We are in Matthew chapter 21. Children who attend children's church, you can go meet in the back corner and you will be brought back before the service is over. So we are in Matthew chapter 21 in our ongoing study through the gospel of Matthew. So Matthew chapter 21, we're gonna pick up at verse 23 and read through the end of the chapter. So Matthew 21 verses 23 to 46. This is God's holy word. And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching and said, by what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority? Jesus answered them, I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man? And they discussed it among themselves, saying, if we say from heaven, he will say to us, why then you do not believe in him? But if we say from man, we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet. So they answered Jesus, we do not know. And he said to them, neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things. What do you think? A man had two sons, and he went to the first and said, son, go and work in the vineyard today. And he answered, I will not. But afterward, he changed his mind and he went. And he went to the other son and said the same, and he answered, I go, sir, but did not go. Which of the two did the will of the father? They said, the first. Jesus said to them, truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your mind and believe him. Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants and went into another country. When the season for fruit draw near, He sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servant and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again, he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did the same to them. Finally, he sent his son to them, saying, they will respect my son. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance. And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? They said to him, he will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give them the fruit in their season. Jesus said to them, have you not read in the scriptures, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone? This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruit, and the one who falls on the stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them, and although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet. Let's pray. Father, as we come before you and as we consider consistent rejection amongst your people in the story of you. Lord, I pray that you would give us divine light. I pray that we would be people that are good stewards with the message that we have, that we would never reject Christ, that we would live lives that honor him in all that we do. We pray for anybody here who's coming in this morning who does not know you that this might be the day, this might be the hour, this might be the time where your Holy Spirit gives them new life in Christ. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. All right, here is a humbling question. Have you ever been rejected? Have you ever been turned down by someone? Have you ever rejected someone or something? How did you feel? How did it go? You ever had to say a no, thank you, I'll pass. I think if we're being candid with one another, life is filled with rejections. Just is. It's the world. We live in, I'll be stereotypical, but typically speaking, men are asking women out on dates, and not every time normally does the guy always get a yes. I mean, I'm gonna blow your mind, I was rejected a couple times. I know that's a tough one, I'm being honest. Even me, I was rejected a couple times. How about jobs? You didn't get the job. Maybe you were in a position where you had to hire somebody, and you had legitimate, good, qualified candidates. You only had one position, and you had five or six candidates. Five of the people out of the six did not get the job and you had to have that awkward, I really am glad you applied but we're gonna go in a different direction. Maybe it's applying to a college you wanted to go to and you don't get in or you got into the college but you applied for that scholarship that you really needed and they went with somebody else. I know my brother right now has been looking for a house And every offer that they've made so far, they keep getting rejected. So they think this is gonna be the one, and then they make the offer, and somebody else wins out. You see, rejection is difficult, but like I said, it's par for the course. We get rejected, we do reject. But at least as I look at my life, 48 years in, often rejection works out. whether I was doing the rejecting or I was rejected, it's kind of the open and closed doors of God's life and providence, working through us, getting us where we need to be, that a lot of times you don't dwell too much on those what coulda, woulda, shoulda, bends, and you live with the reality of where you are. But there is a rejection that matters more than any other rejection. There is a rejecting that has eternal significance, and one that doesn't ever work out. One that can't work out, there's no getting over it, and that rejection is rejecting Jesus Christ. And that's really at the heart of today's passage, Jesus' words specifically to the Pharisees, but definitely relevant and applicable to every single one of us. in this room where they should have been embracing and believing in Jesus, but they continued to reject him in spite of all the reasons contrary. So if you're a note taker, we're going to look at two forms of rejection that we see in today's passage. We're going to begin, we're going to see a rejection of his authority. We're going to see that very early on in the passage. They had a very difficult time with Jesus and who he says he was, who he came from. The authority he had not only to do what he did, but the authority he had that they really needed to submit and bow down to. So we're going to kind of unpack that rejection. And then secondly, we're going to see a rejection of his accountability. And he's going to be pretty harsh and pretty heavy handed and rightfully so towards the Jews for their lack of stewardship of the amazing blessings, the amazing privileges that God had lavished upon them as his chosen people. and yet they still reject Jesus. So we're gonna see those two forms of rejection. So let's get started as we pick up at the beginning of verse 23, and as we see a rejection of his authority. Now, if you remember last week, we saw Jesus, kind of a lifelike parable with the withering fig tree that he cursed. He cursed it so it became withering. And we saw that at the end of the day, that story was rebuke on the unfaithfulness of the Jews, that they had all their leaves, right? But when you peeled behind the leaves, what did you see? No fruit, no figs. And that was an evidence of really what was going on with the Jewish religious establishment. So this week, he continues down that same path of really rebuking the Jewish leader specifically, and he stresses the rejection and unbelief of him. First of all, let's ask the question, though, what is the issue here? What is their issue? Read verse 23 with me. It says, And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said, By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority? You see, the question that they're asking is not inherently wrong. if their motive, if their intent was good. It's good to know who's in charge, right? It's good to know where authority lies. You and I do not answer to everybody the same way, correct? So you're at school, kids, we'll say the high schoolers here, you're at school and you do something maybe stupid and one of your classmates says you're suspended. Are you gonna go pack up your bag, walk out the door, they're like, where are you going? I got suspended by who? One of my classmates. Like, do you have the authority as a junior in high school to suspend people? You don't. Like, it's an important thing. Same with your work. Let's say you're at work this week, and somebody who's a lower-level employee just doesn't like you, and they come up to you and say, hey, by the way, I'm firing you. You're going to look at them like, yeah, nice try. You don't have that authority. But if a person in authority comes and says and does those things, there's a different response because they have the power. They have the ability. And really, that's the tension here for the Pharisees. They're like, is this Jesus? Is he really from God? Is he really God? Does he really have the authority? Because if he has the authority, There's an obligation, there's a duty on our part to respond to that authority. So Jesus answers them and says, I'm gonna ask you a question and tell you, and I'll tell you the answer, but then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. And then he asked them a question, the baptism of John, where did it come from? And they said, from heaven or from man, and they discussed it and they said, well, if we say from heaven, what's the problem? then why are you not believing in John? If we say for man, people are gonna flip out because ultimately they revere and esteem John. But it's not the first time they've demanded this kind of authority question. Luke 5, 21, the scribes and the Pharisees began to question Jesus, and this was after he said he could forgive sin. Who is this who speaks blasphemies, who can forgive sins but God alone? You see, and I think at the end of the day, the answer to the question, they were not asking the, they didn't want the answer. Do you understand? I think they wanted one of two things. They wanted an excuse to not follow Jesus. Like if he would have just simply said, hey, I'm not from God. Sweet, now we can ignore this crazy heretic. Mark 8, 11, the Pharisees came, began to argue with him, seeking from a sign from heaven to test him. And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation. And as we looked even elsewhere in Matthew with that, there has been a sign given, right? And it's all the things that Jesus had done. And he gave them so many reasons to believe. But I think the other thing they're hoping for is further reason to accuse him of what? Blasphemy. I think that's the key. They want him to say, yeah, I'm from God, and they'll be like, you can't do that. You can't claim that. There's no way to prove it. We don't believe you. This is blasphemy. Nobody can speak like they're from God unless it's God. So 1 Corinthians 1.24, it says, but notice Jesus' response, how it's his wisdom. Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God, for the foolishness of God is wiser than man, and the weakness of God is stronger than man. I think one of the points we do need to make as we consider this passage right here is Jesus doesn't answer to man. He doesn't have to submit. He doesn't have to bow down to them. If anything, I think he's overly gracious and patient with man, as we'll see even in the parable. Well, do you believe this? Do you believe that Jesus is who He says He is? Do you look for excuses to not follow Him? Do you see the perfect wisdom of our Savior? So that's the issue. We asked what is the issue. What's His instruction? What is His instruction? Read verse 28 with me. He tells them a parable. This is the first of two parables we're going to look at this morning. What do you think? A man had two sons. He went to the first and said, son, go and work in the vineyard today. And he answered, I will not. But afterward, he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said to the same, and he answered, I go, sir, but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father? They said, the first, Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes, they go into the kingdom of God before you, for John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him, and even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your mind and believe him. So the one son has a change of heart. I think it's a fair request on the part of the father. He's got two kids to help work the vineyard that apparently he owned and dug. And we don't know how old the father is, but let's assume he's old enough that he's not able to do as much of the physical labor as his two younger, more vibrant sons. So he asked them, hey, I need you to go do the work on the farm. So not a crazy question to ask. Imagine this at your own house. You have multiple kids and you ask your teenage son to go mow the lawn and clean up the yard. It's a beautiful day today. I need that to do. And they look at you and they say, that's not going to work for me. I kind of got plans. This weekend, I'm watching the Masters. It's on TV. And then after that, I'm going to hang out with my buddies, maybe some other time. But right now, it's just not going to work. Now, initially, as a parent, I'm going to be a little frustrated and perturbed by the response, as if I was asking. It was more like a, go do it. But just for the sake of our discussion here, we kind of roll with it and say, OK. All right. Whenever it works out for you, son, you let me know, I'll have my people talk to your people, we'll coordinate. And then a couple hours later, you walk into the kitchen, you look out the backyard, and lo and behold, your son's out there, he's out there mowing. So you don't know why, maybe he had to change a heart of conviction, he's like, you know what, dad was really nice asking me, or mom was asking me, I should just go do it. So he goes out, he does it, he said he wasn't gonna do it, but he ends up doing it. That's kind of what goes on with this son. They start in the wrong direction, but they correct their course. And he says that's the tax collectors and prostitutes. They're living in a life of sin and rebellion. John the Baptist comes along, preaches his message of repentance and turning towards the coming Messiah, and they change. They say, you know what? We were going wrong. But now, like, there's an opportunity for change and forgiveness and repentance. And we got to remember the tax collectors and the prostitutes, this is the bottom of the barrel as far as the social structure at the time. Luke 18, 11, that's why the Pharisee standing by himself prayed, God, I thank you that I am not like the other men, like extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. And that's the irony of this parable It's that person is the one that is ushered into the kingdom because they hear the message and they turn and they repent. They believe. Acts 19.14, Paul says, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who is to come after him, that is Jesus. And friends, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ today, this is your story. This is your testimony. This is your celebration that you were going down the wrong path. You weren't born into your faith. Maybe you grew up in a Christian home. That's a difference. But you were living in sin at some point, and you were rebellious, and you were far from God. And at some point, God opened up your eyes, and you saw, and you believed, and you turned to Jesus. So you said no at first. But then you said yes and ended up obedient. And you received his grace and mercy. I think the good news in this part of the parable, it's never too late until it's too late. Some of us might reject him for a long period of time and then finally God opens up your heart and your mind and you believe. But there will be a point, as we're gonna see later in the passage, where it's going to be too late. But notice also that he's embracing repentant sinners. Well, are you the son today? Are you following Jesus? Are you unworthy like the tax collectors and prostitutes? And you are just in amazement that I am amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. Is that you? But then there's another son. And the other son doesn't have a change of heart. The other son has a calloused heart. He appears heading in the right direction in the beginning, seeking to obey the father in the beginning, but he doesn't follow through on it. So similar home chores. So you have the one son that you're asking to do the yard, the other son, you're going to have him do all the dishes, sweep the inside of the house and clean up his room. He looks at you eagerly and willingly. Yes, father. Yes, mother. I got this. No problem. I will do it. All right, sweet. Well, I'm going to be leaving. I'll be coming home later. You come home and everything looks identical. You go into the kitchen, same dish. Actually, let's be real, it's worse. Because where you started, it added on the day's dishes and the day's clothes. And you look at them and you go say, hey, did you do the work? No. Did you tell me you were going to do it? Yeah. So just to recap, you said you were gonna do this, you didn't do it at all, correct. Little frustrated? That is the juice. They were given the word, and we're gonna look a little bit later of all the privileges and everything, they talked a good game, but very little action. John 1 11, he came to his own and his own people did not receive him. There's no repentance. As we saw last week, they're fig-less, there's no fruit. It's really at the heart of what James speaks of with faith without works. There should have been action, there should have been tangible fruit in the lives of the Jews. They said they were gonna be God's people, they said they were gonna be obedient, and history tells otherwise, especially as you look throughout the Old Testament. Just consistent unfaithfulness. Why are you that son? You talk a good game, you pray to prayer on a Sunday at church or at a revival or at some retreat or some conference, but there is no action, no evidence, no walking with Jesus, a lot of show, no fruit. Is that you? Because that was the juice. So we see this rejection of authority. We see their issue, we see his instruction. But now let's look at the next parable, the rejection of his accountability. Jesus not only points out their lack of change, he underscores their willful rejection in certain condemnation. Let's read at verse 33. First of all, they have so much privilege. They have so much privilege. Here another parable, there was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and he put a fence around it, he dug a wine press in it, he built a tower and leased it to its tenants and went into another country. First of all, the blessing of being a tenant, this was not wasted and untilled land like all the other land around it. They got privy opportunity to be a part of this land that was soiled and conditioned to bear fruit. And it seems like he, in some way, there was some deal where they had to help with the cultivation of the land, but they would receive fruit from it. They would just have to, there was a small price to pay. They had to give some of it back to the person who was the owner, the master. I mean, imagine this, because you'll see it, especially if there's a particular intersection, Reynolds and Heather Downs. I always see this gentleman, I've never had the opportunity to talk to him, maybe I should at some point, just pull over and have this conversation. He's always begging at that intersection. He's not only begging, he's always got a dog there. And it would be like taking him, and providing him a place to stay and providing him a job. Like, hey, we have a farm. I don't have a farm. But let's say for the sake of our argument, I have a farm. You're going to come live on the extra guest house or farm, and you need to help do the work, you and the dog. I don't know what the dog's going to do, but maybe it's like, Last year, it's a special dog. So whatever is going to do that, and the only thing he has to do is when it's harvest time, you're going to be able to eat and enjoy some of it, but you're going to also, obviously, we get a lot of the produce in that. I mean, it's like that. That's how privileged God's people are and were. Isaiah 5-7. The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting. God took such special care with the Israelites. Deuteronomy 7, 6, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the people who are on the face of the earth. He didn't pick the Canaanites. He didn't pick the Egyptians. No, it was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all people, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers. And in that privilege, God revealed himself through the scriptures. They had the Old Testament scriptures at this point. He spoke to them through the law. He actually protected and provided for them in the wilderness wanderings. They had water from rocks, manna from heaven. They reject him as king, so he gives them a king. I mean, he gives them the temple where you can see the visible presence of God worshiping among his people. He made all these covenantal promises that ultimately find fulfillment in a Messiah and Savior. He protects them, he cares for them, and all they had to do was be obedient. All they had to do is be faithful. But is it much different for us? Are we privileged? As followers of Jesus Christ, you could actually argue, and I don't know if this is like one of those comparing apples to oranges, I would say we maybe are more privileged. Because we're this side of the cross. We don't have just the Old Testament, we got the Old and New, we got the full word of God. And I would even argue in our country, God in his grace, he's placed us in a country where we have a whole lot more freedom. And I know there's concerns and worries about where we're going as a country, and this is not the time or place to bunny trail off of that. But man, we are greatly privileged, not only in our freedoms, but in our prosperity. And I think we need to be mindful of that. We're gonna have to give an account to our faithfulness with with where God has placed us. And we have tender mercies new every morning. We have the Holy Spirit working in our lives. God is mindful of us, Romans 12.1, in view of his mercies, we present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Well, do you see how privileged we are as a follower of Jesus? Are you aware of how blessed you are? I mean, I think it's difficult sometimes. I'll speak for myself. I can sometimes allow my circumstances to blind me of how blessed I am. We're going through a tough season as a family. I'll just leave it at that. Basement flooded last week. I've had two cars totaled in the last three months. Buried my father-in-law in the fall. It's just been... It's like one thing after another, and I have to remind myself, and maybe you're in the same situation, different circumstances but similar. I have to condition myself, I have to preach the gospel to myself to realize though these circumstances are not ideal from my point of view, God is working all things for my good. I'm considering, and it's so hard to consider things pure joy. Doesn't feel like joy, like this is not, joy to me is like eating some really good food or going to some fun event, not going through misery. But I also realize in the grand scheme what is true and what is biblical and what is right is that God has blessed me beyond measure. I mean, I remember this one kid I went to college with, when you'd ask him how he's doing, he would always say, better than I deserve. And like, isn't that true? I mean, everybody here, and we've got some people who are in some low circumstances at the same time, and I don't want to diminish the pain and suffering you're going through, but at the end of the day, we're doing better than we deserve. We're doing better than we deserve. So we see the blessing of the tenants, but then it shifts really fast. Let's look at the brutality of the tenants. Verse 34, when the season For fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenant took his servants and beat one, killed another, stoned another. Again, he sent other servants more than the first, and they did the same to them. Finally, he sent his son to them. They will respect my son. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance. And they took him, and they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When, therefore, the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? So here's the wild thing. It's not simply that they reject the demands of the master. Wouldn't it have been just easier when they come, they say, hey, by the way, we're not giving up anything. Sorry, not happening. Send him, maybe we'll have that conversation, but we're not. No, that's not what happened. They could have done that. No, they take it a step further. I mean, it was a couple weeks ago, I don't know all the details, but a high school boy was stabbed by another high school boy at a track meet. Now there's arguments of self-defense and stuff, and I don't know any of the details, but that is our culture, the senseless violence. Somebody cuts you off next thing you know, somebody shoots somebody over road rage. I mean, that's just the craziness, or hey, it'd be fun to push somebody, it seems like every week in New York at the subway, somebody just randomly pushes somebody in front of a subway car. I mean, just senseless violence, and that is the wickedness of the human heart we see in this parable. They just kill one person after another. It's what Galatians 5 warns, 519, the works of the flesh are evident. Immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of rage, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you as I warned you before, those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But in the midst of all this brutality, What strikes me is the patience of the master. I don't know, as I'm reading this, when my first servant was killed, oh, I'm coming. First servant, you did what? There is going to be a power play immediately, and yet he is They're impatient, they hurt and kill multiple of his servants. He keeps giving them chances to do what? To do the right thing, to repent, to give him the fruit that is warranted and deserved to him. But then when the sun comes and they kill him, it's too much. And isn't that what is going to happen in this story in a matter of chapters? because they've rejected so many. Luke 16, 31. We need to understand the history of Israel. Luke 16, 31. If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. The constant idolatry. I mean, Moses is up on the mountain and what do they do? Hey, we should make a golden calf and worship it. That's what they did, they constantly followed after other gods, they didn't listen. So much so that Jesus had a prophet come and marry a prostitute who was going to be habitually unfaithful to him to prove a point. Just as Hosea and Gomer, that's kind of me with you people, you consistently are unfaithful. Jeremiah 26 five, if you will not listen to me to walk in my laws that I have set before me and to listen to the words of my servants, the prophets who I've sent to you urgently though you have not listened. And indeed they're gonna kill, not the son in the parable, they're gonna kill the son of God in a matter of chapters. And they do it willingly. Understand that. The crucifixion of Christ was not an accident. It was not a mistake on their part in the sense of how you and I define mistakes. It was willful rebellion because they refused to submit to the authority of the Son. Well, do you see the wickedness of the human heart? How unworthy sinners are of saving? Also, do you see, though, God's patience and slowness, allowing time to repent? And think of your own life. Was God patient with you? Is God patient with you? There's so much privilege, but they're also, they will have sure punishment. Read verse 41. They said to him, he will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons. And the one, goes on to verse 44, and the one who falls on the stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him. When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds because they held him to be a prophet. Notice there is going to be judgment for some. Jesus is warning the Pharisees concerning their rejection that there will be consequences, that there will be condemnation. And even they perceived that he was speaking about them. Ouch, right? We've had so much construction in our area over the last couple years that I've seen multiple signs that will say caution, warning, slow down. If you get in an accident in a construction area, you do not get the same level of punishment. It is intensified. So you end up hitting one of those workers that's working on the side. Like you're not going to just get the normal vehicular manslaughter or whatever. It's going to be more intensified. You're going to pay greater fines. And the reason why they're doing that is why those signs. So you'll take heed to the danger, to the warning that this is serious. This is not gonna be a speeding ticket. You're gonna be going to federal penitentiary. You're gonna go to prison and probably for years if you make a mistake there, so be careful in what you're doing. Well, this is a way bigger warning Jesus is giving here. This is you reject. Wrath is a coming. Psalm 2, O kings, be wise, be warned. O rulers of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. I don't believe there is a matter in all. So what are your greatest fears? Spiders. I mean, all these heights. I mean, some of those fears are like legit fears, but to be honest with you, there is not a greater fear, there shouldn't be, a greater fear in all of this world than rejecting Jesus Christ and what the consequences are going to be for that. 1 John 5, 11, this is the testimony. God gave us the eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has the life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. Do you believe that? Do you believe that God's gonna judge people? Do you believe there is a hell? Because I think sometimes if we're really kind of introspective and looking at our life, I don't think a lot of us live like there's a real hell. Because if there's a real hell, we'd probably talk to people more about Jesus. Because there's a whole lot of people that don't know Jesus. And just a simple math of that, those people that don't know Jesus, if they die, are going to go to that hell that we don't really believe that much about. Because it doesn't seem to penetrate our thoughts, our minds. You understand that, that this is real, and there is going to be a point where God's patience is going to run out, and it's going to be too late. There will be a reckoning. So we see not only judgment for some, there's joy for others though. Jesus in verse 42 says, Jesus is a quote in Psalm 118 verses 22 to 23. And what he's saying is you law experts, you know the law, right? You know the Psalms. You know Psalm 118? Or had you quickly forgotten? Because I am that cornerstone is what Jesus is saying. Why is a cornerstone important? It's an important, because it's the first stone laid, it sets the building's layout and structure. I remember my dad's here, he is a bricklayer, and I used to help him in the summer. And I remember a couple times we went and took lunch and came back and walls were tumbling down. So I never did any, I was just a grunt. But like somebody did not put a good cornerstone in. They didn't lay a good, and the next thing you know, concrete, or the next morning, Okay, you understand? You understand the significance of a cornerstone? And friends, we have that cornerstone. Who's the cornerstone? Jesus. He is the cornerstone. The church is built on. The church universal, local church, covenant. The moment you feel like we're not building the church on Jesus here, I warn you, please leave. Because you shouldn't be here. The moment our leadership is not building the church on Jesus, you need to be confronting us. You understand? Because that's what the church is about. But it's not just the cornerstone. Look at the celebration here. He's going to take from those that are rejected and he is going to give the kingdom to another people. Once again, that's us. That's us, Romans 11. So I ask this, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means, rather through their trespass salvation, it's come to the Gentiles so as to make Israel jealous. Now if trespass means riches for the world and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion be? But in the midst of all of that, the point I wanna make is the joy of those who have the kingdom. And if you're a believer today, you have that joy. that he has sought you in and brought you in to his kingdom. As Galatians 3 says, we were baptized into Christ and put on Christ. So there's neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ. And if you are in Christ, you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise. Or are you building your life on the cornerstone? You have joy that you are included in the promises of this kingdom. As I mentioned earlier, I think rejecting things can be a good thing. I mean, passing on a job or promotion only to end up with a job that's better suited for you down the road, you can look back in hindsight and say, man, that was wise, that worked well. Passing on drugs, always a good thing. Passing on bad financial decisions, or maybe you were gonna do something and then you ended up pausing and saying, I don't think it's the right, I had an opportunity to buy a car a week ago and just did not feel settled on it. And the more I think about it, I'm just so grateful I did not buy this vehicle. Maybe rejecting a person or ending a relationship where, before it led to marriage, and you're like, I don't know if this is the right person Probably a good rejection, right? Maybe rejecting opportunities to purchase products, houses, not going to a certain college, all those ways. I think those decisions often are lessons learned, right? Wisdom in action, character building. Sometimes we make rejections that were wrong decisions, but we learn from those wrong decisions, and we don't make the same decision. Should have done it differently, but that's a mute point. That's in the past, can't change the past. At the end of the day, God used those rejecting moments by us to get us where we needed to be. He opened and closed doors so you could carry out his will and purpose in your life. So like I said, rejection and rejecting can be a really good thing, but there is not any good that comes from rejecting Jesus. It has eternal significance. and there's not a second chance. It's when we reject Jesus is when ultimately. we are left with wrath and condemnation. It's a rejection you don't want to make. So like my hope and prayer is if anybody is here this morning rejecting Jesus Christ, do not leave here today continuing on in that rejection because you don't know how long your life is. You might not make it till tomorrow. You might not make it till this afternoon. So today is the day that the Lord has made Let us rejoice and be glad in it, but the only way you can rejoice and be glad in it is if you turn to Jesus. Don't expect that you're gonna get more and more opportunities to change your mind. So maybe today be the day that you accept him. Let's pray. Father, we come before you. I do pray if there's anybody in our midst that is currently in a position of opposition to you, who is outside of your covenant family, who does not know your Son as Savior and Lord, I pray, God, that you would ultimately open up their eyes, open up their ears, and open up their hearts, that, God, you would make it very clear for them to trust and to believe in you, and I pray that this would be the beginning of their life and that we would see over the remainder of their life, fruit and evidence of your saving work. And I pray for those here who do know you, Lord, that we would be good stewards of the blessed privilege that we find ourselves in, that we'd be passionate for lost people, and that we would find joy and satisfaction and celebration, not in our circumstances, but in our relationship with you. We ask this in Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand.