Of course, Jesus is the man of God's right hand who was going to do God's pleasure by dying on the cross and saving His people, His vineyard. We look at a parable of Jesus in which He speaks of a vineyard. Mark, or Matthew, chapter 21, verses 23 through 46. That's the Scripture reading. Matthew 21, starting at verse 23. And the text is verses 33 to the end. And because of the length of the text, we will not be re-reading it, but it will be profitable to keep our Bibles open to this passage this afternoon. Matthew 21, starting at verse 23. And just a note, Last week we looked at the barren fig tree, and that's immediately what comes before the passage before us. 18-22 is the last part of Jesus' instruction on the fig tree. Now at verse 23, And when He was come into the temple that Tuesday morning, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto Him as He was teaching, and said, By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority? to cleanse the temple. Remember, he did that yesterday, Monday. And Jesus answered and said unto them, I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or of men? And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say from heaven, he will say unto us, why did ye not then believe him? But if we shall say of men, we fear the people, for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus and said, we cannot tell. And he said unto them, neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. But what think ye? A certain man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not. But afterward, he repented and went. And he came to the second and said, likewise, and he answered and said, I go, sir, and went not. Whether of them Twain did the will of his father, They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not. But the publicans and the harlots believed him. And ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him. And now begin the words of the text. Here another parable. There was a certain householder which planted a vineyard and hedged it round about and digged a wine press in it and built a tower and let it out to husbandmen. He hired it out to husbandmen and went into a far country. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants more than the first, and they did unto them likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. When the Lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husband men, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the Scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner? This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet." So far we read God's holy and remarkable word. The text is verses 33 through 46. Beloved, in our Lord Jesus Christ, on the Sunday of the Passion Week, Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, riding on a colt. And He did so because this was the week in which Jesus would obtain the victory over Satan and sin and death and hell. That was Sunday. As we saw last week, on Monday of the Passion Week, as Jesus was walking back to Jerusalem, Jesus cursed the barren fig tree. And then He proceeded to the temple and cleansed the temple for the second time in His ministry. And remember, that barren fig tree was a picture of the nation of Israel, which appeared on the outside full of life, and looked like she was full of fruit, but when you actually looked under the leaves, you found nothing because it was all outward formalism and hypocrisy. This afternoon, we look at the Tuesday of the Passion Week. The Tuesday of the Passion Week was the busiest day of the week. In Matthew's account, it starts already here in Matthew chapter 21, and it goes all the way through to the end of Matthew chapter 25. Four and a half chapters just on what happened on one day of the week. On Tuesday of the Passion Week, Jesus speaks in parables. He pronounces woes upon the Pharisees and the Sadducees, Matthew 23, and he gives his disciples instruction on the destruction of Jerusalem and the signs of Christ's second coming, Matthew chapters 24 and 25. For our series, we focus this afternoon on the parable of the wicked husbandmen. This is a very striking parable because it's not just a parable, it's also a prophecy. It prophesies events that are going to take place by the end of the week. And not only is it prophetic, but it's also a warning, a warning to the unbelieving Jews that the judgment of God was going to fall upon them. And what is so striking is that they understand it. We read that by the end of the passage, they perceive that Jesus was talking about them. So we take the time this afternoon to notice this parable which is given on Tuesday of the Passion Week. We take as our theme the parable of the wicked husbandmen. And we look at that theme under three points. First, we look at the fruitlessness of the vineyard. Second, the sending of the sun. And third, the judgment upon the husbandmen. I do think that the Different elements of this parable are easy to discern, but let's go through the elements one by one and give a little bit of description to each one. First, there is the vineyard. Last week, we looked at the fig tree. This week, we look at a vineyard. And just as the fig tree was very familiar to the people of Israel, so the idea of a vineyard was very familiar to the people. It's a figure used throughout the Old Testament. For example, we just sang from Psalm 80. In Psalm 80, the psalmist speaks of God's people as a vineyard. We read, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars." So in Psalm 80, God's people are pictured as a vine which God takes out of Egypt and the branches of the vine spread throughout the whole land of Canaan. In Isaiah chapter 5, we have a passage very similar to the parable that Jesus gives in the passage this afternoon. Maybe you read Isaiah chapter 5 last week Sunday. There's also Jeremiah 2, verse 21, Hosea 10, verse 1, Ezekiel 15, 1 through 6, and Ezekiel 19, 10 through 14, and there are other passages as well. The point is, this figure of comparing God's people to a vineyard is very familiar. The vineyard in this parable is a reference to God's people, the nation of Israel. And the nation of Israel, not just during the days of Jesus, but really the nation of Israel throughout its whole existence as she existed over many years throughout the Old Testament. We should notice that there is an element of history in this parable. And that becomes clear from the fact that the husbandman sends his servants again and again to the vineyard to collect his fruit. So there's history here. The vineyard is a reference to the historic and visible manifestation of the Kingdom of God as God's gathering His people from the nation of Israel." Israel, who should have been bringing forth fruit for the Master's pleasure. That's really the point here. This vineyard should have been producing fruit for the Master's pleasure. God's people should be bringing forth fruit for Him. Second, there is the householder. the owner of the vineyard. And the owner of the vineyard is Jehovah God. And he is the householder who has bestowed much care upon his vineyard. Verse 33, the householder planted a vineyard, he put a hedge around it, he put a fence around it to protect it from critters and animals and foxes and to protect it from bandits. And he digged a wine press in the vineyard and he built a tower, a lookout tower and also a place of shelter for the vinedressers when it was bad weather out. The householder spared no expense. He did everything that was necessary to ensure that this vineyard would bring forth fruit. And that's a picture of God's dealings with his people. When God called Israel out of Egyptian bondage, God planted her in a land flowing with milk and honey. He put a hedge around his people. When at Mount Sinai, he gave them the Ten Commandments. He gave them a law that marked Israel as a separate nation that would be protected from the other nations that would otherwise swallow her up. Israel was but a small nation and God put a hedge around her by giving her his law. And God also put a tower in the midst of his people. When he himself chose to dwell in the midst of his people, he is the strong tower of his people. Their shelter in troublous times. So God is the householder. Then third, there are the husband men. And who are the husbandmen, the vine dressers? Well, in the parable, these husbandmen were sharecroppers or tenant farmers. They were farmers that were hired or given the calling to take care of the vineyard so that it might bring forth fruit. And they would enjoy some of the fruit as their wages, but some of the fruit they would also have to give to the owner as their rent money, you might say. That's what a rich owner does. A rich owner doesn't tend to the vineyard himself, but he lets it out. He hires it out to people. And then, meanwhile, in the parable at least, the owner himself goes to a faraway country to do other business. These husbandmen in the parable are referring to the spiritual leaders of Israel. They are a picture of the priests and the Levites and the scribes and the elders who were supposed to be taking care of the nation of Israel, the church, on behalf of the Lord. These husbandmen were the very Pharisees and the scribes and the elders to whom Jesus is speaking in this parable. And that's very clear from the fact that by the end of the parable, these Pharisees and elders perceive that Jesus is talking about them. These spiritual leaders were given the responsibility to care for the people. They were supposed to cultivate the people, give them good spiritual care, feed them and prune them and protect them for the Lord. They were given the responsibility to teach the people the ways of the Lord. But the leaders in Israel were not doing this. They were not caring for the people. They were doing the opposite. On the one hand, they were letting these vines grow wild and lawless so that the people walked in sin. And they were giving themselves as examples of lawlessness and wickedness and worldliness. And on the other hand, they were keeping any fruit that the vineyard was bringing forth for themselves. They were consuming the people according to their lusts with bribes and so on. They weren't judging righteously. They were wicked husband men, rebelling against the authority of the owner. They forgot that they were only laborers in the vineyard. They act as if the vineyard was their own to do with as they pleased. And this wickedness comes out when we look at the next element, the fourth element in the parable, the servants. In the parable, the owner sends forth his servants to the vineyard to receive the payment from these sharecroppers. And these servants represent the prophets that God had sent repeatedly to His people. These servants represent men like Elijah and Elisha and Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the rest of the prophets whom God sent to His people, His vineyard. And what did these servants do? These servants called on the people of the Lord, calling them to faith to bring forth fruit and serve the Lord. And what did the people do? What did the wicked leaders of Israel do? They persecuted and abused the servants of the Lord. And that's powerfully described in the parable, verses 34 through 36. And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants and beat one and killed another and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first. And they did unto them likewise." And the point is, this is how the nation of Israel as a whole, through her leaders, treated the prophets and the true servants of the Lord. Over and over again, the earthly leaders persecuted the servants of God. Think of Ahab and Jezebel and how they chased after Elijah and they wanted Elijah badly to be dead. Think of King Joash, remember, who had his uncle Jehoiada lead him when he was younger, but when he became older, he killed Zechariah the prophet, Jehoiada's own son. Think of how Jeremiah rotted in the dungeon because he brought the word of God. If tradition is correct, we're told that Isaiah was not only cut in pieces, or cut in half, with a saw but cut in half even with a wooden saw at the command of Manasseh who made the streets of Jerusalem run red with the blood of the saints. And then think of John the Baptist, the last of the servants that the owner sends to his people and what happens to him? He gets beheaded. In 2 Chronicles 35, verses 15 and 16, we read, and the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes and sending, sending over and over again because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and misused his prophets until the wrath of God arose against his people till there was no remedy. Jesus, later on in this same day, only two chapters later, in Matthew 23, starting at verse 29, puts it this way, Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which kill the prophets. Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets and wise men and scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barakias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee. You see, that's what's happening in this parable. The master sends forth his servants and they keep getting killed and stoned. In Acts chapter 7, think of Stephan. Remember what happens to Stephan, but remember what Stephan said just before he was stoned. He says, So these are the things that Jesus is addressing in this parable. And what's the point? The point is that God wanted fruit. The point is that the owner of the vineyard wanted fruit. He wanted the wine that would be produced by the grapes. God wants His people to bring forth spiritual fruit. He took the people out of Egypt. He replanted them in the land of Canaan, gave them everything they could possibly need or want, and He expected fruit. Again, read Isaiah 5. But there was no fruit. God did everything necessary so that the people might know what their calling was. He had given the nation every means to bring forth the fruit that He required. They were to be worshipping Him, and trusting Him, and serving Him, and submitting to Him. But the nation was characterized by unbelief. and idolatry, and formalism, and hypocrisy, and wickedness, and bitterness, and discontentment, and arrogance brewed in their hearts. And like what we saw last week, they were a people without fruit. There was no fruit, meat for repentance, because there was no repentance. The people, by and large, were wicked. And they were entirely without excuse, particularly the leaders. But in a sense, it wasn't just the leaders, it was all the people. It was all of apostate Israel at this point. They were without excuse. Look at the patience of the owner in the parable itself. According to Mark's account, Mark's account is slightly different. According to Mark's account, the owner sends out one servant, And the vinedressers beat him and sent him away. Then the owner sends out another servant, and the husbandmen cast stones at him, and they wound him in the head, and they send him away shamefully handled. And then the owner sends another servant, and they kill him. And it's like there's development going on. Development in the boldness of these vinedressers. First they beat one, then they stone another, and then they kill another. They're developing in their wickedness. And the owner keeps sending his servants. He keeps sending his prophets and his ministers. How patient God is with His people. Over many years, He repeatedly calls His people to repentance. And again and again, because He's the God who is slow to anger, But how do the wicked behave? Some servants they beat, others they kill. And it wasn't just the servants whom they beat and killed, it was the godly remnant in the land as well that gave witness of how the people should be behaving. And they cried out to the Lord in the midst of their oppression. And you know how the self-righteous Pharisees behaved? They said, we're not like our fathers. We are godly. We are that faithful godly remnant. And you see, they were exactly like their fathers. They thought they were the remnant and they were exactly like their fathers. And the people generally were the same way. There was no fruit. There was no fruit. Well, as important as it is to understand all these different parts of the parable, we're not even getting to the main point of the parable. The heart of the parable comes when Jesus goes on to say how the owner of the vineyard went ahead and finally sent his only beloved son. And even as I say that, the thought comes to mind, what are you doing, owner of the vineyard? Why would you send your only well-beloved son? Doesn't the owner know what these vinedressers are going to do, what's gonna happen to his son? Well, the vineyard is his vineyard. He is the owner of the vineyard, and so what does he do? He sends his son. Verses 37 through 39. But last of all, he sent unto them his son, saying, they will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him. Little children, if you've been listening carefully, I think you know who the son of the householder is and who it's referring to. Of course, it's referring to Jesus. If God is the owner, well then the owner's son is Jesus. And in the parable, why does the owner send his son? He sends his son because of all people, if the husbandmen are going to show any respect to anyone, they're going to show that respect to the owner's own son. And showing respect to his son would mean that they acknowledge his position over them, they listen to him, and they give the fruit that was owed his father. But you see, these husbandmen are so wicked, so hardened in their wickedness, that rather than showing respect, they kill the son. They take him out of the vineyard, presumably strip him of all his possessions, and kill him. And here we see that this parable is much more than just a parable. It's a prophecy, a prophetic autobiography in which Jesus is telling his own story. He foretells what the Jewish leaders are going to do to him by the end of the week. And it's astonishing how literally this parable is fulfilled by the end of the week. Jesus, the well-beloved son, the only son of the householder, God, Jesus, the servant of the Lord, is sent to the vineyard. of the people of Israel. And He comes demanding fruit. He comes preaching obedience and repentance. For three years, He has spoken of His Father, the householder. For three years, He has revealed the glories of the kingdom, the mysteries of the kingdom of God. For three years, He has also revealed the consequences of disobedience. But did the people hearken to Him? Did the leaders submit and bring Him the fruit that was due unto His Father? Far from it. But with bitterness and hatred in their hearts, with deliberate and conscious sin, they cast him out of the vineyard, they take him outside the city of Jerusalem, and they crucify him. And they even call his blood upon themselves and upon their children. His blood be upon us and our children. They whip him, they treat him shamefully, they shamefully handle him, they force him outside the city, and they nail him to a tree. and murder Him. This was the worst thing that anyone has ever done. The murder of God's infinitely perfect Son. But you see this was but the culmination of what had been happening for centuries. In a very real way we can say that the slaughter of the prophets in the Old Testament was the slaughter of Jesus Christ already then in the Old Testament because Christ was represented by those prophets. And now Christ the Son has come and instead of showing him reverence they plot his death. And remember how it went. They plot his death thinking that somehow they would inherit the vineyard if he were dead. This is how it's put in John chapter 11. John 11 verses 47 and 48. And then that's when the leader stands up and says, don't you know that one man should die for the nation? Instead of that, many die. But notice the concern that the leaders had. The Romans shall come and take away our place and our nation. These people wanted an earthly kingdom. And you see, that's why they killed Jesus. They wanted to be the owners of the vineyard. They wanted to keep their place. They wanted their own little earthly kingdom. This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and let us seize on his inheritance. Let us seize on the inheritance of the Lord. And you know what? By nature, that's the same with you and me as well. By nature. By nature, we are all wicked husband men who are all trying to pursue our own earthly kingdom here on earth in opposition to the kingdom of God. By nature, we're no different. By nature, we're even tempted to usurp authority over the church, take authority to ourselves in the church so that the church and the people serve us. And my word becomes the law and they follow us. And we are tempted to seize on the inheritance of the Lord. Leaders in the church do that. Leaders in the church do that. We do that with our children. These covenant children who belong to the Lord, let me use these children for my interests, for my advancement rather than the glory of God. They can do work for me. They can make me look good. rather than directing them to the glory of God. Let me seize upon the inheritance of the Lord. Even with our own selves, we can do this. Let me press my body and soul into the service of sin rather than bringing forth fruit to the Lord's glory. You see, it's who we are by nature. But you see, that's also why Jesus, the son of the owner, came to the earth. That's also why the owner of the vineyard sent his well-beloved son to save us, to save his people. You know, when we read this parable, we might say, no, what is the owner doing? What is the owner thinking? Doesn't he know what's going to happen to his son? This is like the worst thing you could do. You should know better. The husbandmen are going to kill your son. And you know what the answer to those questions is? The answer is, the owner didn't just know that the husband men would kill his son. He ordained that they would kill his well-beloved son. And you know what the reality is? The son himself knew it too. The son knew that he was sent on a mission that would result in his death. You see, in this very parable, Jesus is talking about these things. He's talking about himself. He knows what's going to happen by the end of the week. And yet, what does he do? He goes, he continues, and he does the work that his father gave him to do. What does Jesus say already at the early part of his earthly ministry? He says, and as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. He already knew it early on. Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. The Son came, and the Son knew He came to die. But He didn't just come in order to die, He came in order to save. He came in order to save God's precious people, and He came in order that He might redeem God's vineyard, that His people might have life, and that His people might bring forth fruit to the glory of the householder. It was the Father who brought the Son to the cross. and sent Him to the sufferings of the cross to establish through the blood of the cross the kingdom of righteousness and truth of which you and I are now made citizens. And God uses the wicked designs of the wicked to accomplish His sovereign purposes. Jesus gives expression to all of this when He says in verse 42, Verse 42, Jesus saith unto them, did ye never read in the Scriptures the stone which the builders rejected the same has become the head of the corner? This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. That might seem as an abrupt change. Jesus suddenly starts talking now about a stone. But the point here is to show the proud Pharisees that even their own Scriptures prophesied of these very things that Jesus was talking about. The stone that the builders rejected has become the headstone of the corner. Or we could put it this way, this is what Jesus means, the son whom the husband men murder has become the Lord of all the vineyard. The son whom the husband men murder is become the Lord of all the vineyard. That's the idea. The son will be murdered, the husband men will murder him, but the end result is not that the husband men will take possession of the vineyard, but the end result is that the son himself will become Lord over the vineyard. And there will be a vineyard that brings forth fruit to the praise and pleasure of the householder. The owner will see to it that that's the end result. He will not be denied His purposes. This will be the end result because the Son will not just be murdered, but He will also rise again from the dead. He will rise again from the dead after the husbandmen have killed Him. And He will rise, not just rising, but He will rise as the victor over death and the grave through His perfect sacrifice. And through His death and resurrection, He becomes the cornerstone upon which the glorious temple of the Lord is built. And even though you and I were part of the rebellious mass of sinners, God has graciously made you and I living stones in the temple of God. As Peter puts it, 1 Peter 2 verses 4-6, Psalm 118, which Jesus is referring to here in Matthew 21, Ye also, as lively stones," or he could be referring to a passage from Isaiah as well, probably that. Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices, to bring forth fruit acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. Wherefore, also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded." And this is how God will fulfill His purposes, through the death of the Son of the Owner. And this is how God will fulfill the Old Testament Scriptures, the very same Scriptures that the Pharisees and the elders claimed to believe And yet the very same Scriptures that they will fulfill by their own act of rejecting and murdering the Messiah, the Son of the Owner. And whose doing is this? Is this the husbandmen's doing? No. God used them, to be sure. But what does the passage say? This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes and it is marvelous to be sure, a wonder of God's grace, that the owner should send forth his son to die for anyone. But the parable isn't over. Jesus speaks about Himself and then He brings a strong word of warning to the wicked leaders of Israel. He speaks of judgment upon the husbandmen. In Matthew 21, verse 40, we read, "'When the Lord thereof of the vineyard cometh, what will He do unto those husbandmen?' Verse 41, "'They say unto Him, he will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husband men, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. This reminds me right now of David. Remember, when Nathan the prophet comes to him, thou art the man. Well, this is Matthew's account. In Matthew's account, the people basically condemn themselves and their spiritual leaders. That's very striking. The people see the justice of the parable, and their own mouths condemn them. But let me also read to you the way that Luke puts it. And the way that Luke puts it, he puts it somewhat differently, and it's very striking. Luke 20, starting at verse 15. It might even be profitable to turn there. Luke 20, starting at verse 15. So we're entering halfway through the parable. Luke 20, verse 15. Let's start at verse 14. What therefore shall the Lord of the vineyard do unto them? And now here in Luke's account, Jesus answers the question himself. The people don't answer the question, Jesus does. Verse 16, he shall come and destroy these husband men and shall give the vineyard to others. And then notice what comes next. We read, and when they heard it, they said, God forbid. God forbid. And what they meant was this. God forbid that God should take the vineyard away from the Jews and give it to the Gentiles. because that's what Jesus is going to go on to say next. If you go back to Matthew 21, verse 43, therefore say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof, namely the Gentiles, who by God's grace will be brought into the kingdom and bring forth fruits to the praise of God. And how do these people respond? God forbid. You see, these people listening to this parable, they're not concerned about the death of the son of the householder. That's not what takes their breath away, but they're concerned more that they would lose their place of leadership in the church. These people were not concerned at all with the person work of Jesus Christ, but only with the importance of their own position in their religious community. And that's exactly when Jesus quotes from Psalm 118, the stone which the builders refused, the leaders refused, has become the headstone of the corner. And Jesus says, your own scriptures prophesy it, your own scriptures prophesy it. But the people are blinded by their own pride because they know they're the leaders, they're the educated, they're the scribes. And what do we read? And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them. But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude because they took him for a prophet. By the end of the week, they will lay their hands on him and they will take him out of the vineyard and murder him. But what would be the end of these husband men? They would be destroyed. Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. Because that's what the owner is concerned about. He wants his glory. He wants the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall on this stone, and whomsoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. That's what happens to those who reject Christ, who do not believe in Christ, and refuse to give him the fruit that is owed him. As Isaiah says, Jesus is the stone of stumbling and the rock of offense. And for those who stumble over Jesus and reject him, Jesus becomes a stone that falls upon them and that crushes them to powder. See, Jesus is both the precious stone of salvation, he is our solid rock, and he's also the crushing stone of judgment. What a word of warning. It's a terrible thing for men to be in the kingdom, so to speak. To be in the kingdom and not bring forth the fruits of righteousness and the fruits of righteousness and truth. Such people will be beaten with double stripes. Sodom and Gomorrah will rise up in the judgment and condemn them. And we who stand must beware lest we boast in ourselves and fall. That's why you always need to be humble. Do not stumble over the stone, but believe in God's beloved Son and give Him the fruit that He is worthy of. It's a word of warning. But for us in Christ, it's also a word of comfort. God will establish his kingdom. The vineyard isn't left to these wicked husband men. God will receive the glory, he will rule as king, and he will save his people. And to do so, he will not spare his own son, but he freely gives him to die in the place of his people that they might have eternal life. The stone which the builders refused has become the headstone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. May our lives be in harmony with what was just been said. It is marvelous in our eyes. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, It is of thy grace alone that we are kept as thy people. We pray, give us thy spirit. Hear our prayer. Give us thy spirit that we might bring forth fruits to thy name's glory and honor. Fruits of obedience, a thankful heart, being a people zealous of good works, maintaining good works, that in that way, to us and to our children, we might continue to be a vineyard well-kept of the Lord, bringing forth fruit to the pleasure and delight of the Master. Use this preaching for our good, O Lord, and strengthen us in our faith by it. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.