Book of Luke - Ch. 20, Vs. 1-19 (08/08/2004)

All right, I believe we're ready this afternoon. We're gonna be in Luke chapter 20 and I'm gonna start with verse 1 and see how far towards verse 18.

We can go some of this We might go through a little more quickly than some that some portions

So let's add 20 Let's pray together and we'll get started

Lord. We thank you so much for The Time we have to come together.

We will I Don't know if we'll get to preach to to go back and and look at these times in the future when we're with you but I know that if we

Do get that opportunity. We'll cherish these times because these are our times of faith together in our times of prayer and We should recognize how special they are

We thank you for the truths You gave us in the scriptures this morning about Keeping the fire always burning in the altar and what that pictures for us your presence with us always

May you fill us with your spirit? that we might Have that which the eternal fire pictured and Lord We thank you for that relationship that you grant to us and we ask you to bless our afternoon study in Jesus name.

Amen Let's just follow along with me if you would and it came to pass that on One of those days as he taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel

The chief priests and scribes came upon him with the elders You know just the phrase came upon him in the

Greek language that little That's one word and it's kind of a strong word.

It's almost like you're coming upon someone In a physical way and that is what they're doing there they're trying to intimidate him

They came upon him with the elders and Spoken to him saying tell us by what authority does thou do these things and who is he that gave thee this?

authority now we can learn something important for ourselves here if we look at Jesus example and That is many times if you wish to win an argument the best way is to answer the question with a question

Someone comes you said well just what makes you think this is true Answer it with a question instead of an answer just say well what makes you think it's not now they have to talk

But it is a principle That we learn in the scriptures and Jesus did this quite often rather than trying to I shouldn't say trying

He can always answer the question, but for us it's an attempt many times Rather than attempting to answer the question sometimes you can answer it with a question that causes the other person

To express themselves and sometimes they'll actually argue themselves in a hole

And that's exactly what happens here So they're asking him what gives you the authority to do the things that you do verse 3 and he answered and said it to them

I will also ask you a question you see I will ask you one thing and answer me

The baptism of John was it from heaven or of man? And they reasoned with themselves saying if we shall say from heaven he will say why then believe he him not

But and if we say of men all the people will stone us for they be persuaded that John was a prophet

So they were thinking about this and they get together and they come up with this answer They answered and they could not tell whence it that they could not tell what it was.

So they said we don't know and Jesus said to them neither tell I you by what authority

I do these things so he never gave the answer But then again, they wouldn't give their answer either

But I remember brother Rocky. I have heard him so many times I can so vividly remember we went to Israel with him twice and there was this tour guide an

Israeli young lady with rip flaming red hair and She was brilliant she knew all the history from each of the spots we would go to what was her name

Shoshi and She she just brilliant So we'd go to dinner and Charlotte and I would just sit there like two little mice and listen to her and Rocky argue

And Rocky was the apologist and she was the agnostic And oh, it was interesting.

It was so interesting, but so many times I can remember She would ask him a question and Rocky would say well, let me ask you this

Again and she never caught what he was doing, but he would get her talking and invariably she would dig a hole for herself

She finally just give up and eat There's a lot of fun And so he told me, you know later.

I told him I noticed it and he said well, I I learned that from my lord That's how he would do it.

Often. He would ask answer a question with a question All right. So let's go. Let's go on now verse 9

Then began he to speak to the people this parable a Certain man planted a vineyard and led it forth to husbandmen that means he rented it or leased it to the husbandmen the farmers and Went into a far country for a long time.

I want you to be thinking as we read through this parable. What is this picturing? When Jesus tells the physical story, what is the spiritual truth being pictured in other words?

ask yourself who is the man that owned the property who who are the ones leasing the property and Ask yourselves who these people picture in reality.

Who are they a type of as you read this so He says at the season he sent a servant

To the husbandmen That they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard, but the husbandmen beat him and sent him away empty and again, he sent another servant and they beat him also and entreated him shamefully and sent him away empty and Again, he sent a third and they wounded him also and cast him out

Now, let me ask you who are these? Who did these picture? Well, let's read a little more

I'll give you another hint before we try to answer then said the Lord of the vineyard. What shall I do?

I Will send my beloved son now, that's enough hint Okay, who is the

Lord of the vineyard? Who is the beloved son?

So who are these previous servants? That's right. They're the prophets that the nation of Israel stoned again and again

Because they would tell them the truth from God and the truth was too harsh for them

And So verse 13 then said the Lord of the vineyard. What shall I do?

I will send my beloved son it may be They will reverence him when they see him

But when the husbandmen saw him they reasoned among themselves saying this is the heir

Come let us kill him that the inheritance may be ours So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him what therefore shall the

Lord of the vineyard do unto them Now, let's go back a minute. I want to ask you this

When they say when Jesus told this story the part where it says, let us kill him that we may that the inheritance may be ours

What is Jesus? Wanting us to believe this is talking about in other words

He gives motive behind why they killed him

What does it say their motive is Okay What would we think then that the

Pharisees actually were thinking when they wanted to kill Jesus What were they trying to gain by killing him?

The whole system they wanted the system Now they weren't stopping to think who the system belonged to were they they weren't stopping to think

Who it was they gave at least the correct parts of their system. They had perverted so much of it by the time of Jesus, but There were still some parts remaining.

I'm sure that were little semblances of the way God set this up with Moses and so they wanted to kill him so that they could own the power of The entire system without sharing it

That's exactly right so this gives us the very motive behind why on the human side what they were thinking

When they wanted to kill Jesus Okay, verse 15 so they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him

What therefore shall the Lord of the vineyard do unto them and then it begins to tell us?

He shall come and destroy these husbandmen Isn't it interesting that they didn't view themselves as husbandmen they viewed themselves as the owners of the system

But they didn't own it they were supposed to be taking care of it he shall destroy these husbandmen and shall give the vineyard to others and When they heard it they said

God forbid I don't know of a better verse than verse 16 to prove

That there are dispensations Who can tell me what a dispensation is just in your own where I mean,

I don't want a theological Definition just tell me you have a feel for it. So what is it?

Okay It's a good way to think of it. Technically the theologians will tell you it's not the time period but to me it is

I mean, I don't know why they get so nitpicky about that They just want to emphasize that it's a way that God deals with his people

But it has to involve time period or can't be dispensation. So you're right So what are the two obvious ones that verse 16 points out?

Okay so We see that the Old Testament and the

New Testament or you might call it law versus grace Law of Moses and with Jesus Christ came grace you see these two

Divisions clearly in verse 16 Now, isn't it interesting that when they heard this they said

God forbid Do they want to give up the law I Had a young man called me this just just this last week who lives in Denver And I was gone on business a few weeks ago.

That's where I was. I went out to see this young man he's 22 years old he's already a millionaire and Businessman made that money in business between the age of 18 and 21

And now he's 22 and he's born again first thing He asked me when we began to do business dealings together.

He said said are you born again? I Said yes, he said okay then Because he doesn't do business with lost people.

But anyway He called me this past weekend there's a messianic group out there that has sort of tried to get him to come to church with him and he really likes it and they have the

Israeli music and and Jewish believers all around and and thing is they believe you have to worship on Saturday and they've been teaching him all this stuff and So I was able to send him a couple of studies

I had done When Russ Halk used to go here, you know, I would debate things for years

Sometimes we'd have an ongoing debate on some of these issues. So that's good. It makes you go study.

So I got Computer files and files of files full of studies on things like the Sabbath on the law whether you have to be a

Jew to be saved all this kind of stuff and so I Sent him a couple of those and what they're trying to do is pull him back into the law a little bit

They want to add. Yes, you need Jesus, but you also have to worship on Saturday Or you need

Jesus and you also need to be circumcised And I mean they add different things to it that they they want to bring the law in Well, why is that because they are

Jews they are Jewish believers and the Jew has the most difficult time Giving up the law.

That's why from the human viewpoint. That's why the Apostle Paul wrote the book of Galatians one of the reasons so They said

God forbid. I look at verse 17 and he beheld them and said What is this then that is written?

The stone which the builders rejected the same is become the head of the corner

Whosoever shall fall upon the stone shall be broken But on whomsoever it shall fall it will grind him to powder

That's probably the best stopping place in this passage. So I'm going to stop there for today but this last

Passage well the whole thing starting with this parable is Jesus primarily speaking to the

Jews around him And it's a fascinating passage to study from the point of view of those who would argue that there are no dispensations

Because it's clear that what he's teaching them is that you kill the prophets God sent his son and You will kill him and that God sent the reason you kill him is because you want the inheritance that he's supposed to have and then the clear division in verse 16 that shows the difference between the

Old Testament and the New Testament and How there's going to be a new order and even the hint of it to the

Jewish mind God forbid Because they had fallen so much in love with the symbols and the things and so much out of love with the

Lord who gave So we should never be focused on the outward things of our religion certainly not on this side of the cross we should be focused on the inward things of the heart and the

Holy Spirit's leading and That personal relationship and that priesthood of the believer that we've been talking about on Sunday mornings for some time now that the

Jewish The Israeli people said we don't want that Moses you go up there We don't want that God offered it to them and they rejected it.

I'll make you a nation believer priest So let us not reject it

Don't ever fall back into legalism Don't ever accept an easy set of rules.

That's the easy way out What you want is a living relationship that requires

To walk with the Lord that requires that what we talked about this morning that willful choice be filled with the

Spirit and Then it requires the loss of self

But other than that You see why people choose a list of rules they don't have to give up self

Interesting, isn't it? All right. Let's pray together father. We thank you for your word the entire day together we thank you for the strength that we draw from one another and also from your presence

In each of us as we meet together Thank you for these times. We cherish them now thank you for a free nation where we can meet together freely and Even have our own

Christian school we look forward a few weeks and coming in preparation for it ask you to bless the teachers and those leading the school as they prepare and continue to protect the children throughout the

Remaining month of the summer and bring us back together safely for school this fall

Lord, we know every time every year this time of year You begin to move and place the people in the place that are going to be helping and we ask you to accomplish that And Lord go with us now protect

Jenny Arlen is there they'll be on their way back to Texas tonight Give them safety

And bring them back to us. We're thankful that you're gonna place them as members of this local body

May we be a blessing to them and they to us and may we all Bring glory to the