1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,667 2 00:00:04,750 --> 00:00:14,750 [music] 3 00:00:32,042 --> 00:00:38,000 Luke 20:9-18, "The Father of a Murdered Son." 4 00:00:38,042 --> 00:00:39,917 "And he," that is Jesus, 5 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,000 "began to tell the people this parable," 6 00:00:42,083 --> 00:00:45,083 which is a small story that tells a big truth, 7 00:00:45,167 --> 00:00:48,125 "A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants 8 00:00:48,167 --> 00:00:51,625 "and went into another country for a long while. 9 00:00:51,667 --> 00:00:54,417 "When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, 10 00:00:54,500 --> 00:00:55,917 "so that they would give him 11 00:00:56,000 --> 00:00:57,667 "some of the fruit of the vineyard. 12 00:00:57,750 --> 00:01:01,292 "But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 13 00:01:01,333 --> 00:01:03,292 "And he sent another servant. 14 00:01:03,333 --> 00:01:06,625 "But they also beat and treated him shamefully, 15 00:01:06,667 --> 00:01:09,125 "and sent him away empty-handed. 16 00:01:09,167 --> 00:01:11,417 "And he sent yet a third. 17 00:01:11,500 --> 00:01:14,792 "This one also they wounded and cast out. 18 00:01:14,833 --> 00:01:18,125 "Then the owner of the vineyard said, 'What shall I do? 19 00:01:18,167 --> 00:01:23,708 "'I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.' 20 00:01:23,792 --> 00:01:26,208 "But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, 21 00:01:26,292 --> 00:01:28,000 "'This is the heir. 22 00:01:28,083 --> 00:01:32,000 "Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.' 23 00:01:32,042 --> 00:01:36,292 And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him." 24 00:01:36,333 --> 00:01:39,000 Jesus here is on his way to Jerusalem. 25 00:01:39,083 --> 00:01:42,125 He is days from his crucifixion. 26 00:01:42,167 --> 00:01:46,000 He is going to be murdered in a brutal and bloody way. 27 00:01:46,042 --> 00:01:48,625 And as he's approaching the cross and the crowds have 28 00:01:48,667 --> 00:01:53,708 gathered around him, he wants us to see human history 29 00:01:53,792 --> 00:01:58,208 and our lives individually from the perspective of God. 30 00:01:58,292 --> 00:02:01,125 And this is very important because we live in a day 31 00:02:01,167 --> 00:02:03,625 where this is not encouraged. 32 00:02:03,667 --> 00:02:05,500 This is actually discouraged. 33 00:02:05,583 --> 00:02:08,833 We live in a day in which we want to see our lives 34 00:02:08,875 --> 00:02:12,333 and history from our perspective according to our own 35 00:02:12,375 --> 00:02:16,500 sinful desires and our own selfish pursuits, which can then 36 00:02:16,583 --> 00:02:19,625 even lead us to the point of questioning, is there a God? 37 00:02:19,667 --> 00:02:23,125 Or if there is a God, questioning the goodness of God. 38 00:02:23,167 --> 00:02:24,500 Is there a God? 39 00:02:24,583 --> 00:02:25,917 Does he care? 40 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:27,333 Is he involved? 41 00:02:27,375 --> 00:02:28,708 Does he love us? 42 00:02:28,792 --> 00:02:31,625 And then we put ourselves in the position of judging God. 43 00:02:31,667 --> 00:02:34,833 And then some of us can even go to the Scriptures and say, 44 00:02:34,875 --> 00:02:36,833 "I don't think God should ever get angry. 45 00:02:36,875 --> 00:02:38,333 "He should never judge anyone. 46 00:02:38,375 --> 00:02:40,333 "That whole issue of hell seems highly unnecessarily 47 00:02:40,375 --> 00:02:41,708 "and over-reactionary. 48 00:02:41,792 --> 00:02:44,083 "Perhaps, that was primitive teaching from a former day, 49 00:02:44,167 --> 00:02:48,125 thankfully we've evolved beyond that." 50 00:02:48,167 --> 00:02:51,833 And it's because we are the guilty looking at the judge 51 00:02:51,875 --> 00:02:54,917 and wanting to replace our position with his 52 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,667 that we might judge him. 53 00:02:57,750 --> 00:03:01,000 And Jesus here wants for us to have an opportunity, 54 00:03:01,083 --> 00:03:04,292 in as much as we're able, with a 3-pound, fallen brain 55 00:03:04,333 --> 00:03:09,125 and sinful proclivity and self-interest to put a hat on 56 00:03:09,167 --> 00:03:12,000 and to look at things, not from our perspective, 57 00:03:12,042 --> 00:03:16,500 but from God's perspective, to see our lives as God sees them, 58 00:03:16,542 --> 00:03:20,000 to see human history as God sees it. 59 00:03:20,083 --> 00:03:24,125 Now we're not God, so we have a limited capacity to do this. 60 00:03:24,167 --> 00:03:27,500 But in telling this parable, Jesus is trying to open our 61 00:03:27,583 --> 00:03:32,375 understanding to what it is like for God to deal with 62 00:03:32,458 --> 00:03:35,083 you and I and us. 63 00:03:35,167 --> 00:03:37,625 And he does so in the form of a parable. 64 00:03:37,667 --> 00:03:39,625 And for us to extract significant meaning from 65 00:03:39,667 --> 00:03:41,667 the parable, it requires that we go through, 66 00:03:41,750 --> 00:03:43,708 look at each of the characters and ask, 67 00:03:43,792 --> 00:03:45,875 to whom does that refer? 68 00:03:45,958 --> 00:03:49,125 And so we'll start with the fact that the story is told that 69 00:03:49,167 --> 00:03:52,917 there is a landowner, he owns the vineyard. 70 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:55,375 He not only owns it, he planted it. 71 00:03:55,458 --> 00:03:57,875 He cultivated it so that it might be fruitful 72 00:03:57,958 --> 00:04:01,833 and he is away for a long season. 73 00:04:01,875 --> 00:04:03,625 Who is that? 74 00:04:03,667 --> 00:04:05,000 Well, that's God. 75 00:04:05,083 --> 00:04:06,792 That's God the Father. 76 00:04:07,292 --> 00:04:08,792 That's God the Father. 77 00:04:08,833 --> 00:04:10,875 God made this world. 78 00:04:10,958 --> 00:04:12,417 It all belongs to him. 79 00:04:12,500 --> 00:04:15,625 It's his vineyard, as well as the nations of the earth 80 00:04:15,667 --> 00:04:17,417 belong to him. 81 00:04:17,500 --> 00:04:20,917 As well as, well, quite frankly, where you live--condo, dorm, 82 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,917 apartment, whatever patch of earth you call home-- 83 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:26,792 that patch belongs to him as well. 84 00:04:26,833 --> 00:04:28,417 That's part of his vineyard. 85 00:04:28,500 --> 00:04:29,833 He made this world. 86 00:04:29,875 --> 00:04:33,000 The body that you and I inhabit is part of his created world. 87 00:04:33,083 --> 00:04:36,500 It's a gift that's been given to us that we might live a life 88 00:04:36,583 --> 00:04:38,208 that is pleasing to him. 89 00:04:38,292 --> 00:04:41,208 So ultimately he's the owner of everything. 90 00:04:41,292 --> 00:04:45,000 He is the owner of everything because he is the Creator 91 00:04:45,042 --> 00:04:47,333 of everyone and everything. 92 00:04:47,375 --> 00:04:50,792 And what it says is that he, not only is the landowner, 93 00:04:50,833 --> 00:04:52,833 he is a Father. 94 00:04:52,875 --> 00:04:54,583 This is very important. 95 00:04:54,667 --> 00:04:58,000 Sometimes it can be very difficult to emotionally connect 96 00:04:58,042 --> 00:05:01,125 with God because is God the kind of supernatural, 97 00:05:01,167 --> 00:05:04,500 immaterial force that is spoken of in pantheism, panentheism, 98 00:05:04,583 --> 00:05:07,000 monism, general spiritism? 99 00:05:07,083 --> 00:05:09,917 Is God, like the deists say, the maker of the universe, 100 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:12,875 but now an absentee landlord no longer involved in it? 101 00:05:12,958 --> 00:05:16,833 Is God, like eastern religions say, both good and evil? 102 00:05:16,875 --> 00:05:19,333 Are there multiple gods? Is there one God? 103 00:05:19,375 --> 00:05:21,083 Is God personal? Is God impersonal? 104 00:05:21,167 --> 00:05:23,125 Does God know me? Does God love me? 105 00:05:23,167 --> 00:05:25,375 Does God hate me? 106 00:05:25,458 --> 00:05:27,833 And when God chooses to reveal himself to us, 107 00:05:27,875 --> 00:05:31,708 he does so in a language that is to capture our affections. 108 00:05:31,792 --> 00:05:34,792 He uses the language of a father. 109 00:05:34,833 --> 00:05:37,292 Roughly 14 times in the Old Testament, 110 00:05:37,333 --> 00:05:40,167 God is referred to as a Father, always in reference 111 00:05:40,250 --> 00:05:42,000 to the nation of Israel. 112 00:05:42,083 --> 00:05:45,333 And then when Jesus comes along, throughout the four Gospels, 113 00:05:45,375 --> 00:05:50,333 we read the language of God as Father appears some 60 times. 114 00:05:50,375 --> 00:05:54,292 And Jesus tells us to talk to God as a Father and to relate to 115 00:05:54,333 --> 00:05:57,917 God as a Father and to pray to God as a Father. 116 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:02,583 So for you and I, this helps us clarify who God is 117 00:06:02,667 --> 00:06:04,208 and what God is like. 118 00:06:04,292 --> 00:06:06,708 He's like the perfect, loving, gracious Father. 119 00:06:06,792 --> 00:06:08,625 He lives us life. 120 00:06:08,667 --> 00:06:10,708 He gives us instruction, provision, 121 00:06:10,792 --> 00:06:12,708 protection, correction. 122 00:06:12,792 --> 00:06:14,625 That's our Dad. 123 00:06:14,667 --> 00:06:19,708 And our Dad owns everything and ultimately everyone has to give 124 00:06:19,792 --> 00:06:23,000 an account to this great Father. 125 00:06:23,083 --> 00:06:26,000 So that is his roll in the story. 126 00:06:26,042 --> 00:06:28,583 Number two, there is then the vineyard, 127 00:06:28,667 --> 00:06:31,500 the plot of land that is spoken of in the parable 128 00:06:31,542 --> 00:06:32,875 that the Father owns. 129 00:06:32,958 --> 00:06:35,417 The question is well, what is the vineyard? 130 00:06:35,500 --> 00:06:38,875 Well, in one sense it truly is all of creation 131 00:06:38,958 --> 00:06:40,500 because it all belongs to God. 132 00:06:40,583 --> 00:06:41,917 He made it all. 133 00:06:42,000 --> 00:06:44,917 But in this particular parable, it's narrowed specifically 134 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:47,208 to refer to the nation of Israel. 135 00:06:47,292 --> 00:06:50,208 And they would have heard, in the telling of the story, 136 00:06:50,292 --> 00:06:54,333 this metaphor of a vine as referring to them because it was 137 00:06:54,375 --> 00:06:56,792 a symbol that they used to represent themselves. 138 00:06:56,833 --> 00:07:00,292 And it went all the way back 700 years prior to Isaiah 5 139 00:07:00,333 --> 00:07:03,208 where God says that "My people are like a vine to me. 140 00:07:03,292 --> 00:07:06,333 I tend to them that they might be fruitful." 141 00:07:06,375 --> 00:07:08,292 Jesus uses this similar language. 142 00:07:08,333 --> 00:07:10,333 "I am the vine, you are the branches." 143 00:07:10,375 --> 00:07:13,667 That same kind of viticultural metaphor and imagery. 144 00:07:13,750 --> 00:07:16,583 And in the time way, when they went to the temple, 145 00:07:16,667 --> 00:07:21,833 they would have seen an enormous, golden vine, 146 00:07:21,875 --> 00:07:23,833 piece of ornate artwork. 147 00:07:23,875 --> 00:07:26,708 And where there was to be fruit, 148 00:07:26,792 --> 00:07:29,708 there were actually magnificent jewels. 149 00:07:29,792 --> 00:07:32,500 So as they would go to the temple to worship God, 150 00:07:32,583 --> 00:07:34,500 they would see this grand design and say, 151 00:07:34,583 --> 00:07:37,208 "That vine is supposed to be us. 152 00:07:37,292 --> 00:07:39,583 "We're supposed to be fruitful. 153 00:07:39,667 --> 00:07:41,333 We're supposed to be fruitful." 154 00:07:41,375 --> 00:07:44,333 In the same way, if you and I see a bald eagle, 155 00:07:44,375 --> 00:07:47,167 symbol of a bald eagle, we think, that's us. 156 00:07:47,250 --> 00:07:49,000 Alright, that's the symbol for America. 157 00:07:49,083 --> 00:07:51,500 If you're Canadian, you see a maple leaf, you say, 158 00:07:51,542 --> 00:07:53,708 "Hey, that's us," right? 159 00:07:53,792 --> 00:07:56,000 You just identify yourself with that symbol. 160 00:07:56,083 --> 00:07:59,000 That's what the vine was for the Israelites, 161 00:07:59,083 --> 00:08:01,333 for the people of God here. 162 00:08:01,375 --> 00:08:05,125 And the point is that God wants them to get nourishment, 163 00:08:05,167 --> 00:08:08,500 sustenance, and life physically and spiritually from 164 00:08:08,542 --> 00:08:11,500 relationship with him that they might bear fruit. 165 00:08:11,583 --> 00:08:14,000 This would be spiritual fruit where they grow to be 166 00:08:14,083 --> 00:08:15,417 more like God wants. 167 00:08:15,500 --> 00:08:18,125 And this is where they would also be practically fruitful 168 00:08:18,167 --> 00:08:20,667 helping others know God, their lives to be improved, 169 00:08:20,750 --> 00:08:24,417 generosity and truth going out for the nations of the earth. 170 00:08:24,500 --> 00:08:26,167 So that's the story. 171 00:08:26,250 --> 00:08:28,833 God is the Father who owns the vineyard, 172 00:08:28,875 --> 00:08:31,625 the nation of Israel in general and the people of God 173 00:08:31,667 --> 00:08:35,667 in particular are to be that cultivated, fruitful people 174 00:08:35,750 --> 00:08:38,417 that are a blessing to the nations of the earth. 175 00:08:38,500 --> 00:08:40,417 Well, who are the tenants? 176 00:08:40,500 --> 00:08:43,208 The story says that these tenants are kind of like 177 00:08:43,292 --> 00:08:44,833 renters in our day. 178 00:08:44,875 --> 00:08:48,000 If any of you have a rental property or a condo, dorm, home, 179 00:08:48,083 --> 00:08:51,000 apartment, you rent it out to somebody and they're supposed to 180 00:08:51,042 --> 00:08:53,125 pay you rent, it's a bit like that. 181 00:08:53,167 --> 00:08:55,417 The story is told there's this piece of land 182 00:08:55,500 --> 00:08:58,583 that's very fruitful and some tenants come and they rent it. 183 00:08:58,667 --> 00:09:01,000 They don't own it, they rent it. 184 00:09:01,083 --> 00:09:03,333 And their job is to cultivate this land, 185 00:09:03,375 --> 00:09:06,625 and to make it fruitful and then to take a percentage of their 186 00:09:06,667 --> 00:09:10,000 profit and then pay it back as rent to the landowner, 187 00:09:10,083 --> 00:09:12,125 which is a fair deal. 188 00:09:12,167 --> 00:09:14,833 Still works this way in a lot of places, 189 00:09:14,875 --> 00:09:17,500 both in our country and around the world. 190 00:09:17,542 --> 00:09:19,125 "I'll let you work the land. 191 00:09:19,167 --> 00:09:20,500 "I'll still own it. 192 00:09:20,583 --> 00:09:22,667 You give me a percentage of profits." 193 00:09:22,750 --> 00:09:25,000 That's what they're supposed to do. 194 00:09:25,083 --> 00:09:27,875 Well, lo and behold, the land is fruitful. 195 00:09:27,958 --> 00:09:30,500 They are turning a profit, but what do they do 196 00:09:30,583 --> 00:09:31,917 with the proceeds? 197 00:09:32,000 --> 00:09:33,500 They don't pay their rent. 198 00:09:33,542 --> 00:09:36,500 They don't give anything back to the landowner. 199 00:09:36,542 --> 00:09:38,083 They're stealing. 200 00:09:38,167 --> 00:09:39,500 They're greedy. 201 00:09:39,542 --> 00:09:40,875 They're stingy. 202 00:09:40,958 --> 00:09:42,292 They're selfish. 203 00:09:42,333 --> 00:09:46,792 They're thieves, like some of us, like some of you. 204 00:09:46,833 --> 00:09:50,375 When you start to think, "It's my body. 205 00:09:50,458 --> 00:09:51,917 "It's my life. 206 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:53,333 "It's my money. 207 00:09:53,375 --> 00:09:54,708 "It's my house. 208 00:09:54,792 --> 00:09:56,500 "It's my possessions. 209 00:09:56,583 --> 00:09:58,333 "I don't owe God anything. 210 00:09:58,375 --> 00:10:00,792 "I don't owe anyone anything. 211 00:10:00,833 --> 00:10:02,708 It's all mine." 212 00:10:02,792 --> 00:10:05,708 That's the same attitude that some of us have, 213 00:10:05,792 --> 00:10:08,292 and we don't give to God. 214 00:10:08,333 --> 00:10:09,833 We don't give to others. 215 00:10:09,875 --> 00:10:12,000 We don't give at all. 216 00:10:12,083 --> 00:10:15,708 And in so doing, what we're essentially communicating is, 217 00:10:15,792 --> 00:10:17,125 "It's not his. 218 00:10:17,167 --> 00:10:18,917 "It's mine. 219 00:10:19,000 --> 00:10:21,500 I owe him nothing." 220 00:10:21,583 --> 00:10:24,125 That's not an attitude of gratitude. 221 00:10:24,167 --> 00:10:26,333 That's an attitude of thievery. 222 00:10:26,375 --> 00:10:29,333 Well, who are these wicked tenants? 223 00:10:29,375 --> 00:10:33,125 Well, ultimately, they're the sinful people--they're the 224 00:10:33,167 --> 00:10:37,583 sinful people of God and they're the sinful religious leaders. 225 00:10:37,667 --> 00:10:41,583 These would be those who keep fighting with Jesus throughout 226 00:10:41,667 --> 00:10:44,083 the story of the Gospel of Luke. 227 00:10:44,167 --> 00:10:47,083 Some of you are here and you're not Christians and you may 228 00:10:47,167 --> 00:10:52,417 misperceive Christianity into some of us thinking wrongly, 229 00:10:52,500 --> 00:10:57,125 "The Christians are the bad guys and the non-Christians, rather, 230 00:10:57,167 --> 00:10:59,875 are the bad guys and the Christians are the good guys." 231 00:10:59,958 --> 00:11:03,292 And it's really not that easy 'cause when you go to the Bible, 232 00:11:03,333 --> 00:11:06,208 there are sinners who sin and God tells them to stop 233 00:11:06,292 --> 00:11:08,167 and change by his grace. 234 00:11:08,250 --> 00:11:11,000 But then there are religious people who are sometimes 235 00:11:11,083 --> 00:11:13,000 the worst sinners of all. 236 00:11:13,083 --> 00:11:16,625 And God is, at least, as displeased with their conduct 237 00:11:16,667 --> 00:11:19,500 as he is with the regular common-day sinner. 238 00:11:19,583 --> 00:11:22,875 And part of the problem with religious leadership is that it 239 00:11:22,958 --> 00:11:25,333 becomes very corrupted. 240 00:11:25,375 --> 00:11:27,083 And here's how it becomes very corrupted. 241 00:11:27,167 --> 00:11:31,083 It becomes very corrupted by figuring out what people want 242 00:11:31,167 --> 00:11:35,125 and then telling them that so that they'll pay for it. 243 00:11:35,167 --> 00:11:37,375 The Bible calls this false prophecy, 244 00:11:37,458 --> 00:11:42,000 false teaching and you can get very rich doing this. 245 00:11:42,083 --> 00:11:45,625 Like imagine how much money we can make in counseling if you 246 00:11:45,667 --> 00:11:50,708 came in and said, "I want you to say this is okay," and we did. 247 00:11:50,792 --> 00:11:53,208 That would pay very well. 248 00:11:53,292 --> 00:11:56,500 And so what had happened in that day, the bad tenants, 249 00:11:56,583 --> 00:12:00,708 these wicked leaders, 250 00:12:00,792 --> 00:12:03,708 they were saying what everyone wanted to say. 251 00:12:03,792 --> 00:12:06,417 They weren't saying what God wanted to be said. 252 00:12:06,500 --> 00:12:08,333 When they spoke, they didn't speak the truth, 253 00:12:08,375 --> 00:12:09,708 they spoke lies. 254 00:12:09,792 --> 00:12:11,417 They weren't leading people toward repentance. 255 00:12:11,500 --> 00:12:13,167 They were leading people toward selfishness. 256 00:12:13,250 --> 00:12:16,000 They weren't encouraging people to obey God. 257 00:12:16,083 --> 00:12:19,125 They were encouraging people to tell them what they wanted 258 00:12:19,167 --> 00:12:22,625 to hear so that they could echo people's selfish desires 259 00:12:22,667 --> 00:12:27,708 and spend their money, thereby creating a religious system that 260 00:12:27,792 --> 00:12:33,000 was very profitable and fill their pockets for injustice. 261 00:12:33,083 --> 00:12:37,625 And so this is a condemnation on false religion 262 00:12:37,667 --> 00:12:39,708 and corrupt religious leadership. 263 00:12:39,792 --> 00:12:42,667 Those would be in the story, the wicked tenants. 264 00:12:42,750 --> 00:12:45,833 These were supposed to be the Bible teachers and the priests 265 00:12:45,875 --> 00:12:48,792 and the kings and the leaders who are helping the people of 266 00:12:48,833 --> 00:12:52,667 God walk in the truth of God, and it wasn't happening. 267 00:12:52,750 --> 00:12:56,292 Well, who then are the servants? 268 00:12:56,333 --> 00:13:00,667 'Cause the story is told that the wicked tenants are getting 269 00:13:00,750 --> 00:13:05,333 profitable and fat and selfish, greedy, 270 00:13:05,375 --> 00:13:08,833 taking advantage of the grace that the landowner gives them, 271 00:13:08,875 --> 00:13:10,875 that God ultimately gives them. 272 00:13:10,958 --> 00:13:13,792 And the servants, then, are godly leaders who are 273 00:13:13,833 --> 00:13:17,333 raised up by God and sent to speak to people saying, 274 00:13:17,375 --> 00:13:19,208 "What you're doing is wrong. 275 00:13:19,292 --> 00:13:21,792 "Where you're going is destruction. 276 00:13:21,833 --> 00:13:24,708 Who you're following is a false teacher." 277 00:13:24,792 --> 00:13:27,208 These would include godly kings and godly priests 278 00:13:27,292 --> 00:13:30,625 in the Old Testament, but especially godly prophets. 279 00:13:30,667 --> 00:13:32,625 And God, oftentimes in the Old Testament, 280 00:13:32,667 --> 00:13:37,125 he refers to them by saying, "My servants the prophets." 281 00:13:37,167 --> 00:13:39,500 So the language here of the servant is 282 00:13:39,583 --> 00:13:41,208 the Old Testament prophet. 283 00:13:41,292 --> 00:13:44,667 So you get the idea, the earth was made by God. 284 00:13:44,750 --> 00:13:46,500 Every nation belongs to God. 285 00:13:46,583 --> 00:13:49,083 You and I were made by God. 286 00:13:49,167 --> 00:13:53,000 God has given us life and breath so the air we breathe, 287 00:13:53,083 --> 00:13:58,500 the water we drink, the life we enjoy, the body we inhabit, 288 00:13:58,542 --> 00:14:03,292 the things we touch, the places we go, the people we meet, 289 00:14:03,333 --> 00:14:08,875 the objects we see, it all ultimately belongs to God. 290 00:14:08,958 --> 00:14:11,000 And we're here for his glory. 291 00:14:11,042 --> 00:14:12,708 We're here for his service. 292 00:14:12,792 --> 00:14:14,833 We're here as his possession. 293 00:14:14,875 --> 00:14:20,125 He's lavishly generous and good and he enables us to have life, 294 00:14:20,167 --> 00:14:24,125 and we're supposed to reflect his generosity by giving back 295 00:14:24,167 --> 00:14:26,667 to him and giving to others. 296 00:14:26,750 --> 00:14:29,708 And instead what we do, we become very corrupted. 297 00:14:29,792 --> 00:14:33,667 Some of us also become very religious, very stingy, 298 00:14:33,750 --> 00:14:37,833 very judgmental, very crooked, very hypocritical. 299 00:14:37,875 --> 00:14:39,500 And so what does God do? 300 00:14:39,542 --> 00:14:42,833 He sends a succession of servants, particularly prophets. 301 00:14:42,875 --> 00:14:44,208 And he'd rise up prophets. 302 00:14:44,292 --> 00:14:46,625 And this is the story of the Old Testament. 303 00:14:46,667 --> 00:14:50,125 And God wants us here to view history from his perspective, 304 00:14:50,167 --> 00:14:52,167 not just ours. 305 00:14:52,250 --> 00:14:54,333 And the servants are those sent by God. 306 00:14:54,375 --> 00:14:58,000 So in the story it is that one servant is appointed by 307 00:14:58,042 --> 00:14:59,708 the land-owning father. 308 00:14:59,792 --> 00:15:03,208 "Please go to my rebellious tenants and figure out why they 309 00:15:03,292 --> 00:15:06,000 "don't pay the rent and why they're trashing my land 310 00:15:06,083 --> 00:15:08,625 and why they're taking advantage of my kindness." 311 00:15:08,667 --> 00:15:13,125 And the first servant goes and is beaten, near death, 312 00:15:13,167 --> 00:15:15,000 thrown out. 313 00:15:15,083 --> 00:15:17,125 Imagine this is you. 314 00:15:17,167 --> 00:15:18,917 Let's say you live in one town. 315 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:20,917 In another town you've got a rental home. 316 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:23,333 You can't sell it 'cause the market's upside down. 317 00:15:23,375 --> 00:15:26,875 Alright, this is not impossible, right? 318 00:15:26,958 --> 00:15:29,625 And you realize, "They don't pay their rent. 319 00:15:29,667 --> 00:15:32,292 "And I hear they're trashing the place. 320 00:15:32,333 --> 00:15:36,000 "So I'm going to send someone over there to knock on the door 321 00:15:36,042 --> 00:15:37,375 and see what's going on." 322 00:15:37,458 --> 00:15:41,000 They invite them in, beat them up, throw them out. 323 00:15:41,042 --> 00:15:43,333 That servant then comes back to you. 324 00:15:43,375 --> 00:15:44,708 "How did it go?" 325 00:15:44,792 --> 00:15:48,000 "Well, from the hair pulled out of my head and the broken nose 326 00:15:48,083 --> 00:15:50,625 "and the black eye and the cast, you might surmise, 327 00:15:50,667 --> 00:15:52,125 not well for our side," right? 328 00:15:52,167 --> 00:15:53,708 It didn't go well. 329 00:15:53,792 --> 00:15:57,292 They said, they're never gonna pay their rent 330 00:15:57,333 --> 00:16:00,167 and they just are defiant. 331 00:16:00,250 --> 00:16:03,125 So then the story is that the land-owning father says, 332 00:16:03,167 --> 00:16:05,125 "Okay, I'm gonna send another servant." 333 00:16:05,167 --> 00:16:07,583 It's been a good day to call in sick, right? 334 00:16:07,667 --> 00:16:09,000 Next. 335 00:16:09,042 --> 00:16:12,500 "What do you want me to do?" "Go knock on that door and see." 336 00:16:12,542 --> 00:16:13,875 "Oh, really? Okay." 337 00:16:13,958 --> 00:16:15,625 Same thing happens. They beat him up. 338 00:16:15,667 --> 00:16:17,333 They assault him, they throw him out. 339 00:16:17,375 --> 00:16:18,708 He comes back. 340 00:16:18,792 --> 00:16:21,000 The story here is that God's pretty patient, right? 341 00:16:21,083 --> 00:16:23,292 How many of you at this point you're like, 342 00:16:23,333 --> 00:16:26,667 we need to just rent a whole season of "CSI," figure out 343 00:16:26,750 --> 00:16:28,292 how to hide the body. 344 00:16:28,333 --> 00:16:29,708 That's what we need to do. 345 00:16:29,792 --> 00:16:31,208 No, what God does, God says, 346 00:16:31,292 --> 00:16:33,125 "Well, send another servant." 347 00:16:33,167 --> 00:16:35,083 This is what the does with the prophets. 348 00:16:35,167 --> 00:16:37,500 He keeps sending the prophets to the nation of Israel 349 00:16:37,583 --> 00:16:40,333 and the nation of Israel keeps rejecting them. 350 00:16:40,375 --> 00:16:42,625 They're exiled, meaning they're cast out. 351 00:16:42,667 --> 00:16:44,083 They're harassed. 352 00:16:44,167 --> 00:16:46,000 They're opposed, sometimes beaten. 353 00:16:46,083 --> 00:16:48,583 Some are even murdered. 354 00:16:48,667 --> 00:16:50,333 This is what God does. 355 00:16:50,375 --> 00:16:54,167 He sends loving, humble, truth-telling servants, 356 00:16:54,250 --> 00:16:55,625 the prophets. 357 00:16:55,667 --> 00:16:58,625 They receive a word from God and they communicate it either in 358 00:16:58,667 --> 00:17:00,833 written or in verbal form. 359 00:17:00,875 --> 00:17:03,833 And the people are hard-hearted, stiff-necked, rebellious. 360 00:17:03,875 --> 00:17:06,208 They're a bunch of wicked rebels, 361 00:17:06,292 --> 00:17:08,375 and what they do is they oppose God 362 00:17:08,458 --> 00:17:11,792 and they persecute the prophets. 363 00:17:11,833 --> 00:17:14,292 So to be a prophet, Abraham Heschel says it right. 364 00:17:14,333 --> 00:17:17,500 He says it's both a distinction and an affliction. 365 00:17:17,583 --> 00:17:19,667 So, God picked you to be a prophet. 366 00:17:19,750 --> 00:17:21,083 "Yay, what's what mean?" 367 00:17:21,167 --> 00:17:22,500 You're gonna die. 368 00:17:22,542 --> 00:17:24,000 "Ah." 369 00:17:24,042 --> 00:17:25,833 See, nobody wanted to be a prophet. 370 00:17:25,875 --> 00:17:28,500 We read the Bible and I hear that all the time. 371 00:17:28,583 --> 00:17:31,083 "Oh, the people in the Bible, they had bad motives. 372 00:17:31,167 --> 00:17:32,833 They were just in it for themselves." 373 00:17:32,875 --> 00:17:34,208 Not the prophets. 374 00:17:34,292 --> 00:17:36,417 There's no kid in high school, you know, saying, 375 00:17:36,500 --> 00:17:39,625 "When I go to college, I'm gonna major in being a prophet 'cause 376 00:17:39,667 --> 00:17:41,833 that's the slot I want for my life course." 377 00:17:41,875 --> 00:17:45,000 You didn't want to be a prophet. God had to pick the prophets. 378 00:17:45,083 --> 00:17:46,667 The prophets didn't generally volunteer. 379 00:17:46,750 --> 00:17:49,167 God goes to Noah, says, "You're gonna be a prophet." 380 00:17:49,250 --> 00:17:51,708 "No, I'm not. I'm out of here. 381 00:17:51,792 --> 00:17:53,125 I'm done." 382 00:17:53,167 --> 00:17:55,333 God comes to Isaiah, "You're gonna be a prophet." 383 00:17:55,375 --> 00:17:58,500 His first question is, "How long? 384 00:17:58,583 --> 00:18:01,083 How long?" 385 00:18:01,167 --> 00:18:03,417 God comes to Jeremiah, makes him a prophet 386 00:18:03,500 --> 00:18:04,833 from his mother's womb. 387 00:18:04,875 --> 00:18:06,208 He gets out. 388 00:18:06,292 --> 00:18:09,000 He's the most depressed guy ever, ever. 389 00:18:09,083 --> 00:18:11,292 He's like a guy who lives in Seattle during 390 00:18:11,333 --> 00:18:14,500 a really bad winter wearing nothing but black. 391 00:18:14,583 --> 00:18:17,917 Right, listening to indie rock reading Edgar Allan Poe 392 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:19,917 whose cat died. 393 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:21,500 That's Jeremiah. 394 00:18:21,583 --> 00:18:23,000 That's how he feels. 395 00:18:23,083 --> 00:18:24,917 He writes a whole book called Lamentations, 396 00:18:25,000 --> 00:18:28,417 which is basically a bunch of crying poetry from a depressed 397 00:18:28,500 --> 00:18:33,625 guy who's not even allowed to get married, right? 398 00:18:33,667 --> 00:18:39,667 You read in Jeremiah, he says, "Cursed be the day I was born." 399 00:18:39,750 --> 00:18:41,708 That's a big statement. 400 00:18:41,792 --> 00:18:43,708 So what's the worst day of your life? 401 00:18:43,792 --> 00:18:45,792 "Birth. Birth. 402 00:18:45,833 --> 00:18:49,625 Every since then, it's just been downhill." 403 00:18:49,667 --> 00:18:53,833 He said, "Cursed be the man who brought the news of my birth 404 00:18:53,875 --> 00:18:56,208 to my father." 405 00:18:56,292 --> 00:18:58,208 Really? 406 00:18:58,292 --> 00:18:59,625 "It's a boy." 407 00:18:59,667 --> 00:19:01,083 "Curse you." 408 00:19:01,167 --> 00:19:04,667 That's a really depressed guy. 409 00:19:04,750 --> 00:19:08,833 So to be a prophet was difficult because you were sent by God as 410 00:19:08,875 --> 00:19:13,125 sort of this lone voice to tell all of the professing people 411 00:19:13,167 --> 00:19:15,333 of God, "You're wrong. 412 00:19:15,375 --> 00:19:17,125 "You're in sin. You're in rebellion. 413 00:19:17,167 --> 00:19:18,500 "You're being wicked. 414 00:19:18,583 --> 00:19:19,917 "You're fighting against God. 415 00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:21,625 "You've rejected the truth. 416 00:19:21,667 --> 00:19:23,333 "Turn from your sin. 417 00:19:23,375 --> 00:19:24,708 "Repent. 418 00:19:24,792 --> 00:19:26,125 "Change. 419 00:19:26,167 --> 00:19:27,500 "There's a sense of urgency. 420 00:19:27,583 --> 00:19:28,917 Do it now." 421 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:32,000 They would all get together and say no. 422 00:19:32,042 --> 00:19:35,000 Then they would bring in some religious leader they paid a lot 423 00:19:35,083 --> 00:19:40,208 of money and say, "We pay you to contradict that person. 424 00:19:40,292 --> 00:19:43,375 "And then we'll pay you well. 425 00:19:43,458 --> 00:19:47,000 And if he doesn't be quiet, we'll kill him." 426 00:19:47,083 --> 00:19:48,833 And that's what happened to the prophet. 427 00:19:48,875 --> 00:19:51,500 So I wrote down some examples for you. 428 00:19:51,583 --> 00:19:53,083 Elijah ran for his life. 429 00:19:53,167 --> 00:19:55,875 Jeremiah was mocked and thrown in a pit, left for dead. 430 00:19:55,958 --> 00:19:57,625 Zechariah was murdered. 431 00:19:57,667 --> 00:20:00,375 And John the baptizer, beheaded. 432 00:20:00,458 --> 00:20:03,875 That's what happens to a prophet. 433 00:20:03,958 --> 00:20:07,000 So back to the story that Jesus is telling. 434 00:20:07,042 --> 00:20:11,417 These are the servants that God has sent to us, to human beings, 435 00:20:11,500 --> 00:20:14,625 to rebels on the earth, to those of us who were enjoying his 436 00:20:14,667 --> 00:20:17,625 lavish, gracious provision. 437 00:20:17,667 --> 00:20:19,833 This is such an issue that Stephen, 438 00:20:19,875 --> 00:20:21,500 he was an early church deacon. 439 00:20:21,542 --> 00:20:24,500 When he was preaching and they were getting ready to kill him, 440 00:20:24,542 --> 00:20:27,500 he had the most amazing sermon in Acts 7 and he says, 441 00:20:27,542 --> 00:20:31,417 "You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears, 442 00:20:31,500 --> 00:20:33,875 "you are just like your fathers. 443 00:20:33,958 --> 00:20:36,000 "You always resist the Holy Spirit. 444 00:20:36,083 --> 00:20:40,417 Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute?" 445 00:20:40,500 --> 00:20:43,792 How do we become those wicked tenants? 446 00:20:43,833 --> 00:20:48,125 We decide we don't want to obey God, we want to be God. 447 00:20:48,167 --> 00:20:50,500 We don't want God to tell us we're wrong. 448 00:20:50,583 --> 00:20:53,000 We want to be the judge of our own life. 449 00:20:53,042 --> 00:20:55,000 And if God should send the Holy Spirit 450 00:20:55,083 --> 00:20:56,875 to convict us or a Bible teacher 451 00:20:56,958 --> 00:20:59,958 to instruct us, in those days it was a prophet 452 00:21:00,083 --> 00:21:01,792 or a king or a priest. 453 00:21:01,833 --> 00:21:04,125 In our day it's a missionary, an evangelist, 454 00:21:04,167 --> 00:21:06,375 a pastor or a Christian. 455 00:21:06,458 --> 00:21:08,083 We reject the truth. 456 00:21:08,167 --> 00:21:10,500 We rebel against the truth. 457 00:21:10,583 --> 00:21:16,500 We defy the commands of God and we do so boldly and arrogantly. 458 00:21:16,583 --> 00:21:20,208 And you see how kind God is. 459 00:21:20,292 --> 00:21:23,708 He kept sending people to be exiled. 460 00:21:23,792 --> 00:21:26,167 He kept sending people to be beaten. 461 00:21:26,250 --> 00:21:30,625 He kept sending people to be murdered. 462 00:21:30,667 --> 00:21:35,333 And that's what humanity did to the servants of God. 463 00:21:35,375 --> 00:21:39,583 That's what humanity does to the servants of God. 464 00:21:39,667 --> 00:21:42,625 So according to the story then, 465 00:21:42,667 --> 00:21:47,000 the father comes to one last effort. 466 00:21:47,042 --> 00:21:50,625 And the father determines I will send my son. 467 00:21:50,667 --> 00:21:52,833 And the language is very significant. 468 00:21:52,875 --> 00:21:55,000 "Beloved son. 469 00:21:55,083 --> 00:21:59,208 "I will send my beloved son. 470 00:21:59,292 --> 00:22:02,792 Perhaps they'll listen to him." 471 00:22:02,833 --> 00:22:05,000 And this language is very important. 472 00:22:05,083 --> 00:22:08,875 God is seeking here to get us emotionally connected 473 00:22:08,958 --> 00:22:15,292 so that as we view history and our lives and Scripture, 474 00:22:15,333 --> 00:22:21,125 we do so with a heart of God inasmuch as we're able. 475 00:22:21,167 --> 00:22:25,125 Now, how many of you are parents? 476 00:22:25,167 --> 00:22:26,708 Alright, you're parents? 477 00:22:26,792 --> 00:22:30,083 So when you hear the language of parent/child, 478 00:22:30,167 --> 00:22:33,375 it appeals to the affections, right, to the emotions? 479 00:22:33,458 --> 00:22:37,417 I've got five kids and I think okay, 480 00:22:37,500 --> 00:22:40,500 what if somebody hurt my kids? 481 00:22:40,583 --> 00:22:45,167 What if somebody killed my beloved son? 482 00:22:45,250 --> 00:22:48,458 Imagine that. 483 00:22:49,542 --> 00:22:52,208 That's the story. 484 00:22:52,292 --> 00:22:54,583 So the son comes. 485 00:22:54,667 --> 00:22:58,583 He comes to the tenants, the wicked tenants, 486 00:22:58,667 --> 00:23:01,125 to human beings on the earth. 487 00:23:01,167 --> 00:23:05,000 That's the story, on behalf of the father, 488 00:23:05,042 --> 00:23:10,667 seeking to help and to serve and to mediate this difference, 489 00:23:10,750 --> 00:23:14,208 even though the father has done nothing wrong and the son 490 00:23:14,292 --> 00:23:18,208 has done nothing wrong and the people are totally guilty. 491 00:23:18,292 --> 00:23:20,000 And what happens? 492 00:23:20,042 --> 00:23:23,125 They see the son and they determine, "He's the heir. 493 00:23:23,167 --> 00:23:26,917 If we kill him, we can take everything." 494 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:31,000 And they murder the beloved son. 495 00:23:31,083 --> 00:23:34,000 This is all about to happen as Jesus is on his way 496 00:23:34,083 --> 00:23:35,417 to the cross. 497 00:23:35,500 --> 00:23:37,125 It's days away. 498 00:23:37,167 --> 00:23:40,333 Emotionally, I need you to feel that. 499 00:23:40,375 --> 00:23:43,500 I need you to feel that you and I, friends, 500 00:23:43,583 --> 00:23:45,333 we're the wicked tenants. 501 00:23:45,375 --> 00:23:48,917 We've murdered the beloved Son. 502 00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:51,583 That's what we've done. 503 00:23:51,667 --> 00:23:53,625 When the Bible says that Christ died 504 00:23:53,667 --> 00:23:55,500 for the sins of the whole world, 505 00:23:55,583 --> 00:23:59,125 that God has laid on him the iniquity of us all, 506 00:23:59,167 --> 00:24:03,375 that's the Bible's way of saying, you, 507 00:24:03,458 --> 00:24:07,583 you have murdered the beloved Son, 508 00:24:07,667 --> 00:24:10,167 that his blood is on his your hands. 509 00:24:10,250 --> 00:24:14,833 This includes myself as well as a guilty sinner. 510 00:24:14,875 --> 00:24:18,958 The blood of the beloved Son is on our hands. 511 00:24:21,250 --> 00:24:26,000 How would you respond if someone murdered your beloved child, 512 00:24:26,083 --> 00:24:29,333 your son, your heir? 513 00:24:29,375 --> 00:24:31,833 I mean, fathom that. 514 00:24:31,875 --> 00:24:36,000 Fathom that someone has done evil against you for years, 515 00:24:36,083 --> 00:24:38,500 rebelled against you, stolen from you, 516 00:24:38,583 --> 00:24:41,625 taken advantage of you, ignored you, harassed you, 517 00:24:41,667 --> 00:24:45,167 talked evil against you. 518 00:24:45,250 --> 00:24:48,500 People you've sent to try and work it out were just harassed, 519 00:24:48,583 --> 00:24:53,417 maybe even murdered and then you sent, as a final act of love, 520 00:24:53,500 --> 00:24:59,083 your only beloved son and they murdered them. 521 00:25:01,875 --> 00:25:09,125 This is the story of the world from the perspective of God. 522 00:25:09,167 --> 00:25:14,833 And see some of you, you've really--you've really read 523 00:25:14,875 --> 00:25:18,000 the wrong books and listened to the wrong teachers 524 00:25:18,083 --> 00:25:23,625 because some of you would think, "God judges? 525 00:25:23,667 --> 00:25:26,000 "That doesn't seem right. 526 00:25:26,042 --> 00:25:27,708 "God gets angry? 527 00:25:27,792 --> 00:25:30,083 "That doesn't seem appropriate. 528 00:25:30,167 --> 00:25:34,625 "There's a hell for people who don't apologize and repent? 529 00:25:34,667 --> 00:25:39,417 That's seems like a bit of an overreaction." 530 00:25:39,500 --> 00:25:42,833 That just shows how wicked we are. 531 00:25:42,875 --> 00:25:49,500 And the truth is, God is love and because God loves his Son, 532 00:25:49,542 --> 00:25:56,167 he has to be angry that we've murdered him, right? 533 00:25:56,250 --> 00:26:01,500 If you met someone and their child had been murdered 534 00:26:01,583 --> 00:26:04,417 and they said, "It doesn't really bother me, 535 00:26:04,500 --> 00:26:07,917 "and I don't feel angry or upset and I really have no thought 536 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:12,625 toward justice," you would declare you never truly really 537 00:26:12,667 --> 00:26:14,625 loved that child. 538 00:26:14,667 --> 00:26:21,625 It is impossible to see one that is loved be assaulted 539 00:26:21,667 --> 00:26:27,167 and even killed and not have a sense of righteous anger, 540 00:26:27,250 --> 00:26:33,375 appetite for justice and desire for something to happen. 541 00:26:33,458 --> 00:26:35,917 Correct? 542 00:26:36,000 --> 00:26:40,500 Because we're the guilty, 543 00:26:40,583 --> 00:26:43,208 we want to judge God. 544 00:26:43,292 --> 00:26:48,500 That just shows how wicked we are. 545 00:26:48,583 --> 00:26:50,667 I mean, the story of sending the prophets, 546 00:26:50,750 --> 00:26:53,625 that's a few thousand years. 547 00:26:53,667 --> 00:26:56,208 This is a very patient God. 548 00:26:56,292 --> 00:26:58,833 When the Bible says that God is slow to anger, 549 00:26:58,875 --> 00:27:03,125 the wick burns for a few thousand years. 550 00:27:03,167 --> 00:27:07,125 How many of you, truly, would never treat 551 00:27:07,167 --> 00:27:09,417 your enemies like this? 552 00:27:09,500 --> 00:27:12,417 Patiently waiting, continually pursuing, 553 00:27:12,500 --> 00:27:17,167 lovingly enduring all kinds of suffering? 554 00:27:17,250 --> 00:27:19,667 We don't. 555 00:27:19,750 --> 00:27:26,292 Because God is loving, he has to be angry when there is sin. 556 00:27:26,333 --> 00:27:29,208 Because God is loving, he has to be angry when there's injustice. 557 00:27:29,292 --> 00:27:32,208 When God is loving, he has to be angry when he is 558 00:27:32,292 --> 00:27:34,125 rebelled against and rejected. 559 00:27:34,167 --> 00:27:37,500 Because God is loving, he has to have a sense of justice, 560 00:27:37,542 --> 00:27:40,708 a sense of anger, even a sense of righteous wrath. 561 00:27:40,792 --> 00:27:46,125 When the Son is murdered, the beloved Son is murdered and God 562 00:27:46,167 --> 00:27:51,667 sent his only begotten Son to the earth and we murdered him. 563 00:27:53,833 --> 00:27:57,000 Here's the question, 564 00:27:57,042 --> 00:28:00,292 this is the question, 565 00:28:00,333 --> 00:28:03,875 what will the father do? 566 00:28:03,958 --> 00:28:07,000 What would you do? 567 00:28:07,083 --> 00:28:13,167 You all know what I would do. 568 00:28:13,250 --> 00:28:19,333 The thought of restraining my fury is something that 569 00:28:19,375 --> 00:28:22,417 I don't know if I could do. 570 00:28:22,500 --> 00:28:29,000 If I was God, this planet would have long ago been kindling. 571 00:28:29,083 --> 00:28:31,333 I would have kicked it like a soccer ball 572 00:28:31,375 --> 00:28:34,333 until I set it on fire. 573 00:28:34,375 --> 00:28:40,000 That's what I would have done with this planet and all of us. 574 00:28:40,083 --> 00:28:42,500 How many of you are with me? You say, "Yeah." 575 00:28:42,542 --> 00:28:45,833 See, this is where, friends, hell makes perfect sense. 576 00:28:45,875 --> 00:28:47,625 People are like, "I don't understand hell." 577 00:28:47,667 --> 00:28:49,208 I don't understand heaven. 578 00:28:49,292 --> 00:28:50,625 Hell makes perfect sense. 579 00:28:50,667 --> 00:28:53,208 You hate God, you rebel against God. 580 00:28:53,292 --> 00:28:56,208 You oppose his messengers for thousands of years 581 00:28:56,292 --> 00:28:57,917 and you murder his Son. 582 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:00,708 He's not happy, it goes bad for you. 583 00:29:00,792 --> 00:29:04,792 How's that not clear? 584 00:29:04,833 --> 00:29:10,000 Like, that's a surprise ending? 585 00:29:10,042 --> 00:29:12,917 What do you want a lollipop and a free trip to Disneyland 586 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:14,417 and a back rub? 587 00:29:14,500 --> 00:29:17,708 That seems like the natural course of events. 588 00:29:17,792 --> 00:29:20,375 You pick a fight with God, ha, ha, you lost. 589 00:29:20,458 --> 00:29:22,917 Should have saw that coming. 590 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,333 Right, somebody who's guilty over and over and over, 591 00:29:26,375 --> 00:29:28,000 they get arrested, go to jail. 592 00:29:28,083 --> 00:29:30,833 Nobody's like, "I can't believe that happened." 593 00:29:30,875 --> 00:29:34,000 Everybody's like, "Well, that's what happens." 594 00:29:34,083 --> 00:29:36,708 Hell was made for the devil and his angels, 595 00:29:36,792 --> 00:29:40,708 you keep fighting God, that's the prison you go to forever. 596 00:29:40,792 --> 00:29:42,333 Here's what I don't get. 597 00:29:42,375 --> 00:29:46,833 You hate God, you reject him, you oppose him, 598 00:29:51,083 --> 00:29:53,583 and he's nice to you. 599 00:29:53,667 --> 00:29:55,125 He endures with you. 600 00:29:55,167 --> 00:29:57,125 He loves you. 601 00:29:57,167 --> 00:29:59,208 He speaks to you. 602 00:29:59,292 --> 00:30:01,917 He sends people who belong to him to extend a hand 603 00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:06,792 of friendship to you and he does it for years. 604 00:30:06,833 --> 00:30:09,500 That's amazing. 605 00:30:09,542 --> 00:30:11,708 What's the father gonna do? 606 00:30:11,792 --> 00:30:13,292 Here's the story. 607 00:30:13,333 --> 00:30:16,000 "What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?" 608 00:30:16,083 --> 00:30:17,833 That's the question in Luke 20:15-18. 609 00:30:17,875 --> 00:30:21,833 "He will come and destroy," there's echoes of hell language, 610 00:30:21,875 --> 00:30:23,875 "those tenants and give the vineyard to others." 611 00:30:23,958 --> 00:30:26,500 God's gonna work no longer primarily through the nation 612 00:30:26,583 --> 00:30:29,083 of Israel, but he's gonna move on and work through 613 00:30:29,167 --> 00:30:30,500 other nations of the earth. 614 00:30:30,583 --> 00:30:33,500 "When they heard this, they said, 'Surely not!' 615 00:30:33,583 --> 00:30:36,333 But he looked directly at them," he's really emphasizing his 616 00:30:36,375 --> 00:30:40,083 point, "and said, 'What then is this that is written: "The stone 617 00:30:40,167 --> 00:30:43,667 "'that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone"? 618 00:30:43,750 --> 00:30:47,333 "'Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, 619 00:30:47,375 --> 00:30:51,625 and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.'" 620 00:30:51,667 --> 00:30:56,917 Jesus is saying, "I'm the beloved Son of God. 621 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,708 "The Father is away in heaven and he has sent me to the earth. 622 00:31:00,792 --> 00:31:05,792 "It's all his vineyard and he's sent me to the nation of Israel 623 00:31:05,833 --> 00:31:08,917 "to the supposed people of God. 624 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:13,208 "And you are about to murder the beloved Son just like you 625 00:31:13,292 --> 00:31:16,000 have the prophets." 626 00:31:16,042 --> 00:31:18,167 And they say, "Surely not." 627 00:31:18,250 --> 00:31:22,125 And Jesus says, "This is how it will be." 628 00:31:22,167 --> 00:31:27,625 And then he quotes Psalm 118:22 and he says, 629 00:31:27,667 --> 00:31:30,708 "Do you not remember roughly 1,000 years ago, 630 00:31:30,792 --> 00:31:34,083 "it was written: 'the stone that the builders rejected 631 00:31:34,167 --> 00:31:37,500 has become the cornerstone,'" or the capstone, 632 00:31:37,583 --> 00:31:39,667 depending upon your translation. 633 00:31:39,750 --> 00:31:43,000 And so here's the big idea. 634 00:31:43,083 --> 00:31:45,208 When you go to build something, 635 00:31:45,292 --> 00:31:47,833 you gotta get the right foundation laid, right? 636 00:31:47,875 --> 00:31:51,167 If you're gonna build a home, first thing's first, foundation, 637 00:31:51,250 --> 00:31:52,667 get it straight. 638 00:31:52,750 --> 00:31:54,583 It all starts with the first angle. 639 00:31:54,667 --> 00:31:56,000 The first corner. 640 00:31:56,042 --> 00:31:57,708 It's got to be a solid foundation. 641 00:31:57,792 --> 00:31:59,958 From there you can build everything forward. 642 00:32:00,083 --> 00:32:03,208 Any of you that have ever built a retaining wall in your yard 643 00:32:03,292 --> 00:32:05,917 or you've done any brick-laying work, first thing's first, 644 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,000 start straight, start true. 645 00:32:09,083 --> 00:32:11,208 Get a good rock. Get a good stone. 646 00:32:11,292 --> 00:32:13,708 Get a good brick. Lay that one right. 647 00:32:13,792 --> 00:32:16,208 Get that one settled and secure and then you build 648 00:32:16,292 --> 00:32:18,208 everything else on it. 649 00:32:18,292 --> 00:32:22,333 Well, the story here is like that. 650 00:32:22,375 --> 00:32:25,833 Many years prior, God had decreed that a temple be built 651 00:32:25,875 --> 00:32:28,167 that would essentially be his home where his people 652 00:32:28,250 --> 00:32:29,792 could come to worship him. 653 00:32:29,833 --> 00:32:31,792 And so they built it out of stone. 654 00:32:31,833 --> 00:32:35,000 And when we think of stone, we tend to think of, you know, 655 00:32:35,042 --> 00:32:36,500 rocks we move in our yard. 656 00:32:36,583 --> 00:32:39,000 I've been to Israel and the temple's no longer there 657 00:32:39,083 --> 00:32:40,417 'cause we don't need it. 658 00:32:40,500 --> 00:32:41,833 We have Jesus. 659 00:32:41,875 --> 00:32:44,500 But as you go underground where the foundation of the temple 660 00:32:44,542 --> 00:32:45,875 remains, these stones are--they're enormous, 661 00:32:45,958 --> 00:32:47,708 like the size of a railroad car. 662 00:32:47,792 --> 00:32:49,625 They're huge. 663 00:32:49,667 --> 00:32:52,500 I mean, the fact that they quarried them and transported 664 00:32:52,583 --> 00:32:55,875 them and stacked them, I mean, it's an engineering marvel. 665 00:32:55,958 --> 00:32:59,167 I'm not exactly sure how all of this happened. 666 00:32:59,250 --> 00:33:01,792 And so they quarried the stones, at least that's what 667 00:33:01,833 --> 00:33:04,125 the commentators believed this is in reference to. 668 00:33:04,167 --> 00:33:06,625 And they brought them all together and they were gonna 669 00:33:06,667 --> 00:33:08,000 create the temple. 670 00:33:08,083 --> 00:33:10,792 And there was one stone in particular that they looked at 671 00:33:10,833 --> 00:33:13,125 and said, "It's an oddball. 672 00:33:13,167 --> 00:33:14,917 "It's the wrong shape. 673 00:33:15,000 --> 00:33:16,500 "It's the wrong size. 674 00:33:16,583 --> 00:33:17,917 It doesn't work." 675 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:19,333 And so it was rejected. 676 00:33:19,375 --> 00:33:22,333 It was thrown over on the scrap heap. 677 00:33:22,375 --> 00:33:25,375 And then as they started constructing the temple, 678 00:33:25,458 --> 00:33:30,833 they came to realize that oddball stone fits perfectly. 679 00:33:30,875 --> 00:33:35,417 Once we look at all that is required and necessary, 680 00:33:35,500 --> 00:33:39,667 that should, in fact, be the cornerstone, the capstone, 681 00:33:39,750 --> 00:33:41,375 the chief stone. 682 00:33:41,458 --> 00:33:43,375 That's the most important stone of all. 683 00:33:43,458 --> 00:33:45,125 So they reclaimed it from the quarry, 684 00:33:45,167 --> 00:33:48,333 laid it down and then built the temple off of that stone. 685 00:33:48,375 --> 00:33:52,375 And Jesus says, "I'm like that." 686 00:33:52,458 --> 00:33:56,708 See, we look at Jesus and first, he just looks like an oddball. 687 00:33:56,792 --> 00:33:59,333 "He's too rural. He's not urban. 688 00:33:59,375 --> 00:34:01,833 "He's too single. He's not married. 689 00:34:01,875 --> 00:34:04,208 "He's too poor. He's not rich. 690 00:34:04,292 --> 00:34:07,500 "He's too powerless. He's not powerful. 691 00:34:07,583 --> 00:34:09,667 "He's certainly not traveled enough. 692 00:34:09,750 --> 00:34:12,125 "He's never been more than 200 miles from home. 693 00:34:12,167 --> 00:34:13,917 "He doesn't come from the right family. 694 00:34:14,000 --> 00:34:16,208 "They're poor peasants. 695 00:34:16,292 --> 00:34:17,708 "His mom was a teenager. 696 00:34:17,792 --> 00:34:19,917 "We don't even know where he went to college. 697 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:21,917 "We don't even think he has a degree. 698 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:24,000 "Certainly he can't be the Son of God. 699 00:34:24,083 --> 00:34:25,625 He's an oddball." 700 00:34:25,667 --> 00:34:27,792 In addition, he just doesn't fit. 701 00:34:27,833 --> 00:34:30,500 He doesn't fit in the other religions 'cause he keeps saying 702 00:34:30,542 --> 00:34:33,333 offensive things like, If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. 703 00:34:33,375 --> 00:34:35,208 I'm the way, the truth and the life. 704 00:34:35,292 --> 00:34:37,417 No one comes to the Father but by me. 705 00:34:37,500 --> 00:34:38,833 Your father's the devil. 706 00:34:38,875 --> 00:34:41,667 He says some stuff that's really hard for the philosophers and 707 00:34:41,750 --> 00:34:44,208 the religious professors at the community college to sort of 708 00:34:44,292 --> 00:34:48,000 work into their lecture without it turning into a debate. 709 00:34:48,042 --> 00:34:51,583 He's an oddball. 710 00:34:51,667 --> 00:34:54,208 He says things like, I'm the resurrection and the life. 711 00:34:54,292 --> 00:34:59,833 That's a big statement from a 30-year-old homeless guy. 712 00:34:59,875 --> 00:35:03,000 He just comes off like an oddball. 713 00:35:03,083 --> 00:35:06,167 So he's cast off to the side. 714 00:35:06,250 --> 00:35:08,125 Religious people do this. 715 00:35:08,167 --> 00:35:09,625 Irreligious people do this. 716 00:35:09,667 --> 00:35:11,125 Philosophy professors do this. 717 00:35:11,167 --> 00:35:12,625 Historians do this. 718 00:35:12,667 --> 00:35:14,000 Sociologists do this. 719 00:35:14,083 --> 00:35:15,417 Psychologists do this. 720 00:35:15,500 --> 00:35:17,000 Some of you have done this. 721 00:35:17,042 --> 00:35:18,375 "He's just too odd. 722 00:35:18,458 --> 00:35:20,208 He doesn't fit." 723 00:35:20,292 --> 00:35:22,708 Off to the side. 724 00:35:22,792 --> 00:35:24,708 Jesus says, "No. 725 00:35:24,792 --> 00:35:27,625 "I fit perfectly. 726 00:35:27,667 --> 00:35:29,833 I fit perfectly." 727 00:35:29,875 --> 00:35:31,625 'Cause he's perfect. 728 00:35:31,667 --> 00:35:34,208 And the big idea is this, everything in your life 729 00:35:34,292 --> 00:35:35,917 has to begin with Jesus. 730 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:37,917 That's the big idea. 731 00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:39,667 You say, "I want a great marriage." 732 00:35:39,750 --> 00:35:43,667 Start with Jesus and then build your marriage on Jesus. 733 00:35:43,750 --> 00:35:45,625 "I want to raise a family." 734 00:35:45,667 --> 00:35:49,208 Start with Jesus, then make some babies. 735 00:35:49,292 --> 00:35:50,833 "I want to have a business." 736 00:35:50,875 --> 00:35:54,208 Start with Jesus, then figure out your business. 737 00:35:54,292 --> 00:35:56,625 "I want to overcome some addictions, some sins, 738 00:35:56,667 --> 00:35:59,583 some hurt, some trouble in my life." 739 00:35:59,667 --> 00:36:03,083 Start with Jesus, work from there. 740 00:36:03,167 --> 00:36:09,625 Anything you want to be or do all starts with Jesus. 741 00:36:09,667 --> 00:36:11,500 Don't let him be the rejected stone. 742 00:36:11,542 --> 00:36:14,417 And this is really the problem that some of you, quite frankly, 743 00:36:14,500 --> 00:36:16,333 are having practically with your life. 744 00:36:16,375 --> 00:36:19,583 You built your life, forgot Jesus and now you're trying 745 00:36:19,667 --> 00:36:22,333 to find a way to slip him in. 746 00:36:22,375 --> 00:36:24,667 It doesn't work like that. 747 00:36:25,167 --> 00:36:27,125 It doesn't work like that. 748 00:36:27,167 --> 00:36:29,792 Some of you need to really honestly consider 749 00:36:29,833 --> 00:36:33,833 dismantling much, if not all, of your whole life. 750 00:36:33,875 --> 00:36:35,833 Say, "You know what? 751 00:36:35,875 --> 00:36:40,292 "I'm trying to squeeze Jesus into my time, into my budget, 752 00:36:40,333 --> 00:36:41,917 "into my life. 753 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:45,667 "Rather than squeezing him in, what if he went first? 754 00:36:45,750 --> 00:36:49,000 "What if my first priority was get to know Jesus? 755 00:36:49,042 --> 00:36:53,333 "What if my first priority was devotion to Jesus and what if I 756 00:36:53,375 --> 00:36:55,333 "built my budget off of that? 757 00:36:55,375 --> 00:36:56,875 "And my schedule off of that? 758 00:36:56,958 --> 00:36:58,375 "And my career off of that? 759 00:36:58,458 --> 00:36:59,958 "And my relationships off of that? 760 00:37:00,083 --> 00:37:01,875 "And, perhaps, my marriage off of that? 761 00:37:01,958 --> 00:37:04,875 "And children, if God should bless me with them, off of that? 762 00:37:04,958 --> 00:37:06,292 "And grandkids off of that? 763 00:37:06,333 --> 00:37:07,708 "And my life off of that? 764 00:37:07,792 --> 00:37:09,208 "And my ministry off of that? 765 00:37:09,292 --> 00:37:10,792 And my death off of that?" 766 00:37:10,833 --> 00:37:13,917 What if we started with Jesus? 767 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:17,500 Some of you really need to consider what does it look like 768 00:37:17,583 --> 00:37:23,333 to just disassemble it all and start over with Jesus first. 769 00:37:23,375 --> 00:37:26,000 'Cause the point is this, it's just like when you construct 770 00:37:26,083 --> 00:37:28,625 a building, a bad foundation means eventually it leans 771 00:37:28,667 --> 00:37:30,875 and then it collapses. 772 00:37:30,958 --> 00:37:33,667 You get the wrong cornerstone, it can't hold the weight, 773 00:37:33,750 --> 00:37:37,583 the angles get crooked and the architectural metaphor is 774 00:37:37,667 --> 00:37:39,875 it's only a matter of time before it crumbles. 775 00:37:39,958 --> 00:37:42,708 And life is like that. 776 00:37:42,792 --> 00:37:47,000 And see, God loves you and God wants your life to be fruitful 777 00:37:47,083 --> 00:37:48,917 back to the original analogy. 778 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:52,417 He wants it to grow, and he wants it to be one that works 779 00:37:52,500 --> 00:37:55,417 for you to live in to honor him. 780 00:37:55,500 --> 00:37:58,833 And you can't build a life where Jesus is not in your life 781 00:37:58,875 --> 00:38:00,625 or just a part of your life. 782 00:38:00,667 --> 00:38:03,875 He has to be the cornerstone of your life. 783 00:38:03,958 --> 00:38:07,375 And Jesus says, "If you don't see me as cornerstone 784 00:38:07,458 --> 00:38:10,000 and you don't build your life on me," he said, 785 00:38:10,083 --> 00:38:12,708 "then I become a different kind of rock to you. 786 00:38:12,792 --> 00:38:16,792 I become the kind of rock that falls on you and crushes you." 787 00:38:16,833 --> 00:38:18,167 And for some of you, 788 00:38:18,250 --> 00:38:20,667 this is will be the last day of your life. 789 00:38:20,750 --> 00:38:24,333 And my hope, my prayer, my effort today is to get you to 790 00:38:24,375 --> 00:38:28,917 not reject Jesus, to not just cast him aside as an oddball 791 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:32,500 because he doesn't fit your plan for your life. 792 00:38:32,583 --> 00:38:35,417 I want you to ultimately know, you need to consider God's plan 793 00:38:35,500 --> 00:38:37,375 and it's his life. 794 00:38:37,458 --> 00:38:40,833 But if you spend your days rejecting Jesus and then you 795 00:38:40,875 --> 00:38:44,292 die, the metaphor is that he is like this enormous stone 796 00:38:44,333 --> 00:38:47,292 that crushes you. 797 00:38:47,333 --> 00:38:50,125 And he uses this language of destroy and crush. 798 00:38:50,167 --> 00:38:53,833 And this is all language that is echo of hell. 799 00:38:53,875 --> 00:38:56,125 Some of you would say, "I can't believe God 800 00:38:56,167 --> 00:38:57,833 would punish people." 801 00:38:57,875 --> 00:39:01,208 Friends, what would you do? 802 00:39:01,292 --> 00:39:03,333 What would you do if you were God? 803 00:39:03,375 --> 00:39:05,833 See, it's not enough to criticize God. 804 00:39:05,875 --> 00:39:09,333 You need a better plan. 805 00:39:09,375 --> 00:39:12,333 What would you do if you made the universe, 806 00:39:12,375 --> 00:39:14,375 if you made the earth? 807 00:39:14,458 --> 00:39:18,000 If you gave human beings life and breath and breathed your 808 00:39:18,042 --> 00:39:22,125 spirit into them and they rebelled against you? 809 00:39:22,167 --> 00:39:25,208 And starting all the way in the first days with Cain killing 810 00:39:25,292 --> 00:39:28,708 Abel, every time you sent someone to help them 811 00:39:28,792 --> 00:39:30,583 and tell the truth, they fought them. 812 00:39:30,667 --> 00:39:32,000 They opposed them. 813 00:39:32,042 --> 00:39:33,375 They persecuted them. 814 00:39:33,458 --> 00:39:34,792 They exiled them. 815 00:39:34,833 --> 00:39:36,167 They murdered them. 816 00:39:36,250 --> 00:39:39,167 And you waited a few thousand years patiently and you kept 817 00:39:39,250 --> 00:39:42,667 sending people to your vineyard, trying to help them out and 818 00:39:42,750 --> 00:39:47,792 finally you sent your beloved son and they murdered him. 819 00:39:47,833 --> 00:39:51,292 What would you do? 820 00:39:51,333 --> 00:39:55,417 God's answer is justice. 821 00:39:55,500 --> 00:39:58,792 God's answer is judgment. 822 00:39:58,833 --> 00:40:02,333 God's answer is, "You better figure out 823 00:40:02,375 --> 00:40:06,000 what you're gonna do with my beloved Son." 824 00:40:06,042 --> 00:40:10,000 Let me say this plainly and clearly. 825 00:40:10,083 --> 00:40:13,208 We're all the wicked tenants. 826 00:40:13,292 --> 00:40:16,167 Some of us just don't admit it. 827 00:40:16,250 --> 00:40:19,208 That's the only difference. 828 00:40:19,292 --> 00:40:22,417 And friends, this is where God getting angry, 829 00:40:22,500 --> 00:40:25,667 God judging people, God pouring out wrath and sending them 830 00:40:25,750 --> 00:40:29,500 to hell, as a dad, I understand. 831 00:40:29,583 --> 00:40:31,583 That makes sense. 832 00:40:31,667 --> 00:40:35,000 I mean, I've got the five kids that I love. 833 00:40:35,083 --> 00:40:39,875 At the thought that someone would murder my son. 834 00:40:42,833 --> 00:40:46,125 That's unconscionable. 835 00:40:46,167 --> 00:40:50,000 That they would murder my son just because they wanted 836 00:40:50,042 --> 00:40:51,917 to oppose me. 837 00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:54,708 That they would murder my son just because they wanted 838 00:40:54,792 --> 00:41:00,625 all that was his rightfully. 839 00:41:00,667 --> 00:41:03,875 Here's the good news, what we call the gospel. 840 00:41:06,667 --> 00:41:12,292 You murdered the beloved Son. 841 00:41:12,333 --> 00:41:17,208 His blood is on your hands. 842 00:41:17,292 --> 00:41:21,000 His blood is on my hands. 843 00:41:21,083 --> 00:41:25,167 All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 844 00:41:25,250 --> 00:41:29,833 God has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 845 00:41:29,875 --> 00:41:33,167 Christ died for our sins, not only our sins, 846 00:41:33,250 --> 00:41:37,875 the sins of the whole world. 847 00:41:40,000 --> 00:41:44,000 And the beloved Son was murdered, 848 00:41:44,083 --> 00:41:48,917 shamefully, painfully murdered. 849 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:51,708 And we murdered him. 850 00:41:51,792 --> 00:41:57,792 And 3 days later, the Father rose him from death. 851 00:42:00,167 --> 00:42:04,500 And the Son now looks at you and says, 852 00:42:04,583 --> 00:42:08,500 "The wage for sin is death. 853 00:42:08,583 --> 00:42:12,167 "Since I died, why don't you tell me you're sorry 854 00:42:12,250 --> 00:42:16,125 "and I'll have my death count for you? 855 00:42:16,167 --> 00:42:20,500 "So that the Father won't be angry at you, 856 00:42:20,583 --> 00:42:24,917 "so that you won't be eternally condemned, 857 00:42:25,000 --> 00:42:29,000 "so that I won't be the stone that crushes you. 858 00:42:29,083 --> 00:42:32,875 "I'll be the cornerstone that helps you rebuild a whole new 859 00:42:32,958 --> 00:42:37,500 life that glorifies God and bears fruit that will last." 860 00:42:37,583 --> 00:42:40,208 So the Son looks at you today and he says, 861 00:42:40,292 --> 00:42:47,833 "How about your murder of me counts so that it would be 862 00:42:47,875 --> 00:42:51,667 my death in your place?" 863 00:42:54,458 --> 00:42:57,792 And then the Father looks at you and says, 864 00:42:57,833 --> 00:43:02,917 "If you will take that kind offer from my Son, 865 00:43:03,000 --> 00:43:04,583 "here's what I'll do. 866 00:43:04,667 --> 00:43:08,500 "I'll adopt you into my family called the church. 867 00:43:08,542 --> 00:43:11,792 "I'll give you my name, the family name of Christian. 868 00:43:11,833 --> 00:43:17,708 And I'll call you my beloved Son as well." 869 00:43:17,792 --> 00:43:22,417 You say, "But I hated your Son and I murdered him." 870 00:43:22,500 --> 00:43:24,500 "I know. 871 00:43:24,583 --> 00:43:27,875 "But he's willing to allow his death to pay 872 00:43:27,958 --> 00:43:30,000 "for your forgiveness. 873 00:43:30,083 --> 00:43:34,583 "And if you will receive that, I'm willing to adopt you 874 00:43:34,667 --> 00:43:37,083 "into our family. 875 00:43:37,167 --> 00:43:42,417 "Not only that, because you were greedy and selfish and all you 876 00:43:42,500 --> 00:43:48,333 "wanted was stuff, I'll give you an inheritance. 877 00:43:48,375 --> 00:43:50,625 "I'll give you an inheritance that begins with 878 00:43:50,667 --> 00:43:53,000 "the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit 879 00:43:53,042 --> 00:43:56,500 "and it culminates where one day you will rise like 880 00:43:56,583 --> 00:44:00,625 "the beloved Son rose and you will spend forever 881 00:44:00,667 --> 00:44:05,833 "with me in a kingdom of lavish provision 882 00:44:05,875 --> 00:44:12,500 feasting, laughing, free of sin and suffering forever." 883 00:44:16,875 --> 00:44:20,833 That's the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 884 00:44:20,875 --> 00:44:22,833 I don't know about you. 885 00:44:22,875 --> 00:44:29,125 I've been teaching the Bible here now for about 15 years. 886 00:44:29,167 --> 00:44:33,000 When the Bible speaks of the gospel, the good news, 887 00:44:33,083 --> 00:44:37,792 the story of Jesus, it sometimes does so using another word 888 00:44:37,833 --> 00:44:40,708 called scandal. 889 00:44:40,792 --> 00:44:44,000 This is pretty scandalous. 890 00:44:44,042 --> 00:44:46,500 If you read in the paper tomorrow, 891 00:44:46,583 --> 00:44:51,292 "Evil people tormented an innocent man and murdered his 892 00:44:51,333 --> 00:44:55,500 "son, and he forgave them, adopted them, and wrote them into 893 00:44:55,583 --> 00:45:00,833 his will," the whole planet would be buzzing 894 00:45:00,875 --> 00:45:03,417 about that event. 895 00:45:03,500 --> 00:45:06,167 That's exactly what the Father has done with the murder 896 00:45:06,250 --> 00:45:08,167 of his Son. 897 00:45:08,250 --> 00:45:12,500 That's exactly what the Son has done with his murder. 898 00:45:12,583 --> 00:45:15,292 And it's offered to you. 899 00:45:15,333 --> 00:45:19,667 This is the opportunity that God extends. 900 00:45:19,750 --> 00:45:21,875 And so if you're here and not a Christian, 901 00:45:21,958 --> 00:45:25,500 let me make this plain. 902 00:45:25,542 --> 00:45:30,333 If you reject this kind offer from God the Father 903 00:45:30,375 --> 00:45:35,125 and God the Son, you get what you deserve. 904 00:45:35,167 --> 00:45:37,500 There's no excuse for you. 905 00:45:37,583 --> 00:45:39,000 Don't judge God. 906 00:45:39,042 --> 00:45:40,417 Don't argue with God. 907 00:45:40,500 --> 00:45:46,333 The evidence is incontrovertible and you're guilt is certain. 908 00:45:46,375 --> 00:45:52,375 But, if you turn from sin and trust in the Son, 909 00:45:52,458 --> 00:45:56,000 forgiveness is assured no matter what you've done. 910 00:45:56,042 --> 00:45:58,708 No matter how wrecked your life is, 911 00:45:58,792 --> 00:46:01,792 Jesus is willing to become that cornerstone and help you rebuild 912 00:46:01,833 --> 00:46:04,167 a whole different life. 913 00:46:04,250 --> 00:46:07,125 And the Father is glad to receive you with open arms to 914 00:46:07,167 --> 00:46:11,500 adopt you forever as a beloved child and to give you 915 00:46:11,542 --> 00:46:13,333 an eternal inheritance. 916 00:46:13,375 --> 00:46:19,500 If you reject that kind offer, there's no excuse for you. 917 00:46:19,542 --> 00:46:24,958 And so here's what you do today, dear friend, you need Jesus. 918 00:46:26,292 --> 00:46:28,833 You need to turn from sin and trust in him. 919 00:46:28,875 --> 00:46:32,000 You need to tell him you're sorry that you've lived like the 920 00:46:32,042 --> 00:46:37,125 wicked tenant and thank him that he is willing to make his death 921 00:46:37,167 --> 00:46:41,333 count for your sin, and thank the Father that he's willing to 922 00:46:41,375 --> 00:46:45,625 adopt you into his family and that he's willing to help you 923 00:46:45,667 --> 00:46:50,000 and teach you and correct you, just like a great dad does 924 00:46:50,083 --> 00:46:53,875 with a rebellious child. 925 00:46:53,958 --> 00:46:57,208 For those of you who are Christian, 926 00:46:57,292 --> 00:47:00,333 it's a good opportunity for us to revisit our life and ask, 927 00:47:00,375 --> 00:47:03,083 "Are there any aspects of my life in which Jesus 928 00:47:03,167 --> 00:47:06,208 "is not cornerstone? 929 00:47:06,292 --> 00:47:09,125 "Are there any aspects of my life where I'm living like 930 00:47:09,167 --> 00:47:10,833 "the wicked tenant? 931 00:47:10,875 --> 00:47:12,333 "It's my body. It's my money. 932 00:47:12,375 --> 00:47:13,875 It's my life." 933 00:47:13,958 --> 00:47:15,667 No, it's not. 934 00:47:15,750 --> 00:47:17,500 It all belongs to him 935 00:47:17,542 --> 00:47:20,500 and we're going to have to give an account. 936 00:47:20,583 --> 00:47:24,000 Are there any ways in your life that you're acting like the 937 00:47:24,042 --> 00:47:26,875 wicked tenants where God says things through the Holy Spirit 938 00:47:26,958 --> 00:47:29,417 or the Scriptures or through Bible teaching and you don't 939 00:47:29,500 --> 00:47:32,875 like it and you fight it 'cause you don't want to submit to God, 940 00:47:32,958 --> 00:47:34,833 you want to be God? 941 00:47:34,875 --> 00:47:37,708 That's how we get into all the trouble. 942 00:47:37,792 --> 00:47:41,708 Are there any areas of your life that you're not a fruitful vine? 943 00:47:41,792 --> 00:47:45,875 You're not living a life that is pleasing to God 944 00:47:45,958 --> 00:47:49,375 and profitable to others. 945 00:47:49,458 --> 00:47:55,708 Then God is here to forgive you as a child, to correct you, 946 00:47:55,792 --> 00:47:59,875 to instruct you and to offer to you, in a very practical way, 947 00:47:59,958 --> 00:48:02,500 Jesus to help you rebuild that part of your life 948 00:48:02,583 --> 00:48:05,917 that it might be fruitful. 949 00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:09,083 I don't know about you. 950 00:48:15,167 --> 00:48:21,667 I'm amazed that God is like this 'cause this is nothing like me. 951 00:48:21,750 --> 00:48:25,500 If someone did this to me, I would be furious. 952 00:48:25,583 --> 00:48:30,292 If someone harmed my child, I would destroy them. 953 00:48:34,500 --> 00:48:38,875 And this is what God is like. 954 00:48:38,958 --> 00:48:41,208 Would you agree that he's loving? 955 00:48:41,292 --> 00:48:43,000 That he's patient? 956 00:48:43,042 --> 00:48:44,792 That he's gracious? 957 00:48:44,833 --> 00:48:46,208 That he's generous? 958 00:48:46,292 --> 00:48:49,208 That he's good? 959 00:48:49,292 --> 00:48:51,625 We are the wicked tenants. 960 00:48:51,667 --> 00:48:54,083 He is our good Father. 961 00:48:54,167 --> 00:48:56,000 Jesus is the beloved Son. 962 00:48:56,083 --> 00:48:58,292 Amen. 963 00:48:58,333 --> 00:49:02,292 That's where we have joy. 964 00:49:02,333 --> 00:49:08,000 Father, as we consider this little story that explodes with 965 00:49:08,042 --> 00:49:14,292 meaning as it explains all of human history and the Bible, 966 00:49:16,292 --> 00:49:18,417 we want to say thank you, Lord Jesus, 967 00:49:18,500 --> 00:49:21,083 for being the perfect storyteller and the hero 968 00:49:21,167 --> 00:49:24,417 of every story in the Bible. 969 00:49:24,500 --> 00:49:27,292 Father, we thank you that we get to call you Father. 970 00:49:27,333 --> 00:49:30,208 Of all the names that you could have chosen to reveal 971 00:49:30,292 --> 00:49:34,000 yourself by, that one is so special. 972 00:49:34,083 --> 00:49:39,917 For those of us who didn't have a dad, it fills a great longing. 973 00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:42,375 For those of us who had a bad dad, 974 00:49:42,458 --> 00:49:45,208 it's a correction of understanding. 975 00:49:45,292 --> 00:49:48,417 For those of us who had a good dad, 976 00:49:48,500 --> 00:49:52,500 we now see that he was just a dim reflection 977 00:49:52,583 --> 00:49:54,875 of a perfect Father. 978 00:49:54,958 --> 00:49:57,208 Father, we thank you that you're our Father. 979 00:49:57,292 --> 00:50:01,708 We acknowledge this is your planet. 980 00:50:01,792 --> 00:50:03,167 This is your nation. 981 00:50:03,250 --> 00:50:04,583 This is your city. 982 00:50:04,667 --> 00:50:06,500 This is your body. 983 00:50:06,583 --> 00:50:09,000 This is your life. 984 00:50:09,083 --> 00:50:14,000 It's all yours and you've been generous and good to us. 985 00:50:14,083 --> 00:50:18,583 And some of us have been very greedy and stingy 986 00:50:18,667 --> 00:50:22,917 and we've not given or given back or been grateful. 987 00:50:23,000 --> 00:50:26,375 We want to repent of that now. 988 00:50:26,458 --> 00:50:29,792 And Jesus, we thank you that after a few thousand years of 989 00:50:29,833 --> 00:50:33,500 prophets, starting with Abel who was murdered by Cain, 990 00:50:33,583 --> 00:50:36,500 you still came. 991 00:50:36,583 --> 00:50:39,667 You came knowing what we would do to you. 992 00:50:39,750 --> 00:50:45,000 You came knowing that we would murder you and you came. 993 00:50:45,042 --> 00:50:49,000 And you came to make enemies friends. 994 00:50:49,083 --> 00:50:52,500 You came to make wicked people righteous. 995 00:50:52,542 --> 00:50:57,417 You came to make murderers sons and daughters of the living God. 996 00:50:57,500 --> 00:51:03,500 Jesus, we are scandalized by what you've done, 997 00:51:03,583 --> 00:51:05,500 but we want to repent of our sin. 998 00:51:05,583 --> 00:51:07,417 We want to say that we're sorry. 999 00:51:07,500 --> 00:51:09,792 We want to thank you for your kind offer 1000 00:51:09,833 --> 00:51:11,792 of forgiveness and salvation. 1001 00:51:11,833 --> 00:51:15,000 Father, we want to say thank you that you're willing to adopt us 1002 00:51:15,042 --> 00:51:16,375 into your family. 1003 00:51:16,458 --> 00:51:19,500 And Holy Spirit, we're inviting you to show us what does it 1004 00:51:19,583 --> 00:51:22,000 truly mean to have Jesus as the cornerstone 1005 00:51:22,083 --> 00:51:24,667 of everything we are, have, and do. 1006 00:51:24,750 --> 00:51:27,875 And we ask for that grace in Jesus' good name, amen.