Take your Bibles together with me, if you would please, and turn to Matthew 21. Today we'll be looking at verses 23 to 46 as we finish off this most excellent chapter of Matthew's Gospel together. I've entitled this morning's message, What to Expect from God. What to Expect from God. Every year growing up, I can recall the concerns associated with moving on to the next grade. One of the chief concerns had to do with what to expect from the new teacher that I would have. I can imagine that some of you have been in the same case. In fact, some of us are concerned about what teacher our kid might have. I remember one year in particular, that uh... kath and i were not only was madeline excited but kath and i were excited because madeline was gonna have exactly the same teacher she had that year was such a good teacher and such a good class that that teacher decided to move up a great and teach those same kids again and everybody was all excited because you you know you're getting a good teacher you knew what to expect and i was all gonna play out frankly the same is true though of any of any change of authority when you're great Ever had a new boss? Ever find out you're getting a new boss and you're wondering what that boss is going to be like? Will that boss be more strict or less strict? Will that boss be reasonable or unreasonable? Same thing might happen when you get a new professor, a new coach, a new president. Think about it. Every time we bring in a new president, there are anxieties as to what kind of a president Will he be? The key is really knowing what to expect and what not to expect. And that's what kind of helps you to understand the right way to behave under that authority structure. Well, in our text this morning, when Jesus enters into the temple again, And as he begins now to deal very directly with the religious leaders in that day, leading right up to his rejection, his crucifixion, and ultimately the resurrection, we get a good picture in Jesus' response to the religious leaders of what to expect from God. What to expect and what not to expect from God as it relates to how he evaluates his people and how he will relate to his people. and who he will have as his people and who he will not have as his people. What can you expect from God? Well, I'll tell you, there are three things you can expect that God won't do. And that's what we're going to look at this morning, starting in verse 23 and working all the way to the end of chapter and verse 46. What you can expect from God is, number one, that he won't cater to unbelief. God will not cater to unbelief in a very real sense. We've seen this throughout our study of the gospel of Matthew, have we not? Jesus came on the scene and began to preach and to teach and to do miracles. And when it came to the point there, he had done an abundance of miracles and given an abundance of clear instructions. And yet the people's response to him was at best primarily superficial attachment and interest. They called themselves his followers. They addressed him as Lord, Lord, but they didn't do what he said. And instead of trying to be more, more believable and instead of trying to cater to the audience, to convince them and plead with them and appeal to them to please, please. I mean, what can I do to convince you instead of doing that? What he began to do is to teach in parables so that those who had heard and not responded to the clear message would now have an unclear message. So it would not be easier to believe the message, but a harder. When the religious leaders were given an abundance of miracles and then they came to Jesus demanding a sign, what sign can you do from heaven to prove that you are from God? He had already done countless miracles of healings and casting out demons and even raising the dead. Listen, if you won't believe those, I'm not going to I'm not going to cause an eclipse. You've already got an abundance of evidence. See, God never caters to unbelief. And you will see this at the beginning of the climax of of Jesus's own earthly ministry. That God doesn't cater to unbelief. In fact, what God does is the opposite. Instead of making it easier to believe, if you won't receive the revelation you've been given and respond rightly to that, instead of giving you more revelation, he gives you less. Instead of softening your heart, he hardens it so that you can be all the more committed to your rebellion that you want to be. And that's precisely what we see here starting in verse 23. Take a look at the text with me. When he, that is Jesus, entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him while he was teaching and said, By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority? Remember the context here is it's Passion Week. On Sunday, Jesus entered into Jerusalem in what is typically referred to as the Triumphal Entry. Remember we looked at that a couple weeks ago. And he entered the town in a way that is the fulfillment of scripture and very purposely presents himself to Israel as their Messiah. In fact, the multitudes were quoting from the Psalms. They were quoting from Psalm 118 in particular, saying, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And Jesus came in riding on a colt, the foal of a donkey, presenting himself to Israel as their Messiah. When he gets into the city, he goes straight into the temple and he looks around. And it's late in the day. So seeing the state of affairs in the temple, he turns and he leaves the city and he comes back in the next day. You also remember, as we talked about last time, that that next day on the way in, he sees a fig tree. Now, it's not the season for figs. It's a little early for figs. But this fig tree is it has all of its leaves. And so he goes up expecting to find fruit. And what he finds is an abundance of leaves, which suggests you should have some fully formed fruit. And instead he sees no fruit. So what does he do? He curses the fig tree and says, never again will you bear fruit. Then he goes into Jerusalem and he cleanses the temple. And he does miracles and he teaches the people and they're all impressed. He essentially walks into the temple and takes over. That's the primary stomping grounds of the of the high priesthood. The religious leaders own that ground and he walks in and he drives out the money changers and nobody lifts a finger. He does all these miracles healing people. Some of them wouldn't even be allowed into the temple and they're all coming in in droves and he's healing them all. And he's teaching. He's essentially taken over. And the religious leaders don't know what to do and they don't lift a finger. He heads out of town that night and comes back in the next day. That's when the disciples notice the fig tree that Jesus encountered the day before is dead down to its roots. Now, the disciples, you recall, as we looked at last week, the disciples are blown away. Oh, wow, Lord, look, look, the tree that you cursed yesterday. It's dead. It's the first miracle destruction they'd ever seen. They're blown away. They're like, wow, how did that power get on this? They're just impressed by the power. But you know what it's a sign of? It's a sign of the way God is going to respond to the lack of fruitfulness of his people. That's what we're seeing play out with Jesus's interaction with the religious leaders all week. And as he comes in now, this is the next day, this is Tuesday, he enters into the temple again and now he is teaching. It says, when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him while he was teaching. He's come right back in. He has almost certainly still set up a shop, so to speak, in the court of the Gentiles, the main outer largest court in the temple. And he's sitting there and he's just teaching people. And we've seen enough through the gospel of Matthew to see what Jesus is teaching is absolutely true in accordance with the kingdom and absolutely diametrically opposed to a lot of the things that the Pharisees believe and a lot of things that the priesthood is doing. Well, it's been a day now since Jesus cleansed the temple and the religious leaders are ready to go to him and challenge him on the basis of what he's doing. And that's precisely what we have here. A chief priest and the elders of the people. Chief priests refer to the high priests Those guys that are in large and in charge in the temple, those guys that do call the shots. And the elders is just a general term to refer to everybody else, whether you're a Pharisee, whether you're a scribe, or whether you're just one of the high ranking muckety mucks in the city. This is the rest of the governing council. Now, it doesn't mean that all 70 of them were there, but it means that there were a number of them that went. And it was the high priests, those guys that were large and in charge in the temple, and other elders, including some Pharisees, as we'll see at the end of the account, who come to Jesus. And notice what their question is. By what authority are you doing these things? They can't challenge what he's doing. What he's doing is right. What he's doing is good. But they can certainly challenge the authority from which he is doing them. By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority? Now, notice these things is plural. The fact that he's teaching right now in the temple means that this includes standing here in the temple and teaching. Teaching is an exercise of authority. And he is teaching without coming to them and saying, hey guys, do you mind if I go ahead and teach the people? No, he just walks in and starts teaching. So teaching is included in it. But what other things might be included in it? I'll tell you some of the other things. First of all, the cleansing of the temple yesterday when he walked in and drove out the money changers. Second of all, the miracles that he was doing there and the teaching that he's been doing. And even beyond that, I'm really convinced this includes when they were rebuking him as he's coming into town and going all the way into the temple and the crowds going, Hosanna, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. And they're telling him, hey, don't you hear what they're saying? Tell him to stop. And he says, no. No, this is the praise that God has prepared. Everything that he is doing is an offense to them. And he wants to know on the basis of what authority are they doing these things? Is he doing these things? And who gave him this authority? Now, several commentators have pointed out when they ask him this question, they're trying to trap Jesus. I don't think that's the primary aspect. I mean, certainly the argument goes like this. If he says it's by some human authority, they can say, well, excuse me, but we have authority in the temple. And you haven't gone through us. So even if what you've been doing is right and even if it's good, you didn't check with us first. So you're out of line. You're sinning. And if he says it's by heaven, if it's by God's authority, then they'll simply ask him for proof again, like they've done many times in the past. And they know that he's going to refuse. And you know why he'll refuse the miracles that he's doing by themselves. the teaching that he is doing fully in agreement with what the Old Testament says by itself. The character and nature of Jesus and the actions and the way they are in line with what Scripture says by itself affirms that Jesus is from God. But they won't accept any of that. So when they ask for another sign, a sign from the heavens, fire to come down from the sky and consume an offering or something like what happened in the days of Elijah, When he says, I won't do that because I won't cater to your unbelief. You know what happened? They'll say, see, he doesn't do a sign. Throw him out. Yeah, if they ask him this question and from their perspective, I'm sure they do think they have him. I think that they they took a whole day to recover from Jesus walking in and cleansing the temple and taking over. And now he's come right back in as if it's his own father's house and he's acting like it's his own father's house. But they know they're large and in charge. So they walk up and they say, oh, by what authority are you doing this? Now, notice what Jesus' response is. Verse 24, Jesus said to them, I will also ask you one thing, which, if you tell me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Now, if you're anything like me, when you first read that, doesn't that sound like a smart aleck teenager type of a response? Isn't that like when you ask your kids if they got their homework done? Why would you ask me that, Dad? You know, there's just it's just you. By the way, when they say that, you know, you got them. But anyways, it just comes across as like combative, doesn't it? And and and we are OK with Jesus being combative, because later on he's going to say, whoa, to you, scribes and Pharisees. And we're thinking along those lines and we're thinking, you know what? Yeah, Jesus has every right to challenge them because they've corrupted his father's house and all these things. But you know what? If you actually step back without that preconceived idea and look at the details. I want you to see that Jesus is not just given some some sarcastic, you know, Chuck isn't here to pick on, but this isn't this isn't a statement that it was accompanied by the typical staley smirk. All right, this this the way that Jesus answers actually demonstrates the way God responds to unbelief. And God doesn't respond to unbelief by catering to it But he does respond to it in such a way that you can, again, still decide correctly if you're an honest seeker. Notice what he says. I will ask you one thing, and if you tell me the answer to my question, I'll also tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John was from what source? From heaven or from men? You know John's baptism, right? What was the whole ministry of John the Baptist geared toward? Being the forerunner to the Messiah, preparing the people for the arrival of the Messiah. And what did he call for? He called for people to come forward, not just to get baptized, but to come forth, repent and be baptized, right? And when some people were coming and getting baptized and weren't changing their lives, he went after them and said, bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance. In order to be prepared for the Messiah, you're going to have to recognize yourself as a sinner in need of a Savior, and you're going to have to be willing to turn from your sin, and you'll be baptized as one who is identifying himself as a sinner that is willing to change to be ready for the coming of the King. That's the ministry of John. And when Jesus showed up, what did John say? Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. What did John say to his disciples? Follow him. What did John say when his disciples became jealous of Jesus? Everybody's going and following Jesus and his following is getting big. What did John say? He must increase and I must decrease. The whole reason I came was to get people ready for his coming. And now that he's here, what are you sticking around with me for? Go follow him. That's the ministry of John. That's the ministry of John. He came to prepare people for the coming of the Messiah. And what did he identify Jesus as? That Messiah. Now, here's Jesus' question. The baptism of John. What was its source? From heaven or from men? Was John from God, doing a work from God? Or was John from men? Now, if they're honest seekers, right? If they're actually open to the truth, What will they do here? They will go back and they will evaluate John. They will evaluate him, his character, his behavior, and his message in accordance with what the Old Testament says, and then they'll draw their conclusion. And if they're honest seekers, they will recognize John as from whom? From God. Now, if they reject John, as being from men, then what should they be doing with Jesus? Listen, if John the Baptist is not from God and Jesus is basing the authority and the Old Testament basis of his ministry on the ministry of John, if you decide John isn't from God, what should you decide about Jesus? He's not from God. Right? I mean, it's that simple. Because Jesus is basing the authority of his ministry on John having been the forerunner. If John isn't the forerunner, Jesus isn't the Messiah. Now, if John is the forerunner, what did John say? Jesus is the Messiah. So when Jesus says, OK, I'm going to ask you a question, you answer my question, and then I'll answer your question. This isn't a smart aleck response. This is the way God responds to unbelief. He doesn't cater to it, but he still invites repentance. He still invites you to become an honest seeker. Notice their response, middle of verse 25, they began reasoning amongst themselves. The word here for for reasoning means to debate something or discuss something in order to come to a conclusion or decision. They're like, oh, wow. OK, he's got us now. Well, why? Because if we say from heaven, then he will say to us, then why didn't you believe him? Because everybody knows what John said. John said, follow Jesus. But if we say that John was from men, well, we fear the people because they all regarded John as a prophet. So what do we do? Well, tell me something. What should they do? If they were honest, what should they do? Well, we don't believe John was from God. And then what would Jesus say? Well, then you should conclude I'm not from God either and do what you believe you're supposed to do at that point. If you really are an authority and you have concluded that John is not from God, I'm telling you, my ministry is based upon John and you need to act accordingly. It's that simple. They're not honest seekers. They're not even honest rejecters. Instead, verse 27, what do they say to him? Well, we don't know. It's really interesting, because in the Greek, this is from the root Oida, which means to not know with certainty. You know what? We have our ideas, but we just don't have any absolute conviction. We don't have any confident assurance that we have it. So we don't really know yet. So he also said to them, then neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. You know what? If they were honest seekers. They have every opportunity here to respond rightly, don't they? And get the right answer. And get the right answer, because and they even knew they were going to get the right answer. You know, if we say he's from God, then then he's going to just come right back and ask us and say, well, then why don't you listen to him? If you think John's from God, what did John say about me? You know what? That's the way God responds to unbelief. He doesn't make it easier to believe, but he still calls for an honest seeker, an honest heart. Oh, God, just do one miracle and then I'll believe in you. He's done a whole book full of them. Well, just tell me definitively that you're the Messiah or just tell me definitively that you really are from God. You got a whole book of evidence here for it. You have you have the lives of a dozen apostles, including Paul, that died for the truth of the gospel message that's recorded in the New Testament that all affirm. by miracles and their message and the conformity of that message with the Old Testament, that Jesus really is the Messiah. He came, He died, He died for our sins and He rose again the third day and ascended back to the right hand of the Father. You have all the evidence you need. You have all the evidence you need. And what's more, within your heart, according to Scripture, we're told You already know that there's more to life than this earthly existence. And you already know deep down there is a God and you have offended him and that one day you're going to answer to him. Now, you can keep pushing that truth aside as long as you want. You can keep hardening your heart and God's not going to bend over backwards to try to convince you. But he will keep calling you back to the truth if you will accept Even the beginnings of the truth as an honest seeker, there's more revelation that will unfold if they had just accepted that John was from God and acknowledge that. Well, then what's the natural correlation? Then Jesus must be what? From God. So you need to listen to him. And as you start listening to him. Well, the doors to heaven are open to you. Jesus says, And neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things." Jesus responded to Chorazin and Bethsaida and ultimately to Capernaum. You know, you had all those miracles done in you. You had all that evidence given to you. And if the miracles were done in you that were done in Tyre and Sidon and Sodom and Gomorrah, they would have repented. Sodom would still exist to this day. God wouldn't have destroyed it with fire from heaven. But you know what? They wouldn't repent with the revelation they were given, and so they weren't given more revelation. And you've been given way more revelation. You know what? In this day, in this age, with the completed Scriptures and everybody having their own copy, having access to so much free preaching and good preaching and expository teaching, listen, this generation is more accountable to God for the revelation it's received than I think at any other time in the past. Well, I haven't seen any miracles. No, but you have the fruit of it. The lasting fruit of it. God's not going to give you any more revelation. He's not going to give you any more evidence. And He's not going to cater to your unbelief. But if you're an honest seeker, the answers are still there. And if you're willing to become an honest seeker, the answers are still there. They weren't, so they didn't get it. God won't cater to unbelief. You can pretend to be unconvinced just like they did. You can act like you're an honest seeker just looking for answers or that one more definitive convincing proof. But God knows your heart and given all the proof that and he's given you all the proof you're going to get until you start responding rightly to the light that you have been given. And come judgment day, you'll be without excuse because you were given plenty of light. God doesn't cater to unbelief. Number two, God doesn't accept false worship. God doesn't accept false worship. You want to know what to expect from God? Well, you can expect that he will not accept false worship. He won't accept you to just put on a show. He won't accept if you just just say all the stuff about him, if you praise him and acknowledge him, but don't submit to him and obey him. God won't accept false worship. Notice in verse 28 how we move past the leader's questioning of Jesus and Jesus now questioning them. And He questions them now deliberately to unfold the truths about the way God is going to respond to them and to His people because of their lack of faith. Verse 28, He says, Now what do you think? Notice He's asking them. What do you think? A man had two sons. He came to the first and said, Son, go work today in the vineyard. And he answered, I will not. But afterward, he regretted it and went. The man came to the second son and said the same thing. And he answered, I will, sir. But he didn't go. Now, here's the question. Which of the two did the will of his father? Now, let me just take a step back and draw a couple of key observations here for you. This is a parable. This is an earthly story that you could identify happening in real life. And it's being told in order to convey a heavenly principle, a heavenly truth. And the story goes like this, a man has two sons. He goes to the first and says, go work. And that first son says, I will not. When you look at it in the original, it's an absolute, I won't do it. No. we do your kids when they say no right that's that's the kind of a no this is now remember this is going to be going to work in a vineyard means it's an adult son go son go to work in the vineyard no but notice notice afterward he regretted it that word regret here is from met a mellow my it's a it's a word that means to feel sorry about something to regret To to regret it to the extent you wish you could undo it Never done anything and Said anything that you just wish you could rewind the tape and erase that and start over I Had one of those moments the other day you say something you do something and you and Sometimes even while it's happening. You just wish you could hit stop and rewind and try again There have been there. That's that's the word regretting here. Wished you could have it back and get a do over, like on the playground back at school. I wish I could have a do over here, but I can't. And notice notice it says afterward he regretted it. By the way, that word is related. That's the that's the sorrow side of real repentance. Metanoeo is a change of mind that results in a change of behavior. Metamellomi is the is the grief and the regret and the sorrow that moves you to want to change. This is repentance. He said, I won't go, but afterwards he regretted that he said he wouldn't go, and so he just goes and he does what his dad asks. Notice the second son, he said the same thing. Go work in the venue today. And he answered, I will, sir. I love this. That little word, sir, is actually the Greek word Koryos. It's the word for Lord. He doesn't say, I will, dad. I will, father. He says, I will, master. That's hyper respect to dad, right? Don't you wish your kids you talk to you that way? I will, Lord. Son, clean up your room. I will, Lord. Son, cut the grass. I will, Lord. Son, do what your mom asks. I will, Lord. That'd be cool. Yeah, except that when you get that, you're also typically going to get the same behavior this guy got from his son. I will, Lord. And he didn't do it. The greatest show of respective authority and an absolute affirmation, I'll do what you asked me to do. But he didn't go. Now, of those two, verse 31, which of them did the will of his father? Notice, the religious leaders have no problem getting the answer right. Everybody can get the answer right, right? Of those two guys, which one did the will of his father? Well, the first one. He said no, but after he said no, he thought about it and he regretted it and he went ahead and did it. The second one never did it. No matter what he said, he never did it. That's the key, and that's the principle that Jesus is teaching right here. Look at the explanation. Truly, I say to you, a tax collectors and prostitutes, the word for prostitutes is literally fornicators. All those, you know, the people that are tax collectors and sinners, the people that you think are the worst of the wicked. Tax collectors and sinners, prostitutes, fornicators, those who are openly immoral. Those who are not religious at all. They will get into the kingdom of God before you. Why? Because John came to you in the way of righteousness and you didn't believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him. And you, even seeing this, did not feel remorse afterwards so as to believe him. Again, Jesus goes back to the ministry of John the Baptist. What did John preach? a message of repentance. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent and be baptized. Turn from your sins and get ready for the coming of the Lord. And even seeing tax collectors and sinners admitting that they've been sinning, regretting their sin, coming, getting baptized and changing the way they live their lives in order to be ready for the coming of the Messiah. Even seeing that, the religious leaders were not moved to recognize that either that John was from God or that they themselves also needed to repent and be ready. There are those who say, yes, Lord, but aren't doing what he says, the tax collectors and sinners. are openly, willfully disobedient to God and to his commands. But when confronted with the gospel, when called to repentance by the ministry of John, they regretted their sin and turned from it, and they are entering the kingdom of heaven. You know what the point is here? The point is to those who are Saying all these things to God. Oh, yes. I love you God. Oh, yes. I'll follow you God Oh, yes, I'll obey you God and and that are doing all the actions But aren't really repenting and living for him God recognizes what's going on God welcomes repentant sinners Not self righteous worshipers God doesn't accept false worship period Jesus himself on multiple occasions made this very clear. Matthew chapter 7, he ends the Sermon on the Mount by saying, Many will come to me on that day and say, Lord, Lord, didn't we do all these great things in your name? And I will say to them, Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. You can say all you want. In fact, Jesus repeatedly said, Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and don't do what I say? God doesn't accept false worship. You can talk till you're blue in the face. You can talk all you want. But if there's no walk. Then it's not acceptable. Fact, Jesus calls for not only total commitment, but total commitment manifested in obedience. Matthew, Chapter 10. Jesus said, if you love father or mother more than me, you're not worthy of me. You've got to be totally committed to me above all human relationships and above all things. But he also said, Matthew 16, 24, if you want to be my follower, you've got to deny yourself, take up your cross and what? Follow me. There's got to be obedience. There's got to be submission. There's got to be more than talk. There's got to be walk. It's always been about true worship. That's the message that Jesus shared with the woman at the well in John 4. God is looking for those who will worship him in spirit and in truth, that is, with all their heart and in accordance with what he says. Matthew chapter 15, Jesus quotes from Isaiah 29, saying, rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you. This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is what? Far from me. I think my favorite passage in the Old Testament that conveys this basic principle is Psalm 50. In Psalm 50, listen to what God says. Psalm 50, verses 7 to 15. Just listen. This is the text where we get the whole God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. And we always think of that, God having an abundance of provision to be able to supply all of our needs. That's not the context of that verse, though. Listen to the context. God addresses the way His people are worshipping Him, and He condemns them and gives them instructions for correction. He says, Here, O My people, and I will speak. O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. And I do not reprove you for your sacrifices. Indeed, your burnt offerings are continually before me. I'm not here to say you're not bringing the offerings that I've called for. No. Yet I shall take no young bull out of your house, nor male goat out of your fold. Why? Because every beast of the forest is mine. The cattle on a thousand hills. I'm not going to accept any of your sacrifices. Why? Because I don't need them. I'm not dependent upon them. I don't even want them. I own everything. What you give to me is nothing except what's already mine. I'm not going to accept any of your offerings or any of your worship. In fact, the verse 11, I know every bird of the mountains, everything that moves in the field is mine. Indeed, if I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you the whole world is mine and all that it contains. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of male goats? You think I'm dependent upon your worship and your offerings and your gifts somehow? What you bring to me is nothing. It's nothing. I don't have any dependence upon you at all. Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving. And pay your vows to the most high. call upon me in the day of trouble and I will rescue you and you will honor me. You want to know what God wants from us? Worship. Not gifts, not offerings, not just tribute. He wants us to recognize everything we have came from him. When we give an offering to him, we're not doing him any favors. We're giving back to him a portion of what he first gave to us. And the only reason he will accept it from us is not because, well, at least I got something out of him and that'll help me balance the budget at the end of the year. The reason he accepts it from us is when you offer it up to him. As an expression of thanks and an acknowledgement that he gave it to you to begin with. He'll accept that as worship. Because that's what it is. It's the acknowledgement of God, I know you don't need anything from me. I know that compared to you, I really am nothing. I know that everything I have, I only have because you gave me life, breath, health, strength, the opportunity to work, the ability to work, and orchestrated the circumstances of my life in such a way that I've been able to accumulate this provision. So what I give back to you, I know you don't even need it, but I'm going to give it to you just because I love you and I want to say thanks to you. And by the way, when I'm in trouble, I'm going to ask you to help me. Because I know I can't do it on my own. And when you help me, I'm going to praise you and thank you and acknowledge that the only reason I made it through was because you helped me. I didn't do it on my own. That's worship. It's worship because it acknowledges God really is above us. God really is independent of us. We are dependent on him for everything. He is dependent upon us for nothing. You get into and I do a lot of reading. You get into All of the man-made worship systems, including Greek mythology, the ancient Egyptian cosmology, the gods of Egypt, the gods of Babylon, all the gods of mankind's history that men have come up with. And all those gods are in some way, shape or form dependent upon the worship of their people. The more people worship them, the more powerful they are. That's not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is the creator and sustainer of everything. He spoke the entirety of this universe into existence out of nothing. He's the creator. We're creatures. We owe him everything. He's dependent upon us for nothing. If none of us worshiped him, he'd still be God. And he'd still be just fine. The amazing thing is that he is willing to receive worship from wretches like us. That's why he's Welcoming tax collectors and sinners into his kingdom rather than the religious elite Because the religious early you remember the parable that did the story Jesus told about the Pharisee and the tax collector that went in the temple Remember those two guys Jesus tells a little story a Pharisee and a tax collector go into the temple and they both go in to pray and The Pharisee goes up front and he looks toward heaven. He says, I thank you, God, that I'm not like other people. I do all these great things for you. I follow the law. I do all my I even tied down to the smallest spices. And I'm and I'm not like this tax collector. The tax collector stays in the back, he won't even raise his eyes to heaven, he says, and he beats his breasts and says, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. Jesus says, I tell you, That tax collector went home justified before God. The Pharisee went home justified in his own eyes. God will receive true, humble, repentant worship. He will not accept false worship. He will not accept superficial worship. I don't care how much you say, oh, Lord, if your heart isn't humble before him and your life isn't changed to be in conformity with what he says, if you're not willing to trust him and obey him, no matter what it costs you, then He's not going to accept it from you. It's always been about a call to true worship. God doesn't need our worship, and He won't accept our worship unless it really truly is worship. And yes, God knows the difference in you and your life as well as in me and mine, just like He did in the people in that day. God doesn't accept false worship. John came to you in the way of righteousness. John came to you and told you the way to get right with God. Recognize yourself as a sinner, turn from your sin, get baptized and be ready for the Messiah and follow him now that I've pointed him out to you. That's how to get right with God. And even seeing the tax collectors and sinners responding and being reconciled to God. That wasn't enough to move you? Well, you know what? I don't care what you do with your offerings. I don't care what you do in the temple. I don't care what you do in your tithes. I don't care what you do in your religious legalism. None of it will be accepted to God, acceptable to God. Finally, number three, God doesn't cater to unbelief. God doesn't accept false worship. And third, God doesn't tolerate rebellion indefinitely. God doesn't tolerate rebellion indefinitely. There comes a point when God does take action, and there are consequences for temporal rebellion. Verse 33, listen to another parable. The word another here is alas, meaning another of the same kind. This is another parable, another story. that I'm telling, just like the last one, to convey a key spiritual truth. Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it and built a tower, and he rented it out to vine growers and went on a journey. Now, it's interesting. I did a little homework this week on vineyards. So let me just share with you some of what I learned. I think it kind of opens up an understanding of the story that Jesus is really telling here. First of all, establishing a vineyard like the one described by Jesus here in this verse is quite a process. It's expensive and it's time consuming. It has to be a rather sizable piece of property because Jesus says that the landowner rented it out to vine growers, plural. So this is not some just one small little acre or a few acres. This is a large place, something that's going to need to be tended by a plurality of vine growers. So he's talking about massive financial investment to buy all this property. Furthermore, it takes about typically five years to get a vineyard established so it produces a crop. The first thing you go in is you have to clear the land of all the shrubbery, of all the trees, of all the rocks. You've got to level out the ground. If there are slopes or hillsides in it, you're going to terrace it. So there's a lot of earth that's getting moved. All the rocks are getting pulled out. They're being saved. And so, I mean, I saw some pictures of some of the vineyards in Israel that have a nice rock wall and a terrace and a rock wall and a terrace. There's a lot of work that goes into that. And you guys do any landscaping? Not so much, right, Adam? No, I have no idea what I'm talking about. So tell me, moving, how many cubic yards of dirt did you guys move this summer? Too much, yeah. So if Chuck was here, he knew the exact number. He came to the elders meeting and showed us all of his tabulated charts of cubic yards and all this other stuff, right? And it took you, what, about 20 minutes to get that all done with the machinery? Yeah, like look at look at Adam. He's even he's even having a sweat as I talk about the amount of work He's the only we got to do it again. Oh, no, right this ton of effort goes into here Multiple acres that are involved here to turn this into a vineyard Years of trimming the vines and getting them right notice it even says he not only planted a vineyard He put a wall around it. The wall was both for to mark the boundaries so that You know, this is private property here, so you typically don't cross it when you see the wall. It also keeps most wild animals out, so they don't come in and wreck your fields. And even beyond that, it says he dug a wine press in it and built a tower. As I was doing my reading, you know, it was rare that a vineyard had a tower on it. That's a very, very expensive thing to do, to build a tower on it. Most vineyards They just put up a booth. They just put up like a little temporary shelter from the middle of July to the middle of September during the harvest time. And that's where the family or the families would come and they would just live in that lean-to, if you will. Imagine spending two months in the summer during the harvest living in a lean-to. That's what most vine dressers did. They lived in a lean-to during harvest time. Why? Because you didn't leave the property so that nobody came in and stole your crop. And number two, because you're going to get up the next morning and go to work. And the work of harvest entailed essentially going and picking the grapes, laying some of them out, usually in a corner of the vineyard, and every day turning them so that they would dry and turn into raisins. A lot of times they'd sprinkle some olive oil over it to facilitate that process. And that would go through the period of harvest. You would take the rest and you would either crush them into the glass. So you'd be drinking fresh juice the whole of harvest time. So it was a time of celebration. I mean, you're eating pretty good. You're eating grapes, ripe grapes right off the vine. Ever eaten fruit right off the tree when it's really ripening in season? Pretty good, isn't it? My parents have a pear tree. And a couple of times I've been there right when the pears were ripe. Oh, my God, you just stand at the tree. You don't even care. There's juice dripping from your chin. You eat until you're full. Right. OK. I mean, that's what it was like for a couple of months while they're there in harvest. So they're eating the grapes right off the vine. They're crushing them and drinking the juice there for most of it, though. They're taking those grapes and they're putting it into a wine press. A wine press was essentially a huge cistern hewn out of rock. with a trench at the bottom and a hole that went into a tub of some kind. And you just throw all the grapes in there and guess what you do? You climb into that huge cistern, that huge vat, and you just do this and you squish all those grapes. And most of those wine presses, most of them had room for a plurality of people And a vineyard this size would have had a wine press big enough for four or five people to be in there all at once. Could you imagine? So what did you do this morning? Tell me something. How good would our legs look if we spent every day for two months every summer doing this? Right? Now you get tired of, and it probably takes the rest of the year for the purple or whatever to wash out of your legs. But listen, that's what's involved. There's a lot of cost that goes into this. There's a lot of effort. There's a lot of provision. I did some other reading. You know, this was a happy time. You know, a lot of times there was singing involved. There was celebration. You know, if the harvest was plentiful, I mean, this is going to provide for you for the year. This is happy work. I mean, it's still a job. It's still a chore from sunup to sundown. And you're going to use most of it to make wine. There were very few vineyards that were large enough to have a tower like this that you got to live in a shelter and then you could stand on the top of the tower and keep guard over the whole vineyard, etc. And this is the size of this place, the complete provision for this place. And do you know what the typical tenant farmer got? Half. So 50-50 split was the typical arrangement with tenant farmers like this. So the owner of the vineyard bought the land, paid to clear the land, paid to plant the vineyard, paid the vine dressers to do the pruning for five years until it's actually ready to produce a crop. And then once it's producing a crop, he rents it out at that point, having assumed all the expense and putting on all the time and effort. Now he says, hey, a few of you guys, you come manage the land, and you can have half of the produce. And this isn't, you know, an average vineyard. This is an exceptional vineyard. And it's a huge vineyard. This is like those big, some of you guys that work out at the base, this is that big fat government contract. Oh, look at the celebration on some of your faces now. That's what we're talking about. When Jesus describes a vineyard like this, listen, this guy didn't Spare any expense to make this a stellar place to live and work that would provide abundantly well for anybody that's not an owner. Yeah, he still gets 50%, but the rest of it's yours. This is huge. This is huge. There was a landowner, planted a vineyard, put a wall around it, dug a wine press in it, built a tower, and he rented it out to vine growers and went on a journey. So he leaves town. And when the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine growers to receive his produce. This isn't out of line. This isn't unheard of. This is this is the normal. Yeah, he sent his servants to go and collect his share of the of the produce of the land. He owns it. The vine growers took his slaves. beat one, literally the idea of here is whipping or scourging him, killed another and stoned a third and put him to death. So again, he sent another group of slaves larger than the first. They did the same to them. Afterward, he sent his son to them saying they will respect my son. OK, they won't listen to my servants. I'll send my own son. They will respect that he has the full authority of my name when he shows up. And they'll listen to him because he's coming as the heir. But when the vine growers saw the son, they said amongst themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill and seize his inheritance. So they took him, threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, tell me, What will he do to those vine growers? Now, do you notice the imagery already? I mean, we haven't even got into the explanation yet, but do you see the imagery? This is precisely a picture of Israel. God took them into the promised land. It was a land flowing with milk and honey. And he sent his servants to the nation, calling them to repentance, calling them to respond rightly, calling them to worship him and give to him the worship that he is due. He sent the prophets one by one and then in plurality, sending them and sending them. What did they do to them? They rejected them and they killed them and put them to death. I won't take you through the Old Testament to prove that. I think you recognize it. Finally, he sends his son. Well, who is that? That's Jesus. Surely they will respect the authority of my son and that he speaks on my behalf. But when they see the son, what will they do? They will reject him. They will throw him outside the vineyard and put him to death. What's going to happen to Jesus in a couple of days? The nation is going to reject him, take him outside the city and crucify him. Jesus has been telling his disciples for six months when he got to Jerusalem, this is what's going to happen. Now he's telling it to the religious leaders directly. This is what you're going to do now. I love the way he even asked them, what do you think the owner of the vineyard when he comes, what do you think he's going to do to those vine growers? What do you think? You know, this is this is the Batman streak in all of us. Can you what would you do? Tell me, what would you do if you were the landowner? Man, I'm bringing the Green Berets and the Navy SEALs and seven SWAT teams. Maybe a couple of battalions of airborne rangers. Right. And we're going to level it. Start over. We all have that justice streak. And you know something, the religious leaders have no problem in recognizing that and affirming that's their own attitude as well. They said to him, he will bring those wretches to a wretched end and they will and then he will rent out the vineyard to other vine growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons. Oh, oh, they will answer for it. Yeah, they will. And that's the point. Verse 42. Did you never read in the Scriptures the stone which the builders rejected? This became the chief cornerstone. This came about from the Lord and it is marvelous in our eyes. And what's really interesting here is Jesus quotes from Psalm 118, which is the same psalm that was quoted on the triumphal entry. Psalm 118, verse 26, I think it is. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. A couple of verses before that, it says this right here in Psalm 118, verses 22 and 23. the stone which the builders rejected this became the chief cornerstone and this came about from the Lord and it's marvelous in our eyes. From that same context, from the same context of that messianic psalm when the Messiah comes he will be the stone that is rejected by the builders but God will turn him into the chief cornerstone. Now the commentators have a little debate chief cornerstone does that mean the keystone at the arch that if you pull it out the whole thing comes down or is it the main corner piece, the first block that's set in a foundation from which every other block in the foundation is considered, the levelness of it is considered. I think it's the chief cornerstone. A lot of the more modern commentators take it as a keystone, but I think in agreement with historical interpretation, I think this is really the chief cornerstone. In either case, the point is still the same. The religious leaders, when the Messiah came, They rejected him. The builders rejected it as not worthy to be a part of the building. God made it the most important stone in the whole work. And that's precisely what's happening. That's precisely what the apostles preach in Acts chapter 4 and verse 11. Listen to what Peter says. When Peter and John are arrested for doing the miracle on the temple after the day of Pentecost, Peter, filled with the Spirit, says to the rulers and the elders of the people, he says, listen, rulers and elders of the people, the same people Jesus is talking to now, the same guys. He says, if we're on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man as to how this man has become, has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by this man, this name, this man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved. He tells them right straight up, yeah, you're going to reject me and God will raise me from the dead and make me the foundation of his church. verse forty three therefore I say to you the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people singular a people singular this is not Gentiles is not Jews this is the church the kingdom will be taken away from you and given to a people made up of Jews and Gentiles alike that produce the fruit of that kingdom And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust." And notice the negative things that are described in either way with regard to the stone. Those who fall on the stone get shattered. Have you ever taken a glass and thrown it on the ground, thrown it on a stone? What happens to the glass? Pssh! Have you ever set a glass down on the floor and picked up a stone and dropped it on the glass? What happens to the glass? Pssh! Same thing. You know, The religious leaders threw themselves against Jesus to put him to death and reject him. And in the end, who gets destroyed? They do. And for those who do not openly oppose him and reject him, in the end, he will fall upon you and destroy you as well. There is no Switzerland spiritually. You either for Christ or you are against Christ. You can openly oppose him. You can ignore him. But in either case, the only way to be reconciled to God is through him. And if you don't come that come through him, then he will crush you one way or the other. And when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they understood he was speaking about them. And when they sought to seize him, they feared the people because they considered the people considered him to be a prophet. You know something? The way things played out in Passion Week, the way they played out were exactly in accordance with God's plan from the very beginning from eternity past. And Jesus said it was going to be that way and it went that way. And I'm here to tell you there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. There isn't. So let me just send you home this weekend with this one clear explanation of what you can expect from God. You can expect that He will not cater to unbelief. He didn't cater to it then with them and He won't cater to it with you or with anybody today. And he won't accept false worship. You can say, Lord, Lord, all you want. But if you don't do what he says, if you don't really live for him, if you aren't totally committed to him, if you don't come forward and get baptized and commit yourself to him and follow him as a member of his church, then don't accept him to to receive your superficial worship. He's not interested. He doesn't need it. And he won't accept it. And he won't tolerate rebellion indefinitely either. Oh, in this life, We reap a measure temporally of what we've sown. But in the end, we don't reap eternally until eternity. You may think you're getting away with sin. You may think you're getting away with the games you're playing with God. But the fact of the matter is there will be a day when you enter into his presence and there's only one way of righteousness by which You might be preserved from his wrath and that's through christ and what he did for us on the cross. Let's pray father Thank you for this day for your kindness to us in so many ways And for your grace shown to us in christ. Amen Well, for our final hymn, please turn once again to number 132, Angels We Have Heard on High. We'll be singing verse 3 only.