've done. Oh, don't do it. Don't neglect
these things. Nothing offends God more than
the blatant neglect of His gospel, His assembly, and His gift to
chosen sinners. He calls it over in the book
of Hebrews, a trotting underfoot. the Son of God, walking on Him,
walking on His name, walking on His gospel, trotting underfoot
the Son of God and despising the Spirit of grace and counting
the blood, the blood of the everlasting covenant as an unholy thing. Now you go back and read it and
see if I'm not telling you the truth. It was because they neglected
the assembling of themselves together. what it's all about,
and he calls it trotting underfoot, the Son of God. No wonder Paul
said it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God. What do you suppose, he said,
the Lord is going to do to these servants? Now Christ gives the
way. Fall on Him. Fall on Him and
be broken. Fall on Him and receive the mercy
of God. But woe unto them upon whom the
Son of God will fall, it will grind them to powder. Nothing
left but a certain fearful looking forward judgment and fiery indignation. I'm going to leave this with
you. I'm not going to read it for you because I'm past my time.
But when you get home after a while, read Psalm 80. Psalm 80. It's an accurate description
of everything that I've just taught you. Psalm chapter 80.