Now you turn in your Bible to
the place we read earlier. I trust you have a marker there,
your bulletin or something else in Mark chapter 12. Mark chapter
12. Now I like to go through the
Word of God verse by verse, word by word, chapter by chapter,
book by book to see what God has to say about salvation in
the Lord Jesus Christ. This book we hold in our hand
is truly the Word of God. God-given, God-inspired, and
we preach and believe, thus saith the Lord. It is God's Gospel. Now in Mark chapter 12, we see
the Lord Jesus Christ in the temple, God's temple. The temple
that God designed and gave to Solomon to construct, and the
Lord Jesus Christ is about his father's business preaching and
teaching the gospel of grace. in Christ Jesus, pointing sinners
unto himself. For he said, Come unto me, all
ye that labour and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Now the title of the message
today is taken from verse 11 in Mark chapter 12, and this
is quoted from Psalm 118. The title of the message today
is, This is the Lord's Doing. And it is marvelous. It is marvelous
in our eyes. The Lord uses His own inspired
Word from Psalm 118 and shows us how His Word is fulfilled
in His coming, in those rejecting Him, and even in His death. All things are of God. This is. the Lord's doing and
it is marvelous in our eyes just as the apostles did in the early
church that's recorded in the book of Acts chapter 4 quoting from Psalm 2 and they
declared this who by the mouth of thy servant David has said,
Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
For the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered
together against the Lord, and against his Christ, for of a
truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed,
both Herod and Pontius Pilate." You know, they were avowed enemies. But they aligned themselves together
against God. Herod and Pontius Pilate with
the Gentiles and the people of Israel were gathered together
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done. Never think of Jesus Christ crucified
as an accident, as a tragedy. He dies on purpose. He dies by
God's decree. He dies by God's design. All things are of God. All things
that come to pass in time are decreed of God from eternity.
We read in Acts chapter 15, No man but God are all his works
from the beginning. In Romans 11, the apostle declared,
Of him, and through him, and to him are most things. Of him,
and through him, and to him are all things, to whom be glory,
both now and forever. And you know what the last word
is there? Amen. Do you agree with that?
If you're a believer, you do. In Isaiah 46.9, remember these
words. Isaiah 46.9, don't turn, let
me just read it to you. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, there is none else. I am God and there is none
like me. Now listen to this. Declaring
the end from the beginning. from ancient times to things
that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, I'll
do all my pleasure, calling a ravenous bird from the east. The man that
executed my counsel from a far country, yea, I have spoken it,
I'll bring it to pass, I've purposed it, maybe it'll happen. That's not what it says. He said,
I've spoken it, I'll bring it to pass, I've purposed it, I
also will do it. Sounds like somebody's in charge.
God is God. This is the Lord's doing, and
it's marvelous in our eyes. Now, back to our text here. Mark 12, notice verse 1, And
he began to speak unto them, These most self-righteous Pharisees,
these most self-centered, self-serving, religious hucksters, God-haters. And he speaks this gospel in
a story, in a parable. And here's the parable, a certain
man, a certain man planted a vineyard. He purposed the vineyard, he
designed the vineyard, He made all the arrangements for the
vineyard. It's his. He owns it. He purposed it. He
designed it. And then he set protection about
it. Set a hedge about it. And digged
a place for the wine vat to process the grapes. Built a tower, a
watchtower to ward off the enemies. And then he let it out. He rented
it out to somebody who should have taken care of it. The husbandman,
the farmer. And then he sat back and watched
and went into a far country. Now the Lord began to speak to
these men this parable. Now what is a parable? What is
a parable? Well, it's an earthly story.
It's an earthly story that represents great and important spiritual
truth. Now, this particular parable,
the Lord lays out before us, in this story, He lays out for
us 1,500 years of Jewish history. In this story here, it's a historical,
some of the commentators call it a historical parable. He lays
out before us 1,500 years of Jewish history from the leaving
in Egypt to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and the very
destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and to the coming in of the
age of the Gentiles when the gospel was sent out to the Gentiles,
when the Lord would take the gospel away from them and give
it to His elect among the Gentile nations. Now we see this happening
in the book of Acts, if you will find this one chapter here in
Acts chapter 18. Acts chapter 18, now we've been
studying in our Bible study from in the morning hour, morning
study on Sunday morning, we've been studying through first and
2 Corinthians, and here we have in Acts 18 verse 1, when Paul
came to Corinth, you see verse 1, and found a certain Jew named
Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife
Priscilla, because that Claudus had commanded all the Jews to
depart from Rome, and they came unto him. and came unto them,
and because he was of the same craft, he bode with them, and
wrought, for by their occupation they were tentmakers. He reasoned
in the synagogue," that's the meeting place of the Jews, every
Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and Gentiles. And when Silas
and Timothy would come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit
and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. And when
they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment,
and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own head, I am clean.
From henceforth I will go to the Gentiles. I will preach to
the Gentiles. Now back in our story, in verse 9 it says, He will come
and destroy the husbandman, and will give the vineyard unto others. That was fulfilled. when those
Jews, the gospel was sent first to them, and they rejected the
preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and God sent
that gospel to the Gentiles, His elect among the Gentiles. Now this story and this parable
looks back to history past, but it also looks forward to history
future. Because it talks very plainly
about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. In just two or three
days from when he gives this parable, they actually arrest
him and mock him and crucify him in just a few days here.
And he's telling them right here what they're going to do to him.
And that's why they got so upset. It is given unto these Jews to
convict and condemn this Jewish nation for their sin and rebellion
against the Lord of glory. For we read in John chapter 1,
he came unto his own, and his own rejected him. They said,
Away with him. They said, We have no king but
Caesar. But it's also given unto us as
a caution and a warning, lest we neglect the gospel message,
lest we neglect the privileges and the blessings the Lord has
given unto us. Let us not presume that the Lord
will not remove the gospel witness from this community, from this
country, and give it to others if we neglect so great salvation. Now what do these earthly things
in this parable represent? found in verse 1 here. Let me
give them to you briefly, and then we'll move on down in the
message here. Now, you've probably already
figured out most of these as we read through this parable.
But certain man, it talks about in verse 1, he's called over
in Matthew 21, the householder. He's the house owner. He owns
all things. That certain man in the household
is none other than God Almighty. God the Father, who is the owner
and ruler of all things, for it declares in Psalm 24, the
earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof, the world and they that
dwell therein. The planted vineyard represents
the nation of Israel. Almighty God chose them. planted
that nation, blessed them above all nations of the earth. These
are the natural seed of Abraham. In Psalm 80 they are called God's
vineyard, the vine of his planting. The third thing we see, we see
that God set a hedge about it. He fenced it in. It's his garden. He wants to protect it. He set
His protection upon it. Psalm 40 verse 1 through 6 tells
us about His protection. And then the fourth thing, the
wine vat is a trough under the wine press that's used in the
process of making wine. It is hewed out of rock. And
most think this is a picture of the altar of sacrifice. How
the Lord Jesus Christ tread the winepress of the wrath of God
alone. The blood upon the altar is given
unto us. And then the fifth thing we see,
this tower that was built is a watch house or a guard house.
God gave them the priests, the prophets to watch over that nation,
the temple in which to worship, and all the elaborate things
around that temple, worship, the priesthood, and everything
else. That's the watchtower. The sixth thing we see, the Lord
gave all this to the husbandman. A husbandman's a farmer. to work the land, to cultivate
the land, to harvest the crops. These Jews were accountable unto
the Lord, the landowner, for the use of his vineyard." He
let it out to them, it says there. He gave it to them and said,
this is mine. I'm going to let you have it
for a while. You take real good care of it. The scribes, the
lawyers, the Pharisees were to lead the people in the way of
obedience. These are the builders. unto
their Lord. The servants of God that we read
about in this parable, the Lord sent servant after servant after
servant and they abused them, stoned them, and killed them. The servants of God are his prophets,
his apostles, and the preachers of the gospel. Paul called himself
the servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. What great privilege
The Lord sovereignly gave unto that nation of rebels. He gave His Word, His Law, His
Prophets, His Tabernacle in the wilderness, His Temple, His Altar,
His Sacrifice, the Mercy Seat. They had all things necessary
to worship God. Yet when the Householder came
among the nation, the One who is the Owner of all things came
among the nation, They saw no beauty in him to desire him. They set away with him. We have
no king but Caesar. They cast him out and crucified
him. They set away with him. They
had privileges given to them. Now let's make personal application
to us. To you-ins. As the country folk
would say. What great privilege the Lord
has given to us here at Zebulun. We are the Zebalonians. Did you
know that? God has given us great privilege here. He raised up
this gospel ministry in a most unusual way. No greater blessing
to any people or community than to have an established gospel
ministry. Pastor Mahan often has said,
one of the greatest blessings God can give to any community
is a God-sent, God-called preacher. Where the gospel of God's grace
and truth is continually preached, salvation in Christ. How thankful
we ought to be! How supportive we ought to be
by prayer, by presence, by support. How zealous we ought to be to
see it continue for our children, our grandchildren to the glory
of the Lord. Continue this ministry here at
Zebulun until God comes back. Now my years upon this earth
relatively speaking, are few. Some of our young people will
be here when this old preacher is dead and gone, if the Lord
continues and doesn't come back. But don't you want to see, as
long as this building stands, don't you want to see someone
in this pulpit that is God-called, God-sent, and has the message
of Christ and salvation in Him, declaring the truth of salvation
in Christ Jesus? May God be pleased as long as
these walls stand and this building to see to it that the gospel
of God great is declared and if not Lord please burn it to
the ground. I want to see this ministry continue
for my children and some of you may know but I may be a granddad
pretty soon. Maybe this week. May God be pleased
to continue this ministry for your grandchildren and great-grandchildren
for many years to come. Now in verses 2 down through
verse 5, the Lord sent his servants to gather the fruit from his
vineyard. And the husbandman shamefully mistreated the servant
of the Lord. Notice verse 2. At the season
he sent the husbandman a servant that he might receive from the
husbandman the fruit of the vineyard. And they caught him and beat
him and sent him away empty. How disgraceful. And again he
sent to them another servant. Oh, the Lord is long-suffering.
He should have just stomped out the husbandman when he mistreated
the first servant. But the Lord is long-suffering
in his purpose. And again he sent to them another
servant. And him they cast on and wounded
him in the head and sent him away shamefully. Shamefully they
treated him. How the prophets of God were
abused and misused. And again, the Lord is so long-suffering,
He sent another servant. And they killed Him and many
others, beating some and killing some. The Lord sent His servants,
and they were mistreated. God sent all the prophets. That's
who these servants represent. What was their message? They
preached Christ and Him crucified. To Him give all the prophets
witness. They were all mistreated. You
know Jeremiah. You read through the book of
Jeremiah. A number of years ago we studied through the book of
Jeremiah. You remember how he was hated? All the people hated
him. Yet he was God's servant. God
sent him the last of the Old Testament prophets, John the
Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. His message was single fold,
one fold. Behold the Lamb of God. that
takes away the sin of God's elect in this world. God sent the apostles
after John, servant of the Lord, whose message was centered on
Christ and Him crucified. Look to the Lamb. You know, they
all died a horrible death, martyred by God-haters. With the exception
of John, who was cast out, to a desert island or cast out really
to a place that we would think of Alcatraz. That's where they
took a separate island and cast out all the criminals on this
one island. You know that's how Australia got started. England,
you know what they did with all the cast outs of society? They sent them all to Australia.
That's what they did to John. They put him out on the Isle
of Patmos. It's like they put all the Al Capone, all these
boys out there on Alcatraz. God sent the apostles. They all
died a martyr's death. And even John in that sense,
when he was cast out of society, cast out among religious, the
religious. Now look at verse 6 down to verse
8. Having yet therefore one son,
had many servants, but one son, his well-beloved, He sent him
also last unto them, saying, Oh, they reverenced the Son,
did they? Oh, not as a whole. In the fullness
of time, at God's appointed time, the Lord of the harvest came
unto his own people, his own nation, and they rejected him.
It says in Galatians 4, in the fullness of time God sent forth
his son made of a woman made under the law to redeem them
that were under the law. This is the Lord's doing. And
this is marvelous in our eyes. The Lord Jesus is none other
than God the Son. God manifests in the flesh. God
speaks from heaven and declares, This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased at his baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration.
God audibly speaks from heaven and declares, This is my well
beloved Son. All men ought to reverence the
Son. Why? He is God. He is God our Savior. All men ought to bow in submission
to the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is Lord of the living and
the dead. All men ought to repent of their wickedness and trust
in the Redeemer for all salvation, because He's the only sinner's
hope. You know, He's the friend of
sinners and publicans. That ought to encourage us. He
came to seek and to save that which is lost. But look at verse
7 and 8. But those husbandmen, Those,
all those husbandmen, those farmers, those Pharisees, those religious
builders who refused to build upon the foundation that God
laid, those husbandmen said among themselves, this is the heir,
this is the son, come let us kill him and the inheritance
will be ours. And they took him And they killed
him and they cast him out of his own vineyard. Now what a
testimony to the total depravity of the human heart. Let's kill
him and the inheritance shall be ours. Now don't tell me about the innate
in a goodness, the inherent goodness of sinners. I tell you, we're
all wicked people. Turn to John chapter 1. But this
parable stands as a living testimony just how wicked men are. John chapter 1. They said, let's
kill him, he's the heir. And the inheritance will be ours.
They thought they could accomplish their own salvation by what they
did. John chapter 1, in the beginning was the Word, verse 1. And the
Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same in the beginning
was with God. All things were made by Him.
Without Him was not anything made, it was made. In Him was
life, and the life was the light of men. And light shined in darkness,
and the darkness comprehended not. That's dark. Stay right
in John. Turn over to John chapter 3.
Look at verse 18. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is condemnation, that light is coming to the world,
and men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds
were evil. They sought how they might destroy
him. Remember in Mark chapter 11,
look at verse 18. Mark 11 verse 18, the scribes
and the chief priests, they heard him teach, and they heard him
say that you've made my house of prayer a den of thieves, and
they saw how they might destroy him, for they feared him, because
all the people were astonished at his doctrine. You see, my
friend, the carnal mind is enmity against God. It cannot receive
the things of God. to the carnal mind, to things
of God, or foolishness unto him. When the Lord Jesus Christ healed
the man, do you remember they had the withered hand? And he
told him to stretch forth your hand, and it'll be restored whole
like the other. And he stretched it out, and
he was healed. And this same crowd got upset.
You know why? He did it on the Sabbath day.
And you know what it says concerning that crowd, this same crowd?
Then the Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how
they might destroy him. The very sight of the Lord of
glory fired their heart with malice toward the true and living
God. Let us dismiss from our mind any notion of a natural
goodness in fallen humanity. There's none righteous, no, not
one. The old preacher J.C. Ryle, John
Charles Ryle, he's made this statement. He said, There is
no truth so little realized and believed as the desperate wickedness
of the human heart. Let this parable be always known
as a standing proof, as a testimony against us to our wickedness
against God. Verse 8, look at the text again.
Verse 8, And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out
of the vineyard. What the Lord is declaring unto
them is exactly what happened. They did indeed carry out their
wicked, vicious, brutal, murderous desires. They did arrest him
and falsely accuse him. They did mercilessly beat him. So much so that his back was
lacerated and his insides began to ooze out as they whipped him
and beat him and mocked him. They did cast him out of society. They did cast him out of the
city. They did deliver him to be crucified. And you know what they did? Here's
a man nailed on a tree that is beaten so brutally that he doesn't
even look like a man his digits so marred that he doesn't even
appear to be a man just a hunk of meat nailed to a tree and
they sat down and watched him there oh I tell you the gruesome
wickedness of our own wicked heart say well I wouldn't have
done that apart from God's restraining grace you'd be right there mocking
the Lord as He dies for the sin of His people. What will the
Lord do to these wicked men? Look at verse 9. What shall therefore
the Lord, the Lord of the harvest, the Lord of the vineyards, what
shall He do to these wicked, wicked men? He will come and
destroy these religious builders. and will give the vineyard unto
others." What will the Lord do to these
wicked men? What do you think should be done? Pat them on the
back? Say, oh God loves you and He
wants to? The Lord answers the question,
doesn't He? He will just come with a vengeance, his mind, saith
the Lord, he will destroy." You remember what we read in Psalm
118? They encompassed me about like bees, yet I destroyed them. The husbandman, he will destroy
these husbandmen, these farmers, these workers of iniquity, and
will give God's blessing unto others. The Lord answers the
question, He will justly destroy these wicked men, and give this
kingdom of salvation unto others. In Matthew 21, when Matthew records
this same story, he says, The Lord Jesus Christ said unto these
men, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given
to a nation that bringeth forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever
shall fall on this stone shall be broken, broken in repentance. He's not them of a broken heart.
But on whomsoever it shall fall, grind it to powder. You know,
this literally happened to this nation 40 years later. 40 years
later, in 70 AD, Jerusalem was burnt to the ground, ground to
a powder. Notice just across the page,
over in Mark 13 verse 1. As they went out of the temple,
this is the Lord and his disciples, one of the disciples said to
him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings
are here. That temple was a magnificent
temple. The stones were huge. And the
Lord said, seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be
left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. He
destroyed the place. Destroyed them. Here's the point. You cannot fight against God
and win. Give up. Give up. Let us never expect to sin against
God and farewell. No one ever hardened his heart
against God and his gospel and prospered spiritually. Never. The wages of sin, it still
stands, it's still true. The wages of sin is death. Salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation through Christ is a
gift of God, not of worthless any man should boast. All of
us are deserving of God's just wrath and eternal judgment. We've
all sinned against Him. It's only by His sovereign mercy
that He's made us to differ. It's only by His sovereign grace
alone that the believer has any hope in Christ Jesus. Let us
never boast of our innocence. Let us never boast of our righteousness. But let us always boast it is
of the Lord's mercy. that we are not consumed, because
his compassion fails not. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name. Give glory for thy mercy and
for thy truth's sake. In Mark chapter 12, look at verse
10 and 11. The Lord Jesus Christ. Have you
not read this scripture? We just did. We just read this
scripture. The stone which the builders
rejected is becoming the head of the corner. This is the Lord's
doing, and this is marvelous in our eyes. The Lord Jesus Christ
is that foundation that God has laid. There is no other foundation
than that which is already laid, which is Christ the Lord. Neither
is there salvation in any other. These builders rejected Him.
They rejected His deity. They rejected His sacrifice.
They rejected His righteousness. They rejected His salvation.
They rejected everything. Their rejection of the Messiah,
the Redeemer, made no difference in the Lordship of Christ. Did
it? Not at all. Turn to Acts chapter
2 and look at this verse carefully. Acts chapter 2. Notice verse 34 of Acts chapter
2. Verse 32 of Acts 2, we have to
back up. This Jesus hath God raised up,
whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore, being by the right
hand of God exalted, having received of the Father the promise of
the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which you now see
and hear. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, that is the body of David, But he saith himself
to my Lord, Sit thou with my right hand, till I make thine
enemies thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of
Israel know it surely, that God hath made that same Jesus whom
you crucified, Lord and Christ. And they were pricked in their
heart. Their rejection of the Messiah
and Redeemer made no difference in the Lordship of Christ. This
is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes. His coming
in the flesh, this is of God. His dying for His people, the
just for the unjust, that He might bring us unto God, this
is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. The
establishment of the only foundation upon which sinners can rest,
this is of the Lord. It's the Lord's doing. His exaltation
to the throne of glory. God has highly exalted Him and
given Him a name which is above every name. This is the Lord's
doing and it's marvelous in our eyes. His rejection by the Jews,
this too is of the Lord in His sovereign purpose. He worketh
all things after the counsel of His own will. Now preacher,
come on. I can make good on that. Turn
to 1 Peter chapter 2. Stay with me just a minute or
two. I'm almost done. 1 Peter chapter 2. Notice carefully. Verse 5, he said, you also as
living sons are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to
offer up spiritual sacrifices accessible to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it's contained
in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect and precious. He that believeth on him shall
not be confounded, ashamed, or forced out. Unto you therefore
which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient
the stone." Oh, here's this stone. Remember, he's ahead of the corner.
God had made him Lord in Christ. The stone which the builders
rejected. The builder disallowed, the same
as made the head of the corner a stone of stumbling, a rock
of offense even to them that stumble at the word, being disobedient,
whereunto also they were appointed. But you are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation, that you should show forth the
praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light. This is the Lord's doing, and
it is marvelous in our eyes. Now in closing, I'll send you
home with this. Look at verse 12. This is the Lord's doing. They
sought to lay hold on Him. They were going to kill Him on
the spot. But they feared the people. For they knew that the
Lord had spoken this parable against them. Now watch this.
They left Him and they went their way. The
Jews went away in anger and disgust. They left Him and went their
own way. There is a way that seems right
unto men, the end thereof is death. Angry, they were angry that God
is God in all things. I want you to turn and read this
with me. And here is the difference, John chapter 6. Here is the difference
between mere religion and salvation. There's a good article by Pastor
Mahan on the inside of the bulletin about the difference between
religion and salvation. Now here's the difference between
saving faith and a mere religious professor. In John chapter 6,
our Lord said in verse 65, Therefore said I unto you, that no man
can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my father,
the salvation of the Lord. From that time many of his disciples
went back and walked no more. Just like these Jews, they turned
and walked away and went their own way. They appeared to be disciples.
They appeared to be followers. But when the way got hard, their
so-called profession melted. Look at verse 67. Then said Jesus
to the twelve, Will you also go away? Will you? Will you go away? Simon Peter
answered and said, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou
hast the words of eternal life. We believe and are sure thou
art that Christ. My son, I believe in God. How will you go out that door
this morning? Rejoicing in your heart? The
salvation of the Lord? Or saying in your heart, I trust
there's none here. But saying in your heart, well,
you know, that's just not fair. God will have mercy on whom He
will have mercy. He'll harden whom He will. That's
just not fair. Will you go out your own way?
Or will you go out rejoicing in salvation that's of the Lord?
This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes,
in our sight.