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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And so this is why, this is why Jesus even spoke to them in parables in the first place. So when we're in Mark chapter number 12 and we're reading the parable of the vineyard, why didn't Jesus just speak to them plainly? Because they weren't sincere. That's why he gave them the parable to begin with. Now turn to Matthew chapter 13. Keep your place in Mark 12 throughout the sermon this evening. But look at Matthew chapter number 13, verse 13. Matthew 13, verse 13. Jesus said this. Notice, why is it that Jesus spoke to these people in parables? Because he did not want them to know the truth. Because they had already rejected him. They had already decided to close their ears, close their eyes, close their heart. They were not sincere. And he says, you know what? I'm going to go ahead and speak to these people in parables then so that seeing they won't see. So that hearing they won't hear. Less at any time. They should believe and be converted. So then the question is, if Jesus gave this parable to hide the truth from these people, then why do we have it in the Bible? It's for our benefit. It's for our benefit. So when we go through this parable, realize the reason God gave us this is to teach us something. To give us spiritual edification and blessing. So this evening, I want to go through this parable in Mark chapter number 12, and I want to give you six different aspects of this parable, and then we'll make application at the end of the sermon. Go to Mark chapter number 12, and first I want to point out in this parable, number one, God's business. God's business. Mark chapter number 12, verse 1. Notice this. It says, and he began to speak unto them. Who's the them? The Jews. That's why we found context there. So he's speaking to the Jews. And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a place for the wine-fat, and built a tower, and led it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. So in this parable, we see that God is represented by this certain man. And this certain man, what does he do? He goes and he plants a vineyard, and he provides everything necessary for this vineyard to be profitable and successful. I mean, look at all the things that this man did. He sets a hedge about it. He digged a place for the wine-fat. He built a tower for protection, most likely. And then when he provided all of those things, what did he do? He led it out to husbandmen. What is that? That's like renting his property out to farmers. And so what is this vineyard here? It's a business. And you know, the work of God is a business. A lot of people don't like that word. A lot of communists think that business is a bad word. But you know what? God's business is the greatest business on earth. It's the greatest business in the world. And this shouldn't be a surprise to you. Go ahead and turn to Romans chapter number 9, but I'll read for you Luke 2 49. Jesus said, and he said unto them, How is it that you sought me? Whist ye not that I must be about my father's business? And so here in this parable, we see that the work of God, that the kingdom of God, is represented by a business. Now, who had this blessing? Who had this stewardship? Well, the Bible says that this man, he led it out, or he rented it out, to husbandmen. So was this owner, was he the one working in the vineyard? Was he the one keeping the vineyard, planting things, watering things? No, he was giving that for other people to do. And whose job was that in the Old Testament? It was Israel. It was Israel's job to take care of the kingdom of God in the Old Testament. I'm going to read for you. Deuteronomy 14 2 says, For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God, and the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the earth. And of course, you know, we know in the New Testament, especially in the new IFB, we know that God has replaced the nation of Israel, the physical nation of Israel, with the spiritual nation of believers. But let us not forget that in the Old Testament, Israel was special. It was. It was God's chosen nation. The Bible says that he chose them above all nations of the earth. By the way, that shows that God can exalt nations. God can abase nations. The Bible says that righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. So notice, is it the system of government that exalts a nation? No, it's righteousness that exalts a nation, and the nation of Israel was exalted. Why? Because it had the word of God, because it had the commandments of God, because it had the service of God, because it had God's vineyard, because it had God's business. In Romans chapter 9, look at verse 1, Paul said this, I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Who are we talking about? Look at verse 4, who are Israelites? Notice, to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises, whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is overall God blessed forever. Amen. Here, Paul clearly teaches who was given the work of God, the Israelites were. They were given God's vineyard to work in. So we see number 1, God's business. Go back to Mark chapter number 12, we saw God's business, I want to show you number 2, God's expectations. God's expectations, look at Mark 12 too. And at the season he sent to the husband men a servant, notice, that he might receive from the husband men of the fruit of the vineyard. So this man in the parable, the reason he's starting a business is to make a profit. I don't know if you know this, but businesses are started to make money. Businesses are not trying to lose money, this is not some sort of communist idea, no. People have businesses so that they can make money. Well, God's not interested in making money, he owns the cattle on a thousand hills, but you know what, he is interested in a prophet, in a spiritual prophet. How so? By people getting saved, by people teaching others the word of God. God has an expectation for his business, God has an expectation for his workers to be profitable. And notice this man, he comes to these husband men to do what? To receive of the fruit of the vineyard. Now go to Hosea chapter number 10, Hosea chapter number 10. Now my question for you is, did Israel, did the physical nation of Israel produce fruit for God? The answer is no. The answer is no. Look at Hosea chapter number 10. Israel is an empty vine. Well that sucks if you're a vineyard owner. The vine's empty? What? I mean God made the tower and he built a hedge and he dug, dig the place for the wine fat, and he gave these guys access to his property to work and to make a profit, and it says Israel is an empty vine. But not only that, it's worse. He bringeth forth fruit unto himself. According to the multitude of his fruit, he hath increased the altars. According to the goodness of his land, they have made goodly images. Now this may surprise you, but this is very typical of Jews. What do they do? They're not profitable and they bring fruit to themselves. Why? Because they love money. This is how Israel, the Old Testament nation was. This is how Jews are today. They love money. Money is their God, just bringing forth fruit unto themselves. They weren't interested in being good stewards of the vineyard. They weren't interested in bringing a profit for the Lord. Rather, they were interested in bringing forth fruit unto themselves. Now here's a proof of that. Go to Matthew chapter 15, Matthew chapter number 15, and we see this story. And you have to realize that before the death of Jesus Christ, it's still considered the Old Testament. The New Testament begins with the death of Jesus Christ, so when we're reading this story in Matthew 15, this is technically still in the Old Covenant. Look at Matthew 15 one, then came to Jesus, scribes and Pharisees, these are the Jews, which were of Jerusalem saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother, and he that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. That commandment, honor thy father and mother, is talking about taking care of your parents financially. It has to do with money. But notice, what was the Jews attitude? Verse 5, But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. So what was happening? Mom and dad needs to be taken care of, and little Jew boy says, No, sorry, this money is dedicated to God. What is that? That's him loving money. Because you really think that he was giving that money to God anyways? He's probably lying about it. He probably was doing like Hosea said, and bringing forth fruit unto himself. Rather than taking care of his parents, he probably was just loving money and keeping the money to himself. Why? Because that's how Jews were in the Old Testament, and that's how they are here in Matthew chapter number 15. Verse 7, Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and on earth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And this is a common thing you see of the nation of Israel, saying, Oh yeah, we love God, we're the people of God, we have the service of God, we have the tabernacle of God, but their heart was far from God. How do you know that their heart was far from God? Because they weren't bringing forth fruit, that's how we know. Because if they actually cared about the certain man that owned the vineyard, they would have brought forth fruit to that man. But instead, what did they do? They were an empty vine, and they brought forth fruit to themselves. Go back to Mark 12. We saw God's business, we saw God's expectation. Notice number 3, God's long suffering. Mark chapter 12, verse 2. And at that season, he sent to the husband men a servant that he might receive from the husband men of the fruit of the vineyard. That's his expectation. Look at verse 3. And they caught him and beat him and sent him away empty. Think about this, really think about this as if this were in modern day times. Imagine you're a landlord, you're a property owner, and you want to go collect on the rent of your tenants, and you send an employee to do that. And you say, hey, go get the rent from these people, and your employee shows up, knocks on the door, hey, you need to pay your rent, and they just get beat up and treated like garbage by the tenants. That would make me really mad. Wouldn't that make you mad? I mean, that's just ridiculous to treat someone like that. You know, you made an agreement to pay the rent, you're using this guy's property to bring forth fruit, you're not doing it, you're not doing what the landlord expected. And notice verse number 4. I love this phrase, and again. What are we talking about? God's long suffering. He sent unto them another servant, and at him they cast stones and wounded him in the head and sent him away shamefully handled. So the landlord, he sends another employee, hey, you give it a shot, you go try to collect the rent, and he gets stones thrown at his head and gets treated like garbage. But notice verse 5. And again, what is this talking about? God's long suffering. And again, he sent another, and him they killed, and many others, beating some and killing some. I mean, when you really think about this parable and you try to put it in a modern day perspective, how crazy would this be? I mean, this landlord is just sending person after person after person to collect. They get beat up, next guy gets stones thrown at his head, next guy killed, and many others, next guy killed, next guy killed, next guy killed. And the landlord keeps giving these people chance after chance after chance. I mean, this landlord is a lot more long suffering than you and I. I mean, if we were sending our friends, if we were sending our employees to go collect, and they're just getting killed, we'd probably go kill these people. I mean, it'd be on. There'd be some serious bloodshed happening. I mean, this is crazy. But you know what? This is how long suffering that God is, when you think about it. This is how long suffering that God was to the nation of Israel. And that is why he's justified in every judgment that he ever makes. He's so long suffering. More long suffering than us as human beings. God is better than us. God has more love than we have. God is more long suffering than we have. Let's go to Jeremiah. Keep your place in Jeremiah and Romans chapter 10. Jeremiah, Romans chapter 10. I want to run through several verses in Jeremiah. Let's start in chapter 7. Jeremiah chapter number 7. And let's just think about how long suffering that God was to these people. Jeremiah 7 verse 25. Jeremiah 5. Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day, I have even sent unto you all my servants the prophets daily, rising up early and sending them. So every day, God is just giving these people profit after profit after profit, chance after chance after chance. Why? Because that's how long suffering that God is. But notice verse 26. Yet they hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened their neck, they did worse than their fathers. That's just like the husband men in Mark chapter number 12. A new messenger gets sent to collect from them the fruits of the vineyard. What do they do? They kill them. They treat them like garbage. And again, God sends another one. And again, God sends another one. And again, God sends another one. Go to Jeremiah 26. Jeremiah 26. Flip over a few pages. Jeremiah 26. Look at verse number 4. And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, If ye will not hearken to me to walk in my law, which I have said before you, to hearken to the words of my servants the prophets whom I sent unto you, both rising up early and sending them, but ye have not hearkened, then I will make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth. Look at Jeremiah 29, verse 18. Jeremiah 29, 18. And I will persecute them with the sword, with the famine, with the pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth to be a curse, and an astonishment, and an hissing, and a reproach among all the nations whither I have driven them, because they have not hearkened to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by my servants the prophets rising up early and sending them, but ye would not hear, saith the Lord. There's more places in Jeremiah where he uses this phrase, sending the prophets, rising up early and sending them, sending the prophets, over and over and over. How is it that God showed his long suffering to the nation of Israel? Well, it's called the Old Testament. Have you seen the names of some of these books? I mean, in your Bible, you might have like a table of contents section. If you do, let's just look there real quick. Try to find the table of contents in your Bible. Okay, let's look at the Old Testament. Obviously, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, we have Moses, we have Abraham, we have Joseph. Look at this name, Joshua. How about this guy? Samuel. How about the kings? David, Josiah, Hezekiah, Asa, right? Ezra, Nehemiah, Psalms written by David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. These are all men. You know what this is? This is God rising up early and sending you a prophet, rejecting him, rising up early, sending you a prophet, rejecting him, over and over and over and over. What is that? That's long suffering. I mean, couldn't God have just sent Moses and called it good? Right? I mean, Moses was a great guy, but you know what? He sent another man, and another man that was rejected, and another man that was rejected and spitefully treated. And all this time, you know, the Bible says to him, give all the prophets witness. All of the Old Testament prophets are preaching about Jesus Christ. They're giving, they're pointing these people to the Lord, telling them how to get saved, and they just reject over and over and over. Go to Romans chapter 10. I told you to keep your place there in Romans chapter 10. This is a theme, how Israel has rejected God and how they were not appreciative of how long suffering he was. Look at Romans chapter 10 verse 17. I was made manifest unto them that asked, not after me. But to Israel he saith, all day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Notice, the writer of Romans here is saying, hey, didn't Israel know? I mean, were they ignorant of God's word? Were they ignorant of Jesus Christ? No, the words of the prophets went out into all the world. Not only was Israel not ignorant, no one was ignorant. The words of God went out into the whole world. Well, have they heard? Did they know? No, all day long God's people were stretching forth their hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people. Why were they doing that? Because God is long suffering, that's why. And think about how long suffering God is today. Think about how wicked our nation is. Think about how wicked the nation of Israel is. Think about how wicked many nations of this world is, Ukraine. But you know what God's people are still stretching forth their hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people today? I mean, how long suffering is it for God? Let's just apply this to our country for a minute. How long suffering is God to the United States of America, the wicked nation that's murdered millions and millions of babies, the government that sponsored terrorism in the Middle East and killed millions of innocent civilians based on lies, the nation that promotes sodomy and adultery and alcohol. And yet despite that, still in our nation we still have more preachers than any other nation in the world. We still have more soul winners than any other nation in the world. We still have more churches than any other nation in the world. Why? Because America's so great? No, because God is so great. That's why. Because God is so long suffering to us, and how much more long suffering was He to the nation of Israel? Thousands and thousands of years of sending prophets. Our nation's been around for a couple hundred years, and we've had a legacy of preachers of God in this nation from the start up until today. And He did the same thing with the nation of Israel for way longer of a time period. I mean, He was so long suffering to these people. He gave these people everything they could have needed. Go back to Mark chapter number 12. We saw God's business, God's expectation, and God's long suffering. Notice God's sacrifice. Mark chapter 12 verse 6. Having yet, therefore, one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. Notice, the money shall be ours. That's what they love, money. And they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. Think about this again. Let's think about the parable. Let's think about the land owner, the property owner, the landlord, who gives these people everything. He sends servant after servant after servant after servant. They keep getting killed. They keep getting treated like garbage. And he's so long suffering, he continues to send more. And on top of that, he's so long suffering that he says, Hey, I'm going to take my well-beloved son. Notice in the parable, it says his well-beloved son. He's not just trying to sacrifice some son that he hates or some garbage son. He's like, Well, you know, this son is garbage anyways. I'm just going to give him to these people. And, you know, this guy's probably going to get killed just like the rest of the servants. No, this is his well-beloved son. And he says, You know what? They'll reverence my son. What is this? God's sacrifice. God's sacrifice. And obviously, this is representing the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, right? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That is God's sacrifice. That not only did he give these people thousands of years of godly men preaching the Word of God, but he actually gave his one only begotten son, his well-beloved son, to come to this earth, to be born in a human's body, to live a perfect life, and to die for the very people that would kill him. That's a lot of love. That is a huge, huge sacrifice. Go to Matthew, chapter number 27, and let me read for you again. Mark 12, 7 says, But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him and killed him and cast him out of the vineyard. Notice they're conspiring during this time. And what is this a picture of? Well, it's this story in Matthew 27, verse 20. But the chief priests and elders, who's that? The Jews persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas and destroy Jesus. They wanted Barabbas to be freed rather than Jesus, who was innocent. Verse 21, The governor answered and said unto them, Whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why? What evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. Verse 24, When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person. See ye to it. Then answered all the people and said, His blood be on us and on our children. Then released he Barabbas unto them. When he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified. Some of the most chilling words that have ever been spoken. Let his blood be on us and on our children. I can't think of anything more blasphemous. I can't think of anything more disgusting than to put the curse of killing the Lord Jesus Christ upon your children. But let me tell you, the descendants spiritually of these scribes and elders that killed the Lord Jesus Christ are cursed. They are cursed. They hate God. They did not esteem the great sacrifice of Jesus Christ for what it was. I mean, it's just it's unfathomable to us what a sacrifice this is, because when I relate this story to you into modern times and I give you the example of the landlord that sends servant after servant, it doesn't make any sense. Who would do that? Who would just keep sending person after person after person that's getting killed? No one. No human would do that. And then after all that, to say, let me send my well-beloved son, who of us would do that? None of us. And you know what? People want to mock God, mock the fact that he gave his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross. You know what? Just go to hell if you're going to blaspheme God like that. It's disgusting. It's the most beautiful sacrifice that we can conceive of. I mean, what a loving God to sacrifice his son for us like that. I mean, this parable, and think about this, Jesus is preaching this parable, looking into the eyes of the very people that will conspire to kill him. That's pretty incredible to think about. I mean, he's looking at these people in the face and he's telling him about this story, how the guy that buys the vineyard is going to send his well-beloved son and they're going to take him and seize on the inheritance, want to seize on the inheritance and kill him. He's saying that to the very people that are going to kill him. These people are going to have a rough time in hell. These people are going to burn in the lowest hell. Just unbelievable. Go to Mark chapter number 12. We talked about God's business, God's expectation, God's long suffering. Notice this, God's sacrifice. And notice number five, God's anger. God's anger. What's the normal response when you read this parable? Anger. I mean, what is wrong with these sick, disgusting people to just treat all of his servants like this and to kill this guy's son? I mean, this is ridiculous. And that's God's attitude too. Look at verse number nine. What shall therefore the Lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen and will give the vineyard unto others. Let me tell you this, God is enraged at Jews today. He's been enraged at them for a long time. And it's unbelievable to me how Baptists who claim to believe the word of God take the biggest enemies in the New Testament, the biggest group of haters of God that exist, the very people that killed our Savior and say that they're special and say that God loves them more than He loves us, more than He loves the world. God is angry at these people. Go to John chapter number three. Let me read for you 1 Thessalonians 2.15. Referring to Jews, the Bible says, who both killed the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and have persecuted us and they please not God and are contrary to all men. It doesn't sound like God's pleased with these people. I mean, He's condemning these people in the strongest terms possible. I mean, how can you even condemn Jews harder than the way the New Testament does? That's why actually many Jewish groups are constantly trying to get the New Testament to be labeled as hate speech. Because it is! Because God is angry at the Jews. Because they are contrary to all men. Because they don't please God. Because they killed the Lord Jesus Christ and the prophets and have persecuted us. Yeah, that's hateful. Well, it's the truth. John 3, look at verse 36. He that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Let me tell you something. The wrath of God is abiding on the unbelieving Jew today. And when the unbelieving Jew dies and breathes his last breath that was given to him by Jesus Christ and closes his eyelids that were formed and made by Jesus Christ, God is going to burn them in hell for all of eternity. Why? Because he's mad at them. That's why. Why? Because he gave them profit after profit after profit. And then he sacrificed his own son for them. And you know what they did? They killed him. And so don't tell me God's not a loving God when he gave them everything that they could have ever had. He gave them the advantage of the word of God. He built the vineyard. He built the hedge. He built the tower. He gave them everything. And they still rejected him. He's justified in burning these people in hell. Don't tell me that hell is hateful. These people asked for it. God could not have done anything more for these people. There's literally nothing else he could have done. And salvation is so easy. He that believeth on the Son hath life, hath everlasting life. How hard is that? It's not. But these Jews want to think that they're going to heaven because of their race? Because of being a Jew? No. God is angry at these people. Revelation chapter number one, you can go to John 12. Or I'm sorry, go to Mark chapter number 12. Sorry, Mark chapter number 12. And I'll read for you Revelation 1, 7 says, Behold, he cometh with clouds when Jesus comes back, and every eye shall see him. And notice, and they also which pierced him, which I think is referring to the Jews, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, amen. You know, when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back to this earth to pour out his wrath, the Bible says that these people are going to be wailing when he comes back. Why? Because God's mad, that's why. And he's coming to pour out his wrath on this earth, and every single unbelieving Jew will experience that wrath. Wrath doesn't mean that God's pleased with him, folks. It means he's angry with him. And we've been going through the book of Revelation. We've been seeing the horrible plagues. We've been seeing the woes of Revelation. Why would God do that? I mean, it seems like it's so extreme. Why would he do it? Because they rejected his son, that's why. Because they killed his son, that's why. And God's completely justified in doing so. Mark chapter number 12, we've seen God's business, God's expectation, God's long suffering, and God's anger. But notice this, God's replacement. God's replacement. Look at verse number 9. What shall therefore the Lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, that's his anger, and notice this, and will give the vineyard unto others. And have you not read this scripture, the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner? This was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in their eyes. And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people, for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them. And they left him and went their way. That's a true saying. The Jews realized, oh crap, Jesus is preaching against me right now. Yeah, because guess what? Any normal landlord who gets all of his servants killed and his son killed is going to come and kill you and replace you. And what does this teach us? God has replaced Israel today. Why do Christians not understand this? Thank God we're doing the New Testament challenge in our church, because you're going to actually read the New Testament is full of replacement theology. What does this parable mean to a Zionist? What's being replaced? It doesn't make sense. They've been replaced. Let me read for you Matthew 21 43. Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you. Let me say that again. The kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. Let me tell you this. God is done with the nation of Israel today. The nation over there that exists in the Middle East that all the Christians are waving the flags of and getting upset about the war that's going on over there and sending all their money to those God hating reprobates. God's not pleased with that. God's replaced that nation. Who's that nation now? We are. God's people are. We're Israel. Why? We don't reject the prophets. We believe the prophets. We don't reject Jesus. We love Jesus Christ. He's our Savior. He's our God. We didn't reject him like they did. Jesus told these people that they're literally the children of the devil. And God's people want to say, oh, they're God's chosen people. Go to John chapter number 12. John chapter number 12. Now, let me say this. I said that there are reprobates over there. Obviously, there are people that call themselves Jews that are not reprobates. But let me tell you what. The religion on this earth that probably has the most reprobates of any other religion is Judaism. It's Judaism. Because their entire religion is based on hating Christ. Of course it's a reprobate factory. Notice what Jesus said to these Jews in verse 36. While you have light. While you have light. You know, this indicates that there's a time when you won't have light. You need to do something while you have light. It says, while you have light, believe in the light that you may be the children of the light. These things spake Jesus and departed and did hide himself from them. But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him. Notice, Jesus commands them to believe and he hides himself from them. What is this? Well, it's prophecy being fulfilled. Look at verse 38. That the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? Verse 39. Therefore, they could not believe. Underline that in your Bible. Therefore, they could not believe. What does it take to get saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. What can these people do? They can't believe. Verse 40. He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and I should heal them. You say, well, that's mean. Why would God blind their eyes? Why would God darken their hearts? Well, maybe you should read the parable of the vineyard to understand why. Maybe you should realize that God had loved these people and had given them chance after chance after chance after chance and had sacrificed his son for them and they still rejected him. And so he says, you know what? You're done. I'm binding your eyes. I'm just going to close your ears. I'm going to darken your heart so that you can never believe. Why? So that he can miserably destroy those wicked men in hell. That's what the owner of the property did. He wanted to destroy those men. Well, hey, God's going to destroy both body and soul in hell. And that's exactly what he's going to do to the Jews. 1 Peter chapter number two. Flip to 1 Peter chapter number two. 1 Peter chapter number two. Look at verse nine. It says, But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Notice, in the Old Testament, who were the people of God? The physical nation of Israel. Were we a people? No, we weren't. But now we are the people of God. Now we are a peculiar people. We are a chosen nation. And just please cement this into your soul that God does not think that Jews are special. God does not elevate them above other people. They are not important today. That's not God's chosen people. We are God's chosen people. We are God's chosen people. And what's some application that we can make from this? We've taught the parable of the vineyard, what it says, what it means. How can we apply this to our lives, okay? I just got done saying that we're God's people. We're God's chosen people. He's replaced them with us. What does that mean? It means that we are now the stewards of God's business. We are now the stewards of the vineyard. So how can we apply this to our lives? We need to not squander the blessings of God. We need to not squander the opportunities and make light of the blessings that God has given us in our life. And think about this first with the new IFB. You know, the new IFB has been given a lot of blessings by God. And you know, we have a big vineyard. I mean, we've got a vineyard in Texas. We've got a vineyard in Boise, Idaho. We've got a vineyard in Vancouver and in Sacramento and in Fresno and in L.A. and all over this nation and all over this world, we have a vineyard. You know what we need to do? We need to be good stewards of that vineyard. We need to love God's Word, love God's prophets and obey what the Bible says to do. You know, what do you think would happen to this church if we just got watered down and got away from the King James Bible, we stopped preaching hard on sin, we stopped being King James only, we stopped preaching the gospel to the lost and we became like a lot of these churches that are just a social club with the smokes and the purple lights on the stage and try to have the girls up here in the miniskirts and it just becomes an entertainment show rather than a church. You know what God would do? He would replace us. And you have to realize that everything is replaceable. The new IFB is replaceable. We can be replaced if we decide to just squander the blessings of God, if we decide to just not take seriously the mission that God has given us, God can replace us. You know what that motivates me to do? It motivates me to stick close to this and say, you know what, we're going to stay with the King James Bible, we're going to stay with preaching hard, we're going to stay with soul winning, we're going to stay with being an independent, fundamental Baptist. The old paths. That's what we're sticking with. Why? I don't want to squander God's blessing. He's given us this vineyard, let's take care of it. Let's not change it. How about this? Maybe God has given you a position at church. Look, that's a great blessing. Don't minimize or take for granted serving in the house of God. That is a great honor and a great responsibility and you better not take it lightly. You know why? Because you could be replaced. You could be replaced. You know, you should apply a lot of the things that were preached this morning and realize, hey, if I'm an usher, for example, I'm not coming to church late. I mean, how can you be an usher and come to church late? How can you sit here and play a musical instrument for the church and not even show up on time to practice? How are you being a good steward of the vineyard God's given you? You're not. And you've got to realize that you can be replaced. It's happened in every church I've been in. People got complacent. People didn't take their job seriously and they were replaced. And hey, I'm preaching to myself too. I can be replaced. If I decided to just get backslidden and get wicked and just live for myself and not care about the Word of God, I know that I can be replaced too. All of us can be replaced. And so realize, hey, don't squander the blessings that God has given you. How about this? How about our nation? How about the fact that, hey, travel the world and you realize that we are blessed to live in the United States of America. We have so much more freedom here compared to the rest of the world. We have such a huge opportunity to preach the gospel and to preach God's Word. But what if we just used the freedom that we have in America just to make a bunch of money and live for ourselves? You know what God would do? He'd replace you. He would probably destroy your life as a Christian and He'd probably just replace you. You think you could serve God and mammon? No, you can't serve two masters. Either you'll hold to the one and hate the other, the Bible says. You can't serve both. And so look, we have a great opportunity in America. I mean, in America, we could preach that fags should be put to death by the government and it's not even illegal like it is in Canada. And guess what? I could do it while armed, too. Can't do that in England. Hey, the police can't even carry guns in England. Wow! It's a joke. And so, hey, maybe instead of just only focusing on the negative of America, which needs to be preached against, and I will preach against it, why don't you also be thankful to God and not be a sniveling, complaining brat that God gave you freedom and that you were born in the United States of America and look at the United States of America as your vineyard. For God. Not for yourself. It's our vineyard. Let's take care of it. Let's preserve it. Let's preach the Bible in it. Not live for ourselves in it. I understand why a lot of people are upset with America. I'm upset with America. America's wicked. But you know what? We're the only hope for this nation. We're the only hope. It's not in Donald Trump. It's not in the Republican Party. It's in us. We must take care of it. We must be good stewards of it. How about this? Maybe God has given you a really good job. And maybe God has blessed you with a lot of finances. But you want to know why He probably blessed you with a lot of finances? It's probably so you can take care of your family really well so that you can serve God. It's probably not so that you can just waste all your money on alcohol and on video games and on just living for the flesh and living for yourself. God didn't give you that so that you could just squander it on yourself. You know what's going to happen? If you do that, He's going to replace you. That's what He's going to do. He's going to replace you at work. And maybe He'll give that blessing to a young man who wants to use it to take care of his family and to serve God. Think about this. God's given many of us great spouses. And look, if your wife or husband is in church tonight, your spouse is already better than 99% of the world. And we all are sinners, but you've got to realize that if your spouse is in church, you are a blessed person. God has given you a great vineyard, and you ought to take care of that. You ought not to just treat your spouse like garbage and take them for granted. No, realize that, hey, God's blessed you with this, and you should take care of it. Because you know what can happen? You can be replaced. Think about Nabal. God killed Nabal and gave his wife to David. You don't think God could do that today? You don't think that if some man had a really godly woman that wanted to serve him, but the guy is just a piece of crap that won't let his wife go to church, that won't let his wife go soloing, won't let his wife read the Bible, that God couldn't just kill you and replace you with a better man? He absolutely could. He absolutely could. You better take it seriously if you're married to take care of your spouse and not take it for granted, because He could take it away from you. And you know what? Sometimes marriage can be hard. I understand people have marriage issues, but whatever problem you have now is nothing compared to God killing you and giving her to another man. I can promise you that. That stings, doesn't it? How about this? How about your children? Your children, many of us, hey, praise God, this church is full of kids. God is blessing this church with children. Realize, hey, God has given you that vineyard to take care of, not to squander, not to raise them to be some sort of athletic superstar, not to raise them to be some just amazing musician that just plays for the world rather than in church. No, rather God wants us to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And you know that you could be replaced as a parent too. You know that? Let me give you an example. My wife. My wife is a good example of this. You know, many of you may not know this, and I've asked her if I could share this, but my wife was born into a really wicked family. Her father is a pedophile, and her mom is a drug addict. Now, thank God she got out of this family at a very young age, so she really escaped a lot of the hell that she could have gone through. But you know what happened? Pastor Thompson and Miss Sherry adopted her because God probably saw that my wife wanted to serve God, that she had a heart that would someday turn to the Lord and get saved and serve Him. And so you know what? God said, hey, I'm replacing these parents. You don't think that could happen? You don't think that God could kill you and your wife and give your kids to someone else? He sure can. I mean, God holds our breath in His hand. He can take away anything from us at any time. I mean, God took away the whole nation from Israel. And so you know what? There's a lot of great lessons in this parable that we can see what happened to Israel. But you know what? There's a lot of application we can make to ourselves too, right? We need to take our lives seriously. Hey, let us be good stewards of all the blessings that God has given us in our life. Let us take it seriously. Let us not squander the blessings of God. Let us wake up every day and thank Him for the vineyards in our life and strive to take care of them well. Otherwise God can replace you and God can replace me. Let's have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you for this parable. Lord, thank you for the Word of God and how deep and wonderful it is, how many truths we can learn from it. I pray that every single person in here would take these things to heart, that we would all examine the many blessings that you've given us in our lives. And instead of complaining about them or murmuring or always wanting more, that we would just be thankful for what we have and that we would take care of it well, that we wouldn't take it for granted the blessings you've given to us and that we would serve you with all of our heart. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright, for our last song we're going to be doing song number 402, Our Best. It's a very fitting song to close us off with. Song 402, Our Best. 402, Our Best. And first. And first. And the best you can, not for reward, not for the praise of men, but for the Lord. Every word for Jesus will be blessed, bloodiest from every one his best. Our talents may be few, these may be small, but unto him do our best our own. May not for men too love, he not their spite, winning the smile of God brings his delight. Hating the good and true, there goes our best, all that we plead for to be in the best. Every word for Jesus will be blessed, bloodiest from every one his best. Our talents may be few, these may be small, but unto him do our best our own. Great singing everybody. You are all dismissed. Thank you.