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Our sermon will be in Luke 20 9-18

We have a website: https://tahlequahworshipcenter.com/

Service this Wednesday Night - We are in the book of John

Diaper Drive

Prayer requests

Gerald

Georgey

Dorcas

Cristy’s Grandparents

Sandra

Donna

Ukraine

Joe & Family

Kevin Black

I want to welcome all that are joining us online.

Thank you for being here with us.

Cristy has some songs picked out for us.

Songs

I Would Not Be Denied - G - Rejoice 591

He Whispers Sweet Peace To Me - Eb - Rejoice 546

Reckless Love

The Servants And The Son

Not long after I became a Christian, Bruce Wilkinson came out with a book called “The Prayer of Jabez”.

It became an international best seller.

Merchandise came out for it quickly.

Somewhere in my office there is a plaque of some kind about it.

People were claiming all kinds of crazy things about it.

There are 2 lines in scripture about this man called Jabez: 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

1 Chronicles 4:9–10 NKJV

9 Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” 10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

So people started praying this prayer expecting God to immediately grant this “wish”.

The problem is that God doesn’t work that way.

We can’t put God in a box, except where he has.

Like Romans 10:13 “13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

Having said that, I want to say that it’s not a bad thing to pray for.

That God will increase our influence.

God can answer our prayers and he may grant that.

Increasing our influence sounds like a good thing (at least for some people)

God wants good things for us, right?

So he may give us more influence.

Whether we choose to believe it or not, we all have influence.

We all have what God has given us.

Are we using that for good? or for our good

Jesus is about to tell us a story that showcases the fact that God has put us in charge of good things.

What are we doing with it?

Luke 20:9–18 NKJV

9 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. 10 Now at vintage-time he sent a servant to the vinedressers, that they might give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the vinedressers beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 Again he sent another servant; and they beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 12 And again he sent a third; and they wounded him also and cast him out. 13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son. Probably they will respect him when they see him.’ 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.’ 15 So they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.” And when they heard it they said, “Certainly not!” 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’? 18 Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

The Owner sent the Servants

It doesn’t happen like it used to, but years ago there were people known as sharecroppers.

They didn’t own the land, but they worked the land and gave a portion of it to the landowner.

It still sort of happens.

I know people that bail hay and the land owner gets a portion.

Like they’ll do halves.

It happened a lot back then.

There would be someone that owned a large chunk of land and they would allow someone that didn’t own any land to farm it and harvest it and the landowner would get a portion.

That’s what’s going on here.

These vinedressers do not own the land but instead they just work it.

That’s true of us as well isn’t it?

In the eyes of the law we may own the land, but since we are only here for a little while so it’s like we are leasing it.

Can we take it with us?

No, so that means we don’t truly own it.

Getting back to our passage, notice that it says that the owner sends a servant.

In total, he sends 3 servants.

These servants represent the prophets of the OT.

It may be that they represent the Torah (the Law of Moses), the prophets, and the poetry.

Each one of them are beaten and sent back.

It gets progress-fully worse.

It ends with the 3rd one wounded.

This is what God’s people did to God’s messengers.

Hebrews 11:35-36 show us that prophets were tortured, stoned, sawed in two, slain, and beheaded.

It’s still happening to God’s servants.

But there was someone else that God would send to his people.

The Owner sent the Son

The man before them was the son and they were about to kill him.

In fact, a few verses down, they try.

What do the vinedressers say?

The say in Luke 20:14

Luke 20:14 NKJV

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.’

You see, they are thinking about losing their power.

It’s all about them.

People want to push God out so that they will be in charge.

So that they will own the land.

But it can’t happen.

It’s not possible.

They rejected the Son, that means they don’t know and respect the Father.

The Owner sent the Stone

Jesus is the Stone.

I want you to understand something about construction.

The first thing you do is create a foundation and set the corners of the building.

If the corners are incorrect you are in trouble.

If the first corner is wrong, they are all off.

Look at verse 17 - Luke 20:17

Luke 20:17 NKJV

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’?

This verse is quoting Psalm 118:22

What some say happened is that in the original building of the temple, the stone for the chief cornerstone was initially rejected because they thought it was cut wrong.

In the case of Jesus, many of the Jews did reject him.

In next week’s passage, they are seeking to kill Jesus.

They will shortly, but the week is not over.

The point is that Jesus is our foundation.

There is another point made here: Look at Luke 20:18

Luke 20:18 NKJV

18 Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”

It’s not going to be good for those that reject Jesus.

We also see 2 different peoples that are judged here.

The first part is when the stone is laid.

People will trip on Jesus, on his truth.

The next part is talking about the judgment that is coming.

However you break it down, it’s not good for someone that rejects Jesus.

So now we have a responsibly.

We have to tell the word about Jesus.

We don’t want them to miss out on salvation.

The harvest for us is what we do with what we are given.

The land is the gifts and opportunities that God has given us.

God has put us in charge of his land, what have we harvested?

God has placed us here to tend to his fields.

We should be planting, watering, and harvesting?

1 Corinthians 3:5–8 NKJV

5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one? 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

We need to get out there and start the harvest.

We need to get out there.

We need to tell everyone.

We need to pray that God will extend our fields so that the lost can be found.

Before it’s too late.

And if you don’t put your trust in Jesus, then understand that he’s coming back and it’s not going to be good for you.

Next week, we are going to talk about where our influence extends.