The Rejected Christ Luke 20:9-19 Luke 20:9-19 9 Then began he to speak to the people this parable; A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. 10 And 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. 11 And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. 12 And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. 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. 14 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. 15 So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do unto them? 16 He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid. 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? 18 Whosoever shall fall upon that stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. 19 And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on him; and they feared the people: for they perceived that he had spoken this parable against them. (KJV) God has done everything that He can do. He has done more than He should have had to. It should have been enough that He even made man. Much less in His own image. It should have been sufficient for Him to craft us out of the ground with His hands and breathe into us His own breath. But we rejected that. Adam and Eve sinned. They blatently and with premeditation disobeyed their Creator. They turned against the source of their own life. You see, because we are born of woman, we forget that it was really God who gave us life. You may have been delivered by your mother, but you were given life by God. But, like Adam and Eve, we too rejected God. He gave us life, we rejected and refused His gifts. The sons of men are such ungrateful children. I guess we think we are here by accident, but we are formed and fashioned by God, created to love Him. So Adam and Eve rejected their Creator. This resulted in mankind having to face death. It resulted in us being mortal rather than living forever. They were cast out of the garden for their sin. Likewise we will be cast away from the home that God has prepared for us if we sin and reject Him. Sin shall not enter God's heaven. I love you and God loves you, but that doesn't take away from the fact that He will not have fellowship with sin, and if you die in sin, you seal YOUR OWN FATE. God won't be the one to do it, YOU WILL DO IT TO YOURSELF! Sin continued to roam the earth, from Cain killing his own brother, Abel, all the way up to a generation that was eating, drinking, and being merry to the rejection of God in Noah's day. Again, God made provision. He instructed His servant Noah to build an ark to save himself and his family from the destruction that was coming upon the whole earth. Noah did. He was laughed at. Nobody believed it would really happen; but sure enough, it started to rain. And rain. And rain. It rained forty days and forty nights, and no one but Noah, his family and the animals he brought aboard the boat were saved from this devastating flood. Jesus said that as it was in the days of Noah, so would it be in the days of the Son of Man. Men eating, drinking, being merry, not the least bit concerned with the condition of their soul. How true it is! Men and women are headed for hell and they don't even seem to care! I will never understand this, accept to say that the devil has blinded them to the truth of their own condition. But God, like He did for Noah, has provided an ark of safety for whoever will get on board. It is salvation through Jesus Christ. Like in Noah's day, the world is coming to a time of destruction, and only some will survive. Only the ones who climb aboard the ark of safety will be rescued from the judgment of God. Jesus tells a parable in Luke 20 about a certain man who planted a vineyard. He then leased it to vinedressers and went away for a long time. At vintage time, or harvest time, he sent a servant to them that they might give Him some of the fruit of the vineyard. He did this three times. And three times the servants were treated shamefully and their message was rejected. Jesus was teaching us a lesson about God's love. He had sent prophets all down through the years to warn Israel to get right and prepare the way of the Lord. But many of the prophets had been abused, disbelieved, and even stoned or killed. Jesus, in His frustration, would later declare, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kills the prophets..." God had tried so many times to bring salvation to the masses, but they had rejected and even reacted violenty with those that He had sent to them. It didn't mean that they or their words were not from God, the people just wouldn't hear what they had to say. This generation has done the same thing. What rejection men and women of God feel as they try to warn people of the truth and their words go ignored or even rejected angrily! Not only was Israel guilty of rejecting God's Word, but so is today's world. God is reaching out, begging you to accept Him, to live uprightly, to love Him, yet His messengers and His message are rejected by the majority. But God is longsuffering. He is patient. He is kind. It is not His will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So, in the parable, the owner of the vineyard, despite having his servants rejected, sent His own son to the dressers. But when the dressers saw the Son, they dragged him OUT OF THE VINEYARD, and killed Him. Likewise, Hebrews said, Hebrews 13:10-14 10 We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. 11 For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. 12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. 13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. 14 For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. (KJV) Just like the son of the owner of the vineyard, Jesus was taken outside the vineyard, outside the gate and murdered, rather than accepted. Do you reject Christ today? If you do, you are the same as the vinedressers. You crucify our Lord afresh. You put Him to shame again. He has sent His Word unto you. He has given you opportunity after opportunity, but you have rejected Him. What will happen to you and your rejection? Luke 20:16 16 He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid. (KJV) Just like the husbandmen were destroyed, and the vineyard was given to others; Just like the Jews rejected Christ and saw the destruction of Jerusalem as a result in 70 A.D. and the gospel was given to the Gentiles; THOSE WHO REJECT CHRIST WILL ONE DAY MEET NOT THE GOD OF MERCY WHO THEY CAN MEET TONIGHT, BUT THE GOD OF JUDGEMENT WHO WILL THEN DESTROY BOTH BODY AND SOUL! Luke 20:17 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? (KJV) Whoever falls on that stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. FALL ON THE ROCK. ACCEPT CHRIST. ACCEPT HIS WORD. God's Spirit will not always strive with men. The Owner of the vineyard will not continue to send prophets and preachers. He has already provided your opportunity. Accept Him tonight! Give Him your life!