Now as you might know I have been teaching sequentially through the Gospel according to Matthew. And we find ourselves on page 816 if you are looking at a pew Bible, or if you make use of an ESV, a thin line Bible. Otherwise it is Matthew chapter 10 that we just adopt to children. I'd be happy to have them. I, if you know me, I, if you know me, I just absolutely love kids, but I like them before the preteen years. After that, you can go away. But there's just something so special about, I get emotional because I, man, I love my kids so much and I've had, I had the blessing. I have the blessing. of having children who were well behaved. They weren't a lot of trouble. I just have the greatest memories. I just miss them. I miss them when they were little kids. And I don't know, I better not. And so that's why it's such a blessing to work at this school, because kids are so teachable, and there's such an innocence to them. But I already know Hispanic moms, okay? They're just different. You know? White people, we're multicultural. Look, tell me I'm wrong. You compliment somebody about their kids that's not Mexican or Hispanic. Oh, your kids are so wonderful. And they say, oh, thank you so much. Praise God. But you tell a Mexican mom, man, your kid is such a good kid. No lo conoces. You don't know him. That's the thing about Mexican moms. They'll make sure that if somebody compliments, They'll shoot that down real quick. But in your absence, they'll praise you. Ay, mijo, es tan bueno, mijo. But they'll never tell you to your face. Tell me I'm wrong, Jeanette. I'm just kidding. I mean, if there wasn't been Mexican moms on the day of Jesus, let the little children come to me. Ah, no, nos conoces, right? Because Jesus, he was Hispanic, right? I mean, Jesus, right? Okay, let's get serious. Now I want to give you the context. This is Matthew Chapter 10. And I want you just to remind you, as I always do, there are originally no chapters in the Bible. There are no verses. So when you are reading through a New Testament, or any book for that matter, in the Bible know that you should see it as a continual flow. And don't let, don't let the chapters create this division in your mind as if chapters are not connected to one another. So let me connect them for you. OK, let me connect them for you. If you look at your Bible on Matthew 10 and you look before you're going to find that we find Jesus engaged in the work of the ministry up until this point. He is preaching, and He is healing people. He is dealing with the opposition of the religious leaders. And what happens in verse 35 of Matthew chapter 9 it says, And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every affliction. When He saw the crowds, He He had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to the disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. The point is that Jesus, even though He is God the Son, He, when He incarnated He took on all of the limitations of humanity. He never ceased to be God. So when we talk about Jesus becoming hungry, I hope you know that that is a reference to His humanity. Jesus gets hungry. He gets thirsty. He has to rest. He has to sleep. Everything that is true of us minus the sin aspect Jesus experienced all of that because He was in every sense of the word, He was a man, and continues to be a man even now. And yet simultaneously He is God the Son. So, during his earthly ministry he can only be at one place at one time. And you know he can only heal so many people. And so he is going to recruit men to set the foundation to what will eventually become the Church. And so the Church needs a foundation. If you are going to build you have to establish a foundation. And so he tells his disciples, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." We find out from the other Gospels that Jesus had been praying all night, and here's the end result. During that time of prayer he realizes that at this point in his earthly ministry he needs to officially promote the 12 men who are designated as disciples and promote them, which was the plan all along, and promote them to apostles. they get trapped because Jesus has more than just 12 disciples. He has women and men as disciples and I have my iPad open and like every 30 seconds it keeps shutting down on me. What did you do Andres? Just kidding. This is, don't mess with my, I'm just kidding, I'm still getting on him. I don't even know. Can you change it to where, ya estoy viejito, right? Come here. Welcome to small church, folks. Can you change the setting where it doesn't go to sleep on me every 30 seconds like church members? I didn't say, did I say that out loud? I did not mean to. Okay. Okay. Okay, you guys ready? All right. See, in other churches, when the pastor says, some of you need to wake up, they mean spiritually wake up. But when I say it here, it literally means wake up. So is this guy a comedian or a pastor? I'm sorry. It's my personality. My mom told me, quit joking around at church. They're not going to take you seriously. I said, mom, they don't already take me seriously. I'm just kidding. So let me just tell you about that, that Jesus did indeed have female disciples. There are so many things about the culture that we don't really appreciate. We're far removed from the culture of this time that certain passages to us they don't really seem scandalous. But for a Jewish Rabbi during the time of Jesus to directly teach women, have them in His company, and disciple them, no one does that. you really understood the culture during the time of Jesus, Jewish rabbis they are just, I mean I'm not even kidding if they are walking down the street and they see a woman on the same side they cross the street and walk on the other side. They just don't deal with women in terms of ministry and teaching them directly. I mean some of these things are just wild. Women were not even allowed to testify in court because their testimony wasn't even It wasn't considered credible. And so, women were in a really bad place. And all of that, it's not biblical in terms of God's will. It's the way that women are treated as a result of the Fall, ok? So, this idea that you have this man who is sort of domineering and treating women as if they are second class citizens, that's a result of the Fall. That is not something that God instructed. So the fact that he has women disciples is very radical for his time because what he started doing is he started restoring the role that God had for women from the very creation. Remember when God told Adam and Eve to both of them, they are both made in the image of God? Yes, there is a role that they each have. Adam is the lead and Eve is his partner. So there are distinct roles that are appropriate to each gender. And But they are both made in God's image and God tells both of them to be fruitful, to multiply, to have dominion. So they are together to rule the world each according to their gender and their roles. But the fall caused a break in the relationship and so now you have men who are domineering and then you have women who are, well it's Father's Day today so I'll just talk about the men. Because men are supposed to get abused on Father's Day, right? Verbally from the...anyways that's kind of a thing, I don't like to do that. So the fact that he had women disciples, was really something that was noteworthy and maybe if I could push it further it was sort of scandalous for him to be having women as disciples and teaching them because rabbis didn't do that. And so it was very radical. Jesus is very counter-cultural. Here's a hard saying in the Roman world and at that time Paul gets it from Jesus because both Peter and Paul, they learned from Jesus. And here's what Paul instructed men to do. And this was absolutely radical. Okay, you ready for this? This is crazy. You're not going to believe this. He told men, husbands, love your wives. Now when you hear that, you're like, duh. But that's because you've grown up in the United States, you've grown up with Judeo-Christian values, and that's something that is common knowledge. Husbands are supposed to love their wives. There's nothing radical about that, because that's what you should do. So why is it radical during the time of Jesus? Because husbands didn't treat women as equal partners. Okay, I'm not talking about 50-50. I'm talking about fellow image bearers and fellow heirs. In the Roman world, men were known for being highly immoral. They treated women as their personal property, and they didn't love them in a way that was appropriate. So when Paul says husbands, he's talking about monogamy, being faithful to one woman, which men in the Roman world, they didn't do that. They had other women, but they had the one at home, and sometimes they even had men. The Roman world was known for being highly, highly, being immoral. And so when they're told, when these men are told, to be monogamous and love their wives, it's something really radical because that's just something that they don't do. And what we mean by love, love them as Christ loved the church, which is a complete different standard. Now, but now we live in a culture where that's not really radical. Now the script is flipped over. Now something that is so basic in the Bible, our society now is so backwards and so upside down and so disordered and so gotten away from God that you say something as simple as what I'm about to tell you and now there's kicking and screaming and now we don't like it and that's not even, That's not fair. And we find all kinds of ways not to submit to this command. That would have been husbands love your wives in the Roman world. But what's the other command for wives today in the American culture where we've returned back to the immorality of Rome? where anything goes. Well, here it is. You ready to hear this? This is scandalous. Women, you're going to have a hard time with this. I'm just telling you. Ready? This is a hard saying. It's hard to swallow. Ready? Wives, be subject to your husbands. You love that verse, don't you? In our culture, now that's become radical. Wives, be subject to your own husbands so that here it is. Watch this. because I've heard women excuse themselves when their husband is an unbeliever. They assign themselves as the spiritual head of the family. Well, I get a pass because my husband is an unbeliever, but listen to what this says. Wives, be subject to your own husband so that even if some do not obey the word, that means they're an unbeliever. How are you gonna win him over that they may be won without a word? by the conduct of their wives when they see your respectful and pure conduct." Is that hard to obey? Wow, this place is silent right now. But is this the word of God or is it not? Wives, be subject to your own husbands so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be warned without a word by the conduct of their wives when they see your respectful. Are you respectful? Do you talk about your husband and his absence to other people? If you do that, you need to repent because you're one with him and you need to protect your marriage at all costs and that means how you speak of your spouse in his absence. My wife loves me. She talks bad about me to my face, right? Not to others. Because real friends, they stab you in the front, right? Not in the back. He says do not, and here's the radical one, ready? Let me tell you something, in my 20 years of ministry there are two things that people get upset about when you address it. To this day it hasn't gotten any better. There are two topics in Scripture that people they don't like it, they'll find a way to fight you, to oppose you, they'll excuse them when you talk about their money. Okay, that's one, which doesn't happen a lot here. And when a man so-called presumes to tell women how to dress. This is probably the most problematic verse I've received in my 20 years. Here it is. It's also in Timothy it says, a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious." So God is telling you what is precious in His sight. And let me tell you beauty is from God. Beauty is from God. So there is nothing with the external adorning. What this passage is talking about is that there is a way that the world will tell you to win over your husband and they are going to focus on externals. And But God is telling you that He wants you to win over your husband to the Lord. And that happens through your character. When you allow the Holy Spirit to shape your character so that you can represent God in the manner in which you relate to Him. And that's the inner person. Why do we have a problem with that? You see the radical? It's only seen as very radical because of the culture that we're in now. We have feminism and we have all kinds of sexual identity confusion. We have materialism. We have vanity. And so when you take a simple verse, it really upsets people because of the spirit of the age. So, anytime you say that Christianity is oppressive to women, people they don't know what they are talking about. Because if you look at these things in the ancient world Jesus is really restoring the relationship. But why are we talking about these things when we are supposed to be in Matthew? You started interrupting and causing trouble, right? But we are supposed to be in Matthew. I tell you this because God has a role for men and women and it started with Jesus restoring the created order. And And one of the very first things that he does is he opens the door for women to join him and becoming disciples because no one else did that. You know what else is crazy? Do you know when education exploded and it started becoming available to both men and women? Christianity did that because Jesus set the foundation for that. That's a whole other sermon. So a disciple is a learner, that's what that means. I have been asked what is the difference between a disciple or what is a disciple? A disciple all it means is a learner, it comes from the word discipline. A disciple is a student. Well if you are learning from Jesus what exactly are you learning? Well the Great Commission is to love God, to win souls and make disciples. So you win. So loving God means winning souls, making disciples. So it's not just a mere act. I've gotten frustrated before because, as you know, I teach all the time. I teach and I teach here. I teach in the school setting. But one of the most frustrating things and I just feel like a complete failure is when students are just taking in knowledge and you give them a test and they make good grades. but their conduct isn't lining up. I'm not supposed to just give you theological information. The whole purpose of learning God's Word is so that it shapes your character and transforms you as a person. And until that happens we're not making any disciples. And it's frustrating. But as Pastor Lynn has often reminded us that's really the work of God. But our task is to go at it in teaching the Word of God. And so here's what Jesus says about this relationship. for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. Okay, and he says a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. In what sense? That he has knowledge? No, that he lives and behaves like his teacher. Okay, so that's the entry level is disciple. Now I started talking about the fact that Jesus takes 12 men, Let me just let you know he doesn't pick women because that's not an appropriate office for them. And so I'm just going to let you know that that's not my thing. This is Jesus's choice. He picks 12 men. There's other messages as to why that is, but he picks 12 men. Now look at Matthew chapter 12. So after they prayed, it says in Matthew chapter 12, and he called to him his 12 disciples. Listen, and gave them authority. Who did He give authority to? To all the disciples or to only the twelve? Because if He has disciples, generally speaking, and He designates 12 and He gives them authority, is it not implicit that the rest don't have the authority that belongs to the Apostles? Now we're not saying that they're saved just a little bit more. This is not a salvation issue. This is an issue of their office and their role in the body of Christ. Notice that it's a fixed number also. How many apostles are there? Twelve, not thirteen, not fourteen, fifteen, there's twelve. Now what comes with this authority? It says here very simply, and He gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every disease and every affliction. then we have the names of the Apostles. And then in verse 5 He gives them instructions and then He tells them how things are going to be. I won't read through all that, that will come in the next few weeks. And so why does Jesus pick these particular men? Now for that we'll have to turn to John chapter 17. Now, I want you to know that the Bible speaks of God choosing. It's also known as election. And let me just tell you, when God makes a choice like here, we're not ever really told, we're not ever really told why he chooses these. What is it about these men in particular that causes God to choose them? What is it that they bring to the table that caused God to choose them. Now I think that's already framing the question wrong. I think from a human perspective we can take a good guess, but ultimately, ultimately, ultimately the Bible doesn't ever really tell us. Now when you look at the disciples, they don't fit the mold of the religious leaders at the time. So you could at least say, well he made sure, you ever heard the saying, you can't teach an old dog new tricks? the general saying. It's not always true because in the case of the Apostle Paul he is a Pharisee of Pharisees, and that old dog learned new tricks. So, it's just a general saying. But what's the norm? The norm is that God likes to use nobodies. I don't mean to say it so harshly, but God likes to use nobodies. And You are, you and me both, brother. That is because that when a person is highly talented, highly educated, or good looking like myself, and tall, and rugged and handsome, okay, whatever. There is a tendency, pride. There will be a tendency within that person to swell up with a little bit of pride. and believe that God chose them because of something in them. And that whatever it is that they bring to the table, that's going to be the extra little ingredient that's going to be more effective in bringing people to Christ. And so that's why it's not common for God to save or use celebrities, okay? I'm not saying God doesn't love celebrities, but sometimes when a celebrity gets saved, they think it's their celebrity status that's gonna save people. It's the Holy Spirit, not their celebrity status, or their money, or their eloquence. And so the less you bring to the table, the more usable you are by God. Is that even a right way to say it? And so when one time I was down at the People's Teahouse some years ago, and I don't know if they still do it, but I used to buy shrimp off the boats. And there was an occasion when there was a man there, and I've told this story. And I went to go buy some shrimp, and this dude had leathery skin. He was an older man, but uh-huh. Oh, I thought you were talking to me. Whenever I'm up here talking, babe. Just kidding. That's a joke. Don't hit me. It's Father's Day. No que no. And I'm talking to this man, and he's got this beard, and it's kind of yellowish, and with a little bit of white. And you could tell this dude is on the shrimp boat with leathery skin. This is a rough individual. And I shook his hand, and it's like shaking sandpaper. I mean, I weight eat a lot, but I don't do enough to build that kind of callus. I remember one time I shook somebody's hand, and this dude, this man, he shook my hand, and he said, You have got one of the softest hands I've ever seen. And I thought he was complimenting me, but he wasn't. So then I went home and I cried. I went, babe, you think I'm manly, right? You don't get a lot of callous when you're flipping the page. But this dude had some callous hands, and he was strong and firm. And again, the sun had done a number on his skin, and he was rough. I mean, his speech was just rough. And he just wasn't a very sophisticated fella. And I'm not a firm believer, and I'm not one to say God told me or God spoke to me. But man, I tell you, when I was looking at him and interacting with him, I was thinking, this guy smells. Because he did. He smelled like fish. And that's not a jabber and insult. That just comes with the territory. When I go mow grass and I come in the house, my daughter wants to hug me. And I'm like, no, get away, because I smell like gas and oil and sweat. I mean, it's bad when you can smell yourself. So it's not a jab, it just comes with the territory. And there's a point to the story. I'm looking at this individual about how rough he is and all that, and the thought came to me, this is exactly the kind of person that Jesus chose to be his disciple. Because right across the street, there's banks and there's these tall buildings where there are men in suits, men in soft clothing, as the Bible calls them, sitting behind their desk. And when Jesus had a choice, he could go into the building, but he goes out to people's teaheads, and that's the kind of, so when Jesus at the beginning chooses disciples, they don't fit the mode, because, who do you think is harder to teach in the church? People who have been in the church their whole life, or people who are just brand new? Yeah, so Jesus starts with nobodies, people who aren't, you get the point. So in John chapter 17 when Jesus is getting ready to depart this world He prays for His disciples in particular. Listen to what He says which is fascinating because we know the track record of the disciples, I mean especially Peter, especially Peter. But listen to what Jesus says about them and it's good news for you. disciples had a great track record during the earthly ministry of Jesus? No. They would sin. They would say dumb things. They would act foolishly. They would sometimes be opposed to Christ thinking they were doing the right thing. When the children want to come to Jesus they are keeping them away and Jesus has to rebuke them. Let the little children come and And then when Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus Peter wants to build a tent for them and God has to tell Peter basically to be quiet and listen to Jesus. Peter's like, I'll never deny you. And I mean well that comes afterwards. And so they don't really have the best track record but listen to what Jesus says about them which is fascinating. When Jesus had spoken these words, this is John 17, verse 1. When Jesus had spoken these words, He lifted up His eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son that the Son may glorify You, since You have given Him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to all whom You have given Him. Hmm, you see that? this is eternal life, that they may know you, the one, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." Now God gave Jesus authority. You say, but wait a minute that doesn't make any sense because Jesus is the second member of the Trinity and He was with God the Father in eternity past. So in what sense is He giving Him authority? It refers to His humanity. Jesus incarnated into the world, lived as a man, and And then him being the seed of David, he gives him the throne of David that he might become the new Adam over a new humanity, usher in the new heavens and the new earth and be able to fulfill what Adam failed to do. But he does it as a man. So it's God gave him the authority. And so Jesus is the man who has all authority to give eternal life to all who trust in him. but he appointed the 12 and gave him representative authority. In other words, when Peter goes, when any of the 12 apostles go and they speak, they speak and act as Jesus's official representatives to heal disease, to cast out demons, to write scripture. So they are disciples, but they're more than just disciples. They are the foundation of the church. And how many of you know that once you lay down the foundation, you don't lay it down again, and again, and again? And that's why there are no more modern day, well, there aren't any apostles, period. The apostles is an office that is restricted to the beginning of the church. because I saw some video clips of a certain pastor being prayed over because he was being appointed as an apostle. I'm like, I don't see Jesus there. So people who call themselves apostles today, it's indicative that they have a lack of understanding of the office and they have a lack of understanding about how the church works and how it's established. But the foundation has already been laid. There's actually a Bible verse for that. Let's go back to John chapter 17 and listen to what he says in verse 4. I glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. What is that work? Listen to this verse 5 and now father glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. What's the work that Jesus gave? What's the work that the Father gave Jesus to do? There's a lot of it, but in this context here's what it refers to. God in eternity past chose the 12 for Jesus. And during His earthly ministry Jesus prayed. I don't know how it works, but Jesus discovered those whom God the Father had chosen for Him. And so Jesus identifies these 12 as men whom God gave Him from eternity past. Not that the apostles come from the eternity past, but what I'm saying is the choice came before then. So what was the role of Jesus? The role of Jesus was to manifest the name of God, the Father for these 12 apostles, because things cannot move forward until they come to a position where they say, now we know who you are. Now we know who sent you. You are the son of the living God. Okay, listen to what he says. In verse six, I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Here it is. Yours they were, and you gave them to me. Here it is, and they have kept your word. Excuse me? Have they kept, have the apostles kept the word of Jesus at this point in the ministry? You have to say yes, you know why you have to say yes? Because you can't disagree with Jesus. can't disagree. No, they haven't. You don't say that. Ok, listen, just as a general rule if Jesus says something you don't say the opposite. If Jesus tells the Father, They have kept Your Word, you don't say, No, they haven't. It's your job to understand what exactly does Jesus mean in this instant when He says, They've kept Your Word God. Here's the definition. Look at verse 7, Here's the particular word when it says they've kept your word. It means they've come to embrace and believe Something in particular and here it is verse 7 now they know now they know That everything that you have given me is from you For I have given them the words that you gave me listen and they have received them and have come to know in truth That I came from you Do you believe that? Do you believe that the Father sent Jesus to manifest the Father's name to you? Do you believe that the words of Christ are the words of God the Father? And have you received and welcomed the words? If you have then you can include yourself in here because in that sense you've kept God's Word. I know that often times you don't think of yourself as keeping God's Word, but if you've received the Gospel you've kept God's Word in that respect. Amen. And here's what Jesus prays for you, look at verse 20. I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. Did you believe in Jesus through the word of the apostles? There's no other way to come to Christ, except through, well, they're dead, brah, okay? I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to be doing Gen Z stuff, brah. Andres just cringed right now. No, I'm not gonna do it. I was gonna say some other words, but no. It is beneath the dignity. I'm like, brother, we're way past that. Okay. So I know that we've brought up election, and that bothers some people, but because of time constraints, I'm not gonna get into that, unless Eddie wants me to. Nah, I'm just kidding. Let me just tell you something. The Biblical authors they rejoiced. They rejoiced over the revelation from Christ that God had planned these things beforehand, and that God had chosen them before the foundation of the world. That was a cause for them to rejoice and praise God. So, if you hear or read about the doctrine of election and you are repulsed by it, you're not understanding it. Because on one hand, how is it that the Biblical authors in the early church rejoiced over that doctrine and we are repulsed by it? There's something wrong. And so, I don't have time to go into it, but, so what exactly does the word apostle mean? It just means one who is sent. That's the most, did you know that Jesus is an apostle? The book of Hebrews calls him that. It says, So Jesus is the first Apostle. In what sense? He represents God the Father, an official capacity, but it's more than that. He shares in the nature of God. And He was sent forth into this world to speak on behalf of God the Father. You cannot go around Christ. You cannot come to God in a saving way, you've got to come through Christ. Any religion or any belief system that teaches salvation apart from Christ is a false system. We didn't make that up, that's Biblical. And So Jesus picks these 12 and He says, as the Father sent me so now I send you. And he who receives you receives me. And he who receives me receives him who sent me. So the apostolic office is restricted to 12 men and it's a foundational office for the church. And that's what it means. The word apostle just means one who is sent. It's sort of like the position of an ambassador. But I think it even goes beyond that. Now Why 12? Okay. Why 12? Well, for that we need to turn to Matthew 21. I thank you for your patience. I really need to finish this point, because I don't want to leave it on a cliffhanger. Matthew 21. Now, this opens up sort of a can of worms, because depending on your view of the end times, which we call eschatology. Why 12? Now, you probably already figured that out, and there's scripture to support what I'm about to tell you. There's more than one scripture. But in Matthew chapter 21, and I'll speak of this in more detail when we get to that chapter. It's verse 33, Matthew 21, verse 33. Parables are literary devices. to point out a truth as Jesus sees it. So, for example, when he sees people who are lost spiritually and they don't have any leaders and they're being harassed like by wolves, okay, he uses metaphors that they're scattered like sheep without a shepherd. It's a metaphor. So parables are metaphors and the metaphor points to a reality of the situation. And here is the reality as Jesus saw it and He's talking about the leadership of Jerusalem and the nation of Israel at this time. Look at verse 33, 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 drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants, his servants, And the tenants took his servants 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? Now he's asking the religious leaders this question because he's telling them this parable. 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 and their seasons. Jesus said to them, have you never 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. Here's the interpretation according to G. You don't need to interpret this parable. You know why? It's already interpreted for you. And here's the interpretation. He tells the religious leaders this in verse 43. Therefore I tell you the kingdom of God will be taken away from you. The religious leaders are the tenants. A tenant is someone who is, or a steward in this case, is someone who is responsible for the property of another. So the religious leaders were supposed to be looking after God's house, God's field, and giving to God the fruit that they were supposed to help produce. And so when God sent his servants, who are the prophets, they killed the prophets. They killed prophet after prophet, that's the history of the Old Testament. And then finally the master of the field or the vineyard sends forth His Son. Now that's not hard to figure out who you think the Son is, Jesus. Did they do that in real life? Did they kill Him? Yes, because they didn't want to give up their power over Israel. They were stealing the Kingdom of God from Jesus or so they thought they were. And so what is God going to do? He says, therefore I tell you the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken and when it falls on anyone it will crush him. I find this next verse pretty interesting and kind of funny. It's not funny but it's kind of comical because it says, and the chief priest and the Pharisees heard his parables. They perceived that he was speaking about them. Now it's crazier, listen, They recognize that they are the tenants in the parable. Just think about that for a moment. And how do they respond? And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds because they held him to be a prophet. They're still bent on trying to arrest him and kill him, even though he's just told them this parable. Isn't that crazy? So why 12? Here's why the 12. Because I don't believe that the Church replaces Israel. I believe that the Israel God had in mind wasn't restricted to ethnic Israel. I think that God takes these 12 Jewish men and and they serve as the foundation. Just like there were 12 tribes in Israel that the foundation of Israel is the 12 tribes. The 12 Apostles serve as the new foundation for true Israel that consists of both Jews and Gentiles. Why do you say Jews? Because all 12 of them are Jewish. Ok, so the foundation of the Church is Jewish. But we are living in what the Bible calls the time of the Gentiles where when God speaks of a time when the majority of people for a season it is going to be Gentiles, non-Jewish people coming to Christ. And eventually all Israel will be saved, that is everyone who trusts in Christ. Now let me just address this one more thing and then we are done. Well, what's up with the Apostle Paul because he seems to have been used more than any of the other Apostles. He wrote the majority of the New Testament. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 15. Corinthians chapter 15. I just want to draw attention to something that Paul says about himself. I don't think that Paul sees himself. Now there are people who are less intelligent than I that would disagree. But That's a joke. There are people who would disagree because ministers and Christians they disagree about this issue. Some people do believe that Paul becomes the 12th Apostle. I don't believe that. I think the issue of the 12th Apostle gets addressed in Acts 1 because Jesus tells his 11 because Judas vacated his office and the Church is about to be born. But the Holy Spirit doesn't come until that office is reestablished. So it's not a coincidence that in Acts, okay, In Acts we get the account of the fact that the Apostles get together and they say, look Scripture foretold that Judas would vacate this office. And Scripture directs us to make sure that his office is restored. And he has to meet at least minimum qualifications. He has to have been among our company with Jesus beginning from John the Baptist. And they identify more than one that meets that qualification. And they don't know who it is. So, you know who they ask who it is? They ask Jesus. though Jesus has already ascended they ask, Lord show us which one of these two you have chosen. And Jesus reveals to them by way of lots that it is Matthias. And so, Matthias replaces Judas and then once that is taken care of gets what the next event is, the birth of the Church and the coming of the Holy Spirit. It's not a coincidence that it comes right afterwards. And so, that tells me that that was a, that Matthias is the 12th Apostle. But God had mercy on the Apostle Paul and He makes him the Apostle of to the rest of the non-Jewish world to represent Christ. And so listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse just read from verse 1, Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins, in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, here it is, then to the twelve, and You see how Paul references the 12? He excludes himself from the 12. He says, then to the 12, then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, Last of all, notice how he excluded himself from the 12. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. That word untimely born is an interesting Greek word. It has to do with like a premature birth. like a premature birth, like something that is just out of time. Like hey, I don't fit the time in which people come into the Apostleship. And you'll notice that every single person that is named here as an Apostle, it's men who were with Jesus during Jesus' earthly ministry. But when he sees himself he wasn't a believer during the earthly ministry of Jesus. In fact he was opposing Jesus and he only comes to Jesus after Jesus has ascended. And so Jesus appears to Paul in his glorified state and Paul sees this, hey this is not, this is untimely. And he's like almost referring to like a miscarriage. And then he calls himself the least of the apostles. In what sense is he the least of the apostles? Look at verse 9, "'For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle.'" Why? Because I persecuted the Church of God. All these men were personally and directly taught by Jesus. They walked with Jesus. They saw Him through the crucifixion and the resurrection. And all that time I didn't believe in Jesus and I was actually opposing the Church. But God had mercy on me. That's why he calls himself the least of the apostles, and elsewhere he calls himself the chief of sinners. It's because he sees himself in contrast to the other apostles. But listen to this, but by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, here it is, and this is not pride or boasting in a sinful way. He says, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I. but the grace of God that is with me, whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. Why does he work harder than the other apostles? Why does he work harder? Here's my take on it. The people, in my experience, and I think if you've been around long enough, the people who seem to be the most passionate for Christ, the people who are more fervent, the people who are more willing to sacrifice, the people who are more willing to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty and serve Christ, who do you think they are? Typically not people who grew up in church. It's typically extraordinary sinners. And there's this connection in that the more you perceive your sin, in other words, if you have this self-awareness, okay, I can speak from personal experience. When I got saved, okay, I felt terrible about this fact. I said, I didn't grow up in church. I didn't go to vacation Bible school. I didn't go to youth group. I didn't sit. I am a complete pagan and I'm 21 years old and I'm late to the game. Like I'm late to this and I go to church and I just feel terrible because you guys got started without me 20 years ago and here I am showing up and I felt just terrible and I didn't know. So I felt like I had to catch up. because everyone else is already caught up. So guess what I did when I got saved? I didn't know. I'm like, Lord, I am so sorry. I'm late to the game. I don't know why you took this long. That's how I thought. And everybody is so way ahead of me. And I was so grateful for God's mercy. And so I can tell you, I would go home and I would read my Bible for hours on end because I thought there's a test coming soon and I want to be able to pass it because I don't know anything. And so I worked hard, and I worked hard because I felt like there was a lot of lost time, and I would weep over wasted time, okay? I would weep over, man, I just, and you think, but you were young, you were in your 20s, but I didn't feel young at the time, I felt old. And I felt like there's a lot to make up, and even then, I still kicked myself. I said, man, I hate, I hate the poor choices that I made as a young man, because they still affect me to this day, but God had mercy on me. And so I always feel like I have to make it up somehow. But it's not an issue of paying God back. It's not an issue of making sure I'm saved. It comes from a place of gratitude. And so I'm almost going to finish, dude. I'm just kidding. Is that your kid, Richard? Keep him in check, dude. Just kidding. So if you want to be more fervent for the Lord, you've got to sit down and really contemplate from where he saved you, because sometimes we forget. Sometimes we forget. I've heard, never mind, I'll just leave it at that. Sometimes we forget. Let's stand. Yeah. We have Father's Day's gift for you. It's something simple and manly, okay? And I was gonna throw a pun in there, but I'm like, I don't know, it was late, but it's a product that's a metaphor, okay? So when you see it, you'll know. And the message that we're sending is may the Lord protect you. and may you shine for the Lord. It's armor off for your car. And then when you do clean your car, OK, and you get all the rags dirty, that's a metaphor that all your righteousness is as filthy rags. OK, so there you go. It's a spiritual gift. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your mercy. We thank you for we thank you for the grace and the mercy you've had on our lives. Father, let us never forget from where you saved us. and let us always be thankful. We thank you that you knew us before the world began and you were so patient, especially myself when I was growing up in a way that I was enslaved to sin and I was rebellious, especially towards my parents. leaving my house even as a teenager and doing what I wanted because nobody was going to tell me what to do. And that was all rebellious and sinful. Lord, and I thank you that you preserved my life even then. And you waited patiently for me until the time was right. And you brought me to Christ. Lord it is not our desire as parents that people come to Christ in the same way, but it is Your will that we would teach our children in hopes that they come to You early in life. But all in all You are the one who is sovereign over these things. And so help us as parents, especially us as fathers to lead the way and to not be passive, and to love our wives as Christ loved the church, in Jesus' name. And everyone says, Amen. God bless you. Have a great Lord's Day. Happy Father's Day.