LUKE 20:9-19 GODS UNFRUITFUL VINEYARD2014 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Luke 20:9-19 Gods Unfruitful Vineyard

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2014.

Well, as we look at this passage this morning here in Luke chapter 20, Jesus is dealing with the issue of unfruitfulness. He's dealing with not being able to receive the fruit of the vineyard this landowner is experiencing. And so he's telling this parable. Now, the word parable, it means to cast alongside. And the idea here is that he's casting this story alongside a spiritual truth.

And so the story, the parable, the illustration is something that they could understand. It was something they were familiar with. It was something that was common in that day for this type of thing to go on. And so this would help them to understand the message that he was seeking to deliver. And so as we look at the parable of this vineyard, I titled the message this morning, God's Unfruitful Vineyard.

Because what we see happening is, well, although the vineyard may be fruitful, the owner is not seeing the fruit because the vine dressers are withholding it. And so it's unfruitfulness that Jesus is addressing here in this parable. And there's four points that we'll look at as we walk through this passage, beginning in verse 9 and 10 with point number one. And that is that God expects fruit. Look at verse 9 once again. It says...

Then he began to tell the people this parable. A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time.

He begins setting the stage for this illustration. And it's a very simple picture. It's not real complicated. It's not very complex. It's simple. And again, it was easy for them to understand because it was a common practice. That there would be people who owned portions of land.

But they wouldn't want to work that land themselves. Maybe they had multiple places and so they had a lot of things going on. And so in order to allow that land to be productive for them, they would lease it out. And so they would hire these contractors.

Vine dressers or workers of the field. And they would come in and they would manage the land for them. And so they would do all the things that were necessary. To till the land and prepare it. To trim the vineyard. And do all the things that went into producing fruit from that land.

And then the owner would get a portion of the fruit that was produced. And then the workers would get a portion of the fruit that was produced. And there would be incentive for the workers to do their job well because how much they received was directly proportional to how much was produced. And so as they worked the land, you know, they got a certain portion of it and then the rest went to the owner of the land. And so this was a common practice.

You can maybe liken it to, you know, renting out a home or something like that. You know, you have a piece of property, you rent it out, and then each month you get the rent for that property. That's kind of the idea here that Jesus is describing in this parable. Now, they understood this practice. It was something that was going on in their day. But also, there's something else that would be going on in the minds of the people as Jesus is giving this parable.

They would be in their, you know, mental Bibles turning back to Isaiah chapter 5 because there is a very famous portion of scripture for the Jewish people about a vineyard that God planted. And in Isaiah chapter 5, again, it was a well-known passage for the Jewish people. God talks about this vineyard that he plants and he does everything he can for it.

He gives it all the nourishment that it needs. He sets up perimeters around it and protects it. He does everything he can for this vineyard. But there's a problem because the vineyard produces wild grapes instead of good grapes. And so it doesn't produce good fruit. It produces bad fruit.

And God in Isaiah chapter 5 is challenging the people saying, what more could I have done for my vineyard? I gave it everything it needed. I provided protection, put a hedge around it. I did everything I could for the vineyard. There was nothing more that I could have done. And yet it did not produce good fruit.

Well then in Isaiah chapter 5 verse 7 God explains this illustration that he gives. This picture of the vineyard. And he says the vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel. And the men of Judah are his pleasant plant. And then it goes on to say he looked for justice but behold oppression. For righteousness but behold a cry for help.

And so God is explaining there, the people, the nation is the vineyard. And God did everything he could for the nation. And so he expected there to be good fruit. But instead, there was bad fruit. He was looking for justice, but instead they were oppressing people. He was looking for righteousness, but instead people were crying out because of the unrighteousness that was going on in the land of Israel.

And so this was a very famous portion of scripture for them. And whenever there was talk about a vineyard, their minds would go to Isaiah chapter 5. So now as Jesus tells this parable about a vineyard, it goes along with what Jesus is speaking here. Jesus adds kind of a new element. You have the vineyard, you have God, you know, the owner. But now he adds also in the vine dressers.

Now the vine dressers are those responsible for the vineyard. And so those are speaking of the leadership of the nation of Israel. And so he's going to be dealing specifically with the religious leaders here as he goes through this parable. Well, we go on now in verse 10. It says, Now at vintage time, he sent a servant to the vine dressers that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard.

But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. So in this parable, the land has been leased out to the vinedressers. And now it's time to collect the rent. And so the landowner sends a servant to receive his portion of the fruit. It's time for him to collect his share for what the vineyard has produced. Now the point here is that it is reasonable...

For the landowner to expect a portion of the fruit. In the same way as if you leased out a property... It would be reasonable for you each month to come and say... Okay, it's time to pay the rent. It's time to give the portion that's due for this property. It's reasonable. It's expected. It's right. And so as this landowner sends the servant to get the fruit...

it's what is right it is reasonable now i point that out to say again we as we look at these things we're not just looking at the illustration but the spiritual truth that goes alongside of it and the point that we need to understand is that it is reasonable for god to expect fruit from his people it's right it's just it makes sense but

For God to expect that his people be fruitful. This parable, as Jesus will go on, it gives a very clear picture of the unfaithfulness or unfruitfulness of Israel's leaders. Because, again, God planted this vineyard. He did everything he could for it. And he has entrusted it to the leadership of the nation.

But Israel rebelled against God. They were unfruitful. They were unfaithful. And so God sent his servants. And we'll see this in the coming verses. He sent his prophets to the nation of Israel to call the people to repentance because they had gone astray. They had been in rebellion against God. And so they abused the prophets. They persecuted the prophets that God sent to the nation.

And then finally, God sent his only son. Of course, that's the person giving the parable. It's Jesus Christ. He sent his only son to be the savior, but the people of Israel, the leadership of Israel, rejected the son and killed him as well as the previous servants. And so that's the picture that Jesus is dealing with here, that the nation as a whole has rejected Jesus.

The messengers, the servants that God sent, the prophets, as well as the son, he sent them in order to collect the fruit, to call people back to repentance, looking for fruits of repentance, but there was no fruit. They were not repentant. They did not turn back to the Lord. God expects fruit. And so he went to great lengths.

To provide for the nation of Israel. And to call them to repentance. And to give them opportunity to produce fruit. But this parable is not just about the people of the nation of Israel. This parable also speaks to you and I. Because just as they were thinking back to Isaiah chapter 5. As Jesus was telling this parable. There's another passage that you and I can turn to in our minds. And that is John chapter 15.

In John chapter 15, we're not going to go through it this morning, but I would encourage you to check it out later on because Jesus carries on this idea of a vineyard and he tells us, his disciples, he says, I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. There in John chapter 15,

Jesus says, all right, you guys are the vineyard, you know, the nation, but you've been unfruitful. So now I've come and I'm the vine. You tried being the vine. It didn't work. You couldn't produce any fruit. So now I'm the vine. Now you plug into me and abide in me. Be a branch. And as a branch, you will bear much fruit if you abide in me.

And so this morning, I also want to encourage you, like God expected fruit from the nation of Israel, God expects fruit from you as a believer in Jesus Christ. He expects there to be fruit in your life as a result of abiding in Jesus. And it's reasonable, it's right,

For God to have this expectation. It's reasonable, it's right, that God would expect that your life would be producing fruit. Now, when I talk about fruit and fruitfulness this morning, please understand I'm not talking simply about doing a lot of good works. I'm not saying, you know, you're supposed to have a lot of good deeds in your life. That is not really what we're talking about here. Here's what God's looking for.

God is looking for changed hearts. He's looking for changed lives. He's not just looking for a list of things that we did, but he's looking for real change within us. He's looking for growth that we would continue to grow to become more and more like him.

As an example of this, again in Isaiah chapter 5 verse 7, what was God looking for? A list of their religious rituals and things that they completed? No, Israel was very religious, but unfruitful. What God was looking for, he says, was justice, but instead he found oppression. He was looking for righteousness, but he found cries for help.

He wasn't looking for a list of all that they had done. They were still doing a lot of the feasts and sacrifices. They were, you know, faithfully going to the temple. But it's not about a list of works. It's about a changed heart, a changed life. And so he was looking for the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of justice, the fruit of a changed heart in his people. In the same way, what God is expecting of you

Is that you would produce the fruit of a changed heart. He expects that you would be more like Jesus. That you would be continuing to grow. To become more and more like Jesus. That you would put on the nature of Christ. His characteristics. It's the fruit that he expects to be produced in you.

Another way that you could look at this is you could look at Galatians chapter 5 verse 22 and 23. Probably you're familiar with this passage. There Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit. Here's what the Holy Spirit produces in you. He says, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. This is the fruit of the Spirit. That is love.

This is what God expects out of you. He expects you to manifest these characteristics. He expects you to be growing in these characteristics. He expects that when He comes to you as a landowner sent the servant to collect the fruit, that when He comes to your life, there's more fruit of love and joy and long-suffering. That you are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

God expects fruit. Are you fruitful? Do you see this growth and this work happening in your life? I want to encourage you this morning to be fruitful, to make sure that you are producing fruit. Now, again, as I say that, please don't translate that to, okay, I need to go do a bunch of good deeds. No, good deeds and good works and serving God, that flows out of the change that he works within.

So instead of trying to go do a bunch of things, here's one thing to do. Here's what Jesus says to do. If you want to produce fruit, here's what you need to do. Abide in Jesus. That's what he said in John chapter 15. If you abide in me, then you will bear much fruit. Without me, you can't do anything. You will be unfruitful. But abide in me and you will bear much fruit.

And so there's this thing that we're supposed to focus on. Not doing a bunch of things that we have a list of things to present to God. But abiding in Jesus. Pursuing Jesus. Making Jesus the most important person in our life. The most important thing in our life. That he is first. That he is foremost. Abide in Jesus. And as you abide in Jesus and walk in the Spirit, fruit will be produced. You will bear much fruit today.

And so when God sends for this fruit, it will not be found unfruitful. Well, now going on in verse 11 and 12, we see the second point, and that is that God patiently requests fruit. So in this scenario, it's right for the landowner to expect fruit. In the same way, it's right for God to expect fruit from your life. But how does he respond when he comes and there is no fruit?

How does he respond when he finds unfruitfulness in our lives? It's amazing to me as we go on in this passage. In verse 10 we saw he sent the servant to collect the fruit, right? But what did they do? They beat the servant and sent the servant away empty-handed. This is kind of hard to imagine for me. Because check out what it says in verse 11. Again he sent another servant and they beat him also. Treated him shamefully and sent him away empty-handed.

This is what's amazing about God. After looking at verse 10, right? The first servant goes, he's beaten and then sent away empty handed. I would expect the next verse to say that then the owner came, threw out the vine dressers and dealt with them because of their unfaithfulness and their unfruitfulness. That's what I would expect verse 11 to say. But instead verse 11 says, so he sent another servant. And what did they do to this servant? They beat him.

They added on to it. Now they treated him shamefully and then they sent him away empty-handed. So he gave him a chance with the first servant. He didn't judge them immediately, but now he gives him another chance with the second servant. Now what's he going to do? Now is he going to judge them? Verse 12. And again he sent a third and they wounded him also and cast him out.

So the first servant was beaten and sent away. The second servant was beaten and then shamed and sent away. Now I would expect verse 12 to say, the owner came and threw him out. But instead verse 12 says, he sent them another servant. Gave them another opportunity to produce the fruit that was due for the vineyard. But they wound this servant and send him away. Now again, this is a very clear picture.

This is a picture of how God has sent his prophets to the nation of Israel and Israel is

abused and killed those prophets time after time a few chapters earlier in luke chapter 13 jesus was looking over jerusalem and he laments over the condition of his people and their rebellion he says oh jerusalem jerusalem the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her

He's looking over Jerusalem. He's lamenting. I've wanted to gather you together. I've wanted to work in you. But you've killed the prophets. And you've stoned the ones that I sent to you.

You've refused to allow me to do the work in you that I want to do. And we have the records of history that tell us that these things are in fact true. The prophets suffered greatly as they were sent to the nation of Israel. Tradition tells us that the prophet Isaiah was sawn in two for his sin.

witness on behalf of God about the rebellion of the people. We went through the book of Jeremiah last year as well, remember? And Jeremiah suffered greatly. There was a lot of persecution against Jeremiah. He was imprisoned frequently and beaten and such. And so there was this persecution and on and on and on we could go with all of the prophets that God sent. They were abused by the people, rejected and persecuted. And

And all throughout, God has been exceedingly patient and merciful and gracious. It's amazing. He sends servant after servant, even though he could have brought judgment much more quickly. Sometimes people wrestle with the Old Testament. They think, man, the Old Testament is just full of judgment. There's just all this wrath of God. It just doesn't seem right.

But I would encourage you and I would challenge you in this. That if that's your view and perspective of the Old Testament. Then you really haven't taken time to understand the context. And you need to do that. You need to spend some time. It's worthwhile to understand who God is. To spend some time and get the clear picture of what's really going on. Because, well the Old Testament covers a period of about 4,000 years.

It's a whole lot of time that is passing. And as we saw through the prophet Jeremiah, God was giving his people opportunity to repent after opportunity to repent after opportunity to repent until the very end calling them to repentance. Once you understand the context for some of those harsh judgments that God declares and prophesies about, you'll understand that the Old Testament is not full of judgment, but it's full of God's patience and

It's full of mercy. It's full of God calling his people to repentance. And that's what we see demonstrated in this parable. The owner could have came and dealt with the vine dressers immediately, but he gives them another chance, and then another chance, and then another chance to produce fruit. In the same way, I would ask you today, are you fruitful? God is patient in his requesting of fruits in your life.

He doesn't expect that you woke up this morning and your life is now perfect. You have no problems. You no longer sin. You're just like Pastor George. No, I'm just kidding. He doesn't expect that you be perfect immediately. He's patient, but there needs to be growth. And he's patient and allowing you opportunity to grow. And he sends you messengers like me this morning to say, hey, how's your growth?

Are you going forward? Are you producing fruit? Are you abiding in Jesus Christ? And he's sent you messengers before me. There's opportunity after opportunity. And he continues to call us to grow. He's looking for changed lives. He's looking for fruit from you just as he did from Israel. That you would grow and become more like him. And the good news is that he doesn't give up on us immediately. And he doesn't give up on us easily.

We don't mess up one time and God says, that's it, you had your last chance, I'm moving on to somebody else. He is abundantly patient, exceedingly merciful. Now, His amazing patience and mercy should not cause you to say, well, there's more opportunity to sin then. I have more chances coming down the road. That's, well, if that's where your heart is, then you already know your heart is in a bad place and you need to repent.

But don't be discouraged and think God must be done with me because I messed up. And I messed up a few times or quite a few times or more than a few times. God is so patient with us. And he's continuing to give you opportunity to produce fruit. He's continuing to send his servants, his messengers to you to call you that there might be fruit of repentance in your life.

That there might be growth and change. Now again, I'm not talking about that you would sign up to do a bunch of things at church. I'm not saying that you would go out and do a bunch of good deeds. But that you would abide in Jesus. That you would put Jesus first in your life. That you would seek after Him with all of your heart. That you would pursue Him. Seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Abide in Jesus.

That's what he's calling you to. That he could do the changes in you. That he could produce in you the fruit that is expected. Because you are a child of God. Going on now into verse 13 and 14. We see point number three. And that is that God sent his own son. Listen. This is how serious this issue of fruitfulness is to God. He is willing to send his beloved son. Look at verse 13.

Now, what if you were the advisor to this landowner? Would you counsel him to send his son after the three servants that were sent ahead of time? The first one was beaten, the second was beaten and shamed, the last one was wounded. Now he says...

Hey Josh, I'm thinking about sending my son to go get the fruit. What do you think? Don't do it. Why are you putting up with these guys? Why would you say, after they've beaten these three servants, well, I'm thinking, you know, they're going to respect my son and so they won't treat him the same way. I don't know. It's pretty risky. I wouldn't do that if I were you. But the landowner sends his son because he's serious about the fruit. He's serious. This is the fruit I expect.

This is due. This is owed. And if they're not going to give it to my servants, I've got to try to send my son because this fruit is owed. It's worth it. And even if it means that they treat my son poorly, it's worth it. The fruit is that important. Verse 14. But when the vinedressers saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours.

Here we see that the vine dressers did not fear the land owner. They did not think that there would be consequences. In fact, they thought there's going to be great reward. Here we have an opportunity. Here's the son, the heir. If we kill him, we could take this land as our own. We can keep the vineyard and we don't have to give him fruit, even though they hadn't been. But then we don't have to give him fruit. We can keep it for ourselves. We can keep the produce. We can keep the results.

It can be all ours. Now, in this parable, you know, Jesus has been looking at the history of Israel and all the prophets that have been sent and how they've been treated. But as he's been following the history of Israel, now he's in present day because, well, he is the son that God has sent. And so he's dealing with the current situation, the current events, and dealing with the religious leaders of

that are there right now. And he's really addressing the hearts of the religious leaders and revealing the hearts of the religious leaders. We saw last week as we looked at the challenge to Jesus' authority. They came to Jesus and said, who gives you the right to do these things? And Jesus challenged them and said, hey, well, who gave John the Baptist the right? They wrestled with that because, well, they didn't want to look bad in front of the people.

They didn't want to get trapped by Jesus. If they say John the Baptist is from God, then Jesus will say, well, why didn't you believe him then? We can't say that. We can't say this. And they're strategizing. The point is, they didn't really care about the truth. They didn't really care about where John the Baptist got his authority. They were concerned about maintaining their position, keeping their power, maintaining their role. And that's what Jesus is addressing here.

They've already had several pastors conferences or priestly conferences. Gathering together. Okay guys what are we going to do? How are we going to get rid of this guy? Because the people are following after him. And he's teaching things that are against us. And against what we teach. So what are we going to? We got to get rid of this guy. And they've already plotted several times to kill him. To do exactly to him what these vine dressers in the parable did to the son of the landowner. They're saying this is the heir.

Jesus is revealing here, look, they understood a lot about what was going on. The religious leaders understood who Jesus claimed to be. They understood that he claimed to be the son of God, but that the religious leaders wanted his role and his rightful place over the people.

They did not want to give up their authority and their power. And so they're thinking, if we get rid of Jesus, we can continue to maintain our power and authority, our role over the people. Their hearts were very wrong. Remember the heart of John the Baptist? As he came on the scene, he started his ministry. There was a big following. People were responding and repenting.

crowds were coming out to him. But then Jesus comes on the scene and he begins his ministry and crowds come to him. And pretty soon the crowds following Jesus are bigger than the crowds following John the Baptist. And John's disciples come to him concerned and they're like, hey dude, that guy started a church right down the street and now it's bigger than yours. You know, you got to do something about this. And John says, no, he must increase and I must decrease. That is a

Should have been the hearts of the religious leaders. They should have been willing to decrease that Jesus might increase. But instead, they were plotting, they were planning, hey, this is the year, let's cast him out so that we can take the inheritance. They were seeking to maintain their position even when the son was sent.

Thinking there was no consequences. Not fearing the land owner. Not fearing God. Now as we consider this parable for us. Again I would ask you. Are you faithful? Are you fruitful? Because this issue of fruitfulness is so important to God. That he sent his only son. So that you might be fruitful. That you might produce fruit. God expects fruit from you. Just as he did God.

from Israel. And he's so serious about it that it was worth it to him to send his only begotten son, Jesus Christ. He realizes the only way there will ever be fruit in your life is if I send my son. That's the only way. We can't produce fruit on our own. We can't change our hearts. The only way is if Jesus comes. And as God is looking for those changed lives, he does the math. He says, yes, it's worth it to me

To die upon the cross. To receive the penalty for sin. That they might be forgiven. That they might be changed. That they might produce fruit. That's the only way. Remember Jesus in the garden prayed. Lord if there's any other way. For these people to be fruitful. For these people to be saved. Let it be that way. But there was no other way. And that's why Jesus went to the cross. Listen. You can't change your life. You're not strong enough. You're not smart enough. You're not disciplined enough.

You can't change your life, especially if you're the one that's in charge. If you're in charge of changing your life, you're in big trouble because you don't have what it takes. We need to give Jesus authority in our lives. Again, in John chapter 15, verse 5, Jesus says, "'I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit, for without me you can do nothing.'"

Jesus says, surrender yourself. Don't be your own vine all off by yourself. No. Sacrifice your independence. Plug into me. And abide in me. And put me first. Let me be the source of your life. Let me be the one who satisfies you. Let me be the one who provides for you. Let me be the one who meets your needs. And then you will bear much fruit.

Let me be that role in your life. Let me have that authority in your life, Jesus says. And then you will be fruitful. God expects fruit from your life. So abide in Jesus. Make him the passion and the pursuit of your life. It's so important to him that he sent his only begotten son, his beloved son, to die upon the cross that you would have the opportunity to bear fruit.

Well, we finish off the passage in verses 15 through 19. And here's the fourth point. That is that God will judge the unfruitful. God will judge those who are unfruitful. Look at verse 15. So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore, what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? So Jesus, as he's going through this parable,

He makes it interactive. He's like, okay, now what do you think? What is the owner of the vineyard going to do now that they've abused his servants and then killed his son? What is he going to do? What is going to happen now? Verse 16, he answers the question. He says, he will come and destroy those vine dressers and give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, certainly not.

Now this verse is really key because this verse tells us and shows us that they understood what Jesus was talking about here in this parable. They knew what was going on because they responded at the end of the parable and said, no way, that is not going to happen, certainly not. We know from verse 19, it tells us there that the religious leaders understood that this parable was about them.

That Jesus was talking to them in this parable. They knew what was going on. They were getting the pictures that Jesus was painting for them and recognizing this is about us. But when Jesus says the vine dressers are going to be destroyed and the vineyard is going to be given to others, symbolizing

Israel has been unfaithful. The leaders of Israel have been unfaithful. It's going to be taken from them. What God has given to Israel is taken from them and given to others. They said, no way, that's not going to happen. That is not going to happen. We're not going to let that happen. They were convinced they could win. We're not going to be destroyed. It's not going to be taken away from us. We're not going to let that happen. And Jesus says, it is going to happen. It will happen.

And that's why he says in verse 17, Then he looked at them and said, What then is this that is written? The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. He quotes here from Psalm 118 verse 22. And he reminds them of this stone that,

Being rejected, but then later on becoming the most important stone. Now, the cornerstone in their day, in the building practices of the day, the cornerstone was the main stone upon which the rest of the building was based upon. So the cornerstone would be typically the largest stone of the building because it would be the one that was set...

And it might be ten times larger than all the stones around it, but it was there to establish the building, to make sure that it was set square, that it was founded and secure. It was the most important stone. And Jesus quotes this psalm which says, you know, there was a stone that was rejected, but it turns out that was the one that was the most important. And Jesus is saying, you are rejecting me, but I am the most important of all the prophets. I am the chief cornerstone.

I'm much more important than all the prophets who've gone before me. I'm much more important than all the other messengers that God has sent. And you, the builders, are rejecting me. But I'm the chief cornerstone. I'm the most important. So he says, you think it's not going to happen? You think you're going to win? But you're rejecting me and you're going to find out that I am the chief cornerstone. Then verse 18, he goes on to say, whoever falls on that stone will be broken.

But on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. Whoever falls on that stone, Jesus says, will be broken. Now, there's a couple ways to understand this verse. Different people kind of view it in different perspectives. And so let me just share with you the main two. The first perspective on this verse is that this is describing the first and second coming of Jesus.

So the idea is that the first coming is when he says, whoever falls on that stone will be broken. That is, if you stumble over the idea that Jesus, being God, became man, came in humility to die upon the cross, if that bothers you, if you can't believe that, you fall on that rock, you'll be broken.

So you cannot be saved, you'll be broken, if you cannot believe that Jesus being God became man. Remember later on in Corinthians, Paul tells us that the preaching of Christ crucified is a stumbling block.

People stumble over that. They trip over that. They have a hard time with that. And so that's one possibility here. That this is speaking of the first coming of Jesus in his humility. And then the last part. Talking about the rock or the stone falling. It says on whomever it falls it will grind him to powder. Then that would be a reference to the second coming of Jesus. When he comes again in glory.

And those who have rebelled against him will be crushed. Possibly a reference back to the book of Daniel. Remember when King Nebuchadnezzar had the dream of the statue. And the different metals represented different kingdoms. And then finally there was the stone cut without hands. And it came and smashed Nebuchadnezzar.

The statue had grounded into powder, which was, of course, the kingdom of God. And so that's when Jesus comes back again and sets up his kingdom. So that's one perspective that Jesus here is saying, hey, you stumble over the first coming, you'll be broken.

But if you resist until the end, then you'll be crushed and ground into powder. The other perspective in this verse is that this is more about receiving versus rejecting Jesus. That is to receive Jesus is to be broken. That it's a good thing that you and I are to fall upon this rock and be broken. Because receiving Jesus requires brokenness.

What God desires, the Bible tells us repeatedly, is brokenness, a contrite heart. That we would be broken of ourselves. That we would acknowledge our sin. That we would repent and surrender to God. That brokenness is necessary for us to submit to Jesus and receive what he has for us. But then rejecting Jesus, well, it causes us to be crushed. And so if you fall on the stone, you'll be broken again.

In this sense, it's a good thing that you repent and you turn to God. But if it falls on you, if you try to run from God and you will not receive Jesus Christ, he will bring judgment upon you and you will be crushed. There will be no salvation in that case.

So those are a couple of the main perspectives and looking at that you can kind of wrestle with it. You know, neither one really is an issue. Maybe both are true, both are accurate. But the idea here Jesus is saying is that I'm the chief cornerstone. I'm the main thing. I'm the most important. And the point is if you don't deal faithfully with me, well, what you have is going to be taken from you and given to somebody else. That's what he's speaking to the Jewish leaders.

What I've given to Israel will be taken from you and given to somebody else. Probably speaking about God working through the nation of Israel to be the light of the world. But he's removed that for a time. So that the church is now the light of the world. And the primary way that God is testifying to the world around us of who he is. One day that will be transferred back to Israel again.

After the rapture as he begins the 70th week of Daniel. But the point is Jesus is the most important. Verse 19. And the chief priests and the scribes that very hour sought to lay hands on him. But they feared the people. For they knew he had spoken this parable against them. So now the chief priests, the religious leaders. Again they're plotting. They're trying to lay hands on him. Because they knew what he was talking about. They understood what he was saying.

They understood that he was speaking to them. But it's interesting. They held back as much as they wanted to lay hands on Jesus. They held back. Why? Because they feared the people. They didn't fear God. They feared the people. Proverbs tells us that the fear of man is a snare. Watch out that you don't get caught up in fearing people. That's a problem. That's a trap that will lead you away from God. They feared the people because

More than they feared God. They didn't care about their plot to lay hands on Jesus. That didn't bother them. They weren't concerned about what God thought about that. They were concerned about what the people would think if they carried out that plan. You see, the point is still, God wasn't first in their life. They cared more about other things than they cared about God. They were unfruitful. And so Jesus is saying, you will be judged because you are unfruitful. And so again this morning I ask you, are you fruitful?

It's an important question because God will judge the unfruitful. God expects fruit from you. Just like he did with the nation of Israel. He's so serious about it that he sent his only begotten son. That you might have the opportunity to bear fruit. He's looking for that fruit. A changed heart. A changed life in you. He's looking for that growth. That you would become more like him. But if there is not fruit...

Then, well, he also says in John chapter 15, the passage I've been referring to, where he says, I'm the vine, you're the branches, abide in me, you'll bear much fruit. He also deals with the issue of unfruitfulness in that passage. In verse 2 of John 15, he says, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. So the branches attached to the vine, he says, every branch in me that does not bear fruit, that's taken away.

In verse 6 of John 15, he says, if anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire and they are burned. And so just as Jesus was speaking to the religious leaders and said, you're going to be judged for your unfruitfulness, Jesus would say, there is a judgment for unfruitfulness for my followers. Are you fruitful? Are you bearing fruit? Is there change? Is there growth there?

In your life. God expects you to have fruit. Again, I'm not suggesting that then, okay, so I got to be fruitful. So let me think of all the good things I can do. That's not the point. Good works flow out of a heart that is changed. And your heart is changed by spending time with Jesus. Jesus says, abide in me. Live in me. Wake up in me. Go to bed in me.

Come home for lunch in me. Abide in me. Keep me the focus, the center. Keep me the source, the passion, the pursuit of your life. Abide in me and you will bear much fruit. Abide in me, Jesus says. Walk in the spirit, Paul says. And there's going to be great fruit in your life. God expects you to have this fruit. And you can't have it any other way. You can't cheat. There's no shortcuts.

You can't avoid Jesus all week long and then try to catch up, you know, in one sitting. Alright, I'm going to read for six hours. It doesn't work that way. It's living in Jesus. That's what abide means, right? Live in Jesus. Every day, live in Jesus. Let Him be your passion. Let Him be your pursuit. Don't be unfruitful. God expects fruit from your life and He's patiently requesting it. He's giving you opportunity, even this morning.

It's another servant being sent to you saying, hey, you know, God's really looking for fruit from your life. It's time that you're really changed. It's time that your heart be changed, be transformed, that you become more like Christ. That you grow in your love and joy and peace and patience and long-suffering. That you grow in the characteristics of God. That you become more like Jesus. God wants you to remember. It's so important to Him. It was worth sending His own Son.

That you would abide in him. That he could produce fruit in you. That he could produce the change in you. We can't change ourselves, but he can change us as we abide in him. And there's consequences if we don't. There's consequences if we don't allow God to change us. If we don't put him first and abide in Jesus, then we're in trouble. Be fruitful. I want to close in a thought kind of going along with this. And that is that sometimes...

We are fruitful for a season, but then future seasons come and we don't want to give up the fruit. So in this parable of the vineyard, you know, it's kind of the first season the owner sends. But let's say the owner had sent the servant and received fruit. But then the next season, when the fruit is produced again, he sends the servants and then they decide we're not going to give the fruit this year. And that can happen sometimes in the life of a believer.

Where you get saved and you're excited about the Lord and He's first in your life and He does all these changes and you become more like Him and it's amazing. It's exciting. But sometimes we kind of hit a plateau. It's like, okay, I've changed enough. And then we go on living our own lives however we want to. And He's no longer first. And we're not abiding in Him but we're still enjoying the fruits of the previous produce.

previous crop. It's like, you know, we got all the blessings of being set free and delivered, but now we're not using what God has given to us to abide in him. It's still considered unfruitfulness if the owner doesn't get the fruit. In the parable, it doesn't tell us that the vineyard didn't produce fruit. It's that the vine dressers wouldn't give it to the owner. It

So it's unfruitfulness. Not because the vineyard didn't produce anything, but because it wasn't given to the owner. Maybe think about it this way. If I give you $10,000 and I say, please invest this for me. See what you can do to grow this. And you say, alright. That's wonderful. I've always wanted to try out the stock market. And so you start to invest it.

And you get some success. And you're like, hey, I want to take some risky moves here. And there's a good chance that this is going to go really good. So you invest in that. And you come back and tell me the next week, you're going to be amazed, Jerry. I mean, I took that $10,000. I invested it here. And it's over a million dollars right now. I'm like, wow, that's awesome. But then you come back the next week and say, ah, it was risky for a reason. I lost it. There's nothing left. That's unfruitful, right?

Even though it reached a million dollars, it's like, whoa! But I didn't get to see any of it. That's unfruitfulness. In the same way, if you allow God to do a work in you, you believe in Him, He saves you, He does a work, He sets you free, He changes your life, and then you go and use that life for things that are not of God, that's unfruitfulness. Maybe you enjoyed that first season, or maybe a few seasons, but now you've turned and invested those things in

Into things that are not of God. If you're serving the Lord. But you get the glory and not God. That's unfruitfulness. He's not getting the fruit he deserves. If you work hard and earn a good living. But spend what you earn on what you want. And not what God wants. That's unfruitfulness. That's not what God desires. If you have children. But you don't teach them how to walk with God. That's unfruitful.

That's not what God desires. If you change and you experience change that God does in you, but then you use that for your own things and not the things of God and don't further invest in abiding in Jesus, that's unfruitfulness. I would ask you to consider what Peter wrote in 1 Peter chapter 4. He says, Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind.

Peter says, look, we need to take on the mind of Christ that we live our time in the flesh for the will of God, not for what we want.

That we're still to be surrendered to God, abiding in Jesus for the rest of our life. We're to be abiding in Jesus, living for the will of God. And then I love 1 Peter 4.3. He says, For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles. We've spent enough time pursuing things that are not of God.

He gives some examples. We walked in lewdness and lust and drunkenness and revelries and drinking parties and abominable idolatries. We've spent enough time in that, guys. We've spent enough time pursuing those things. Let's not waste any more time pursuing those things. That's not why God redeemed us. That's not why He set you free. That's not why He died upon the cross. He died upon the cross that you could know Him, that you could abide in Him, that He could produce much fruit in you, that God would be glorified.

And so let's spend our time, let's invest what he has given back into his will, into his plans for his glory. Be fruitful and abide in Jesus Christ. It's not enough to do it early on or a long time ago or once. Keep on abiding and investing yourself in a pursuit of a relationship with God by faith in Jesus Christ. Let's pray. God, I do pray that you would help us.

To put you first. And I pray God that you would highlight in our hearts any area, any way where you are not first. Lord, that we would be passionate about you. That we would be pursuing you. Lord, that we wouldn't waste any more time. We've spent enough time, Lord, chasing after things that are not fruitful. Help us, Lord, to recognize when our hearts get caught up in that again. Lord, that we might continue.

To turn, Lord, that there would be fruits of repentance in our hearts as we turn from those things that are not of you to seek first the kingdom of God and your righteousness. So Lord, help us to do that. To continue to put you first. That you might get the fruit that you deserve. The glory that you are owed. Because you are so good and merciful and gracious to us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.