verses 9-19. And he began to tell the people this parable, a man planted a vineyard and rented it out to vine growers and went on a journey for a long time. At the harvest time he sent, he sent a slave to the vine growers so that they would give him some of the produce of the vineyard. But the vine growers beat him and sent him away empty handed and he proceeded to send another slave and they beat him also and treated him shamefully and sent him away empty handed. And he proceeded to send a third and this one also they wound it and cast out. The owner of the vineyard said, what shall I do? I will send my beloved son perhaps they will respect him. But when the vine growers saw him they reasoned with one another saying, this is the heir, let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours. So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy these vine growers and will give the vineyard to others. When they heard it they said, may it never be but Jesus looked at them and said, what then is this that is written? The stone which the builders rejected this became the chief cornerstone. Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces but on whomever it falls it will scatter them him like dust. The scribes chief priests tried to lay hands on him at that very hour and they feared the people but for they understood that he spoke this parable against them.
From the time Jesus arrived in Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday and to the time of his crucifixion the gospel of Luke records one conflict after another. The thinner and tone of Jesus's teaching goes from what it means to be a disciple to what will happen in just a little while and in the time after that and in the time after that. The largest part of Jesus's predictive teaching comes in this section of scripture and we have here a text that tells us about Jesus' teaching in the midst of the conflict and conflict is all around. We see it. We see the thinner but just let me point it out. I've got this on the overhead for you Luke 19 verse 48. He was teaching daily in the temple but the chief priests and scribes and leading men among the people were trying to destroy him chapter 20 and verse 20. So they watched him and since spies who pretended to be righteous in order that they might catch him in some statement so they could deliver him to the rule and authority of the governor and chapter 22 and verse 2. The chief priests and scribes were seeking how they might put him to death for they were afraid of the people. That's the context of the ministry of our Lord from Palm Sunday to the crucifixion conflict. The chief priests scribes the rulers of God's people wanted to destroy him and Jesus tells this parable against them doesn't he? They understood it verse 19 of the text we read this morning the scribes and chief priests tried to lay hands on him at that very hour and they feared the people for they understood he spoke this parable against them. You know they didn't get it right about who John the Baptist was and they didn't get it right about who Jesus was but they got this right didn't they? He spoke this against them and because that's true because that is the intent of the parable the the theme that we'll look at this morning is six signs of a hard heart because that's the issue they had a hard heart but I got to tell you I couldn't just preach six signs of a hard heart to you beloved saints of the Lord so I put on there from our New Testament lesson four signs I could have done seven that would have been numerically better you know the number of the man and the number of anyway four signs of a tender heart but also as we look at these six signs of a hard heart I will mention the that the opposite is true of the tender heart so let's look at these six signs the first one is this a hard heart consistently refuses to listen a hard heart consistently refuses to listen we see this in verses 10 through 15 the and we know the the owner of the vineyard is the Lord God the church is the vineyard or the people of God are is the vineyard and and the vine growers are the leadership in this case the scribes and chief priests y'all there's are the people the leadership and in the parable it's not only in this particular instance but there's a history he sent other servants from from John the Baptist all the way you know Samuel and Moses and the prophets and such and he speaks about that in these verses and and the refrain is they refuse to listen you know he sends a servant they they throw him out they send him away empty handed he sends another servant they they throw him out empty handed they he sends a third they throw him out sends a son they kill him they refuse to listen and he is speaking about a broader context let me just read to you three texts from from the prophets the first one from the third one from chronicles but still about the prophets just to give you a taste of this idea that Jesus sent his servants Isaiah 39 through 11 for this is a rebellious people false sons sons who refuse to listen to the instruction of the Lord who say to the seers that's another word for the prophets you must not see visions and to the prophets you must not prophesy to us what is right speak to us pleasant words prophesy illusions get out of the way turn aside from the path let us hear no more about the holy one of Israel from Amos chapter 2 and verse 12 but you made the Nazarites drink wine and you commanded the prophets saying you shall not prophesy from second chronicles 24 19 yet he sent the prophets to them to bring back to the Lord though they testified against them they would not listen these I reduced it as much as I could just for the sake of time believe me the greater context more verses it's throughout the prophets that this is true and they understood it they they understood that there was a history in the way the people of God who spoke the word of God the prophets of God spoken and the people of God rejected it hard hard refuses to listen they find something wrong with the prophet the way he dresses the way he looks is diction or electrocution or or being from some backwards country town or whatever it is they find something and they know the prophets give us clear words we don't want to listen to the word to the Lord don't prophesy to us but often the way it happened in practice was more of a personal nature but by the way a tender heart a tender heart listens to the servants of the Lord a tender heart listens in such a way that the the scriptures uses the word listen they they hear the words but they don't just hear these audible towns and decibels and such they they hear the message of what God is saying and they they respond to it they understand what God wants and and listening is that listening is giving attention to the person to the message to the intent and then responding appropriately and and the one with a tender heart listens to the slaves of the owner listens to God most high number two a hard heart is brutal and violent again in the parable the harvest time he sent a slave to the vine grower so that he would give them some of the produce of the vineyard but the vine growers beat him and sent him away empty handed he presented proceeded to send another slave and they beat him and also treated him shamefully and sent him away empty handed verse 12 he proceeded to send a third and this one they also they wounded and cast out brutal violent again from the prophets and it was so hard to reduce my text but just a couple just a couple first kings 19 verse 10 this is Elijah there's so much here but we'll just just Elijah's words too okay this is how the prophet felt he said I have been very zealous for the Lord the God of hosts for the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword and I alone am left and they seek my life to take it away it's just about the leader who was seeking his life and there were 7,000 I know but still this is the way the prophet felt and what 7,000 who have not bowed the need to bail in a country of over a million people are we to rejoice second Chronicle 16 verses 7 and verse 10 at that time Hannah and I at the seer and I the seer and the prophet really they have a lot in common they have a similar ministry they bring the word of God they the seer sees what God says the prophet is doing pretty much the same thing anyway the seer came to asa king of Judah and said to him and he gives the message and then in verse 10 then asa he was the king was angry with the seer and put him in prison where he was enraged at him for this and asa oppressed some of the people at the same time and then from Hebrews chapter 11 36 to 38 and others experienced mockings and scourging just also chains and imprisonment they were stone they were sawed into they were tempted they were put to death with the sword and on it goes speaking of the people of God for sure but of the prophets if you look it's the leaders of the church or the Moses and the judges these sorts of people who are mentioned there Jesus is telling them what they're going to do what they're going to do to him he is the beloved son isn't he and we know how brutal they were with Jesus they mocked him spit in his face plucked out his beard punched him beat him with rods crucified him brutal and violent by the way a tender heart is compassionate gentle as well as listening to God's word number three a hard heart acts for personal gain we see this the the owner of the vineyard rinse it out there is an understanding some sort of contractual agreement that they will that the owner will receive a return in his investment every year at harvest time he is to receive a share of the harvest that's what's understood that's the reason why he sent his slaves and year by year they say no no no they send it Jesus tells us twice in the parable they sent him away empty handed the third one it's implied the son was killed that they may receive the inheritance that's the dark way isn't it I mean isn't that the way of the flesh isn't that the way of the sinful nature isn't that the way that the evil one works in the hearts of the deceived to think that by force by killing they can receive the inheritance from God it isn't God amazing that it is by violence and by death that we receive the inheritance of God but it's by the death and the substitutionary death and atonement of Jesus that we are saved it so for us it's not by violence and brutality but by compassion and gentleness by suffering in and with and for our Lord Jesus Christ a tender heart lives for the glory of one a tender heart is generous and giving number four a hard heart once God's stuff but dishonors and rebels against God the parable is clear on that they dishonor they treat shamefully the slaves they they treat shamefully the son they kill the son it's obvious that they are both dishonoring the father the owner and rebelling against him and again think about this think about who Jesus is speaking with he's speaking to he's not speaking to the enemies of God's people you know the Philistines of Older or Syria who's coming in to take advantage of them or or Babylon or something some of the ancient enemies of God these are the religious leaders that he's speaking about these are those who dressed up to come to the Lord's house to bring him worship I'll leave it at that a tender heart honors and obeys number five a hard heart rejects Christ and the parable makes this abundantly clear as well doesn't it the owner of the vineyard verse 13 said what shall I do I will send my beloved son perhaps they will respect him remember he's telling a story and he's predicting what will happen he's not saying God's scratching his head saying wonder if this will work he's telling him what's going to happen so he's telling it in a story form and we don't want to get lost in the story down rabbit trails but but he speaks instead this way this but when the vine growers verse 14 when the vine growers saw him they reasoned with one another saying this is the heir let us kill him so that the inheritance will be ours they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him what then will the owner of the vineyard do to them it speaks to it also verse 17 when when they understood the the parable and and their destruction and said man never be Jesus said to them what then is this that is written the stone which the builders rejected this became the chief cornerstone you know jea Peter picks this up not only in his letter that we read in our New Testament lesson but in his preaching in Acts chapter 4 you know he was arrested for healing a lame man Peter and John and spent the night in jail and they're released and they come before the religious leaders again the the rulers of the temple not the Roman leaders the Jewish leaders Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them rulers and elders of the people if we are on trial today for the benefit done to a sick man as to how this man has been made well let it be known to all of you who are and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene whom you crucified whom God raised from the dead by this name this man stands before you in good health he is the stone which was rejected by you the builders but which became the chief cornerstone and there is salvation and no one else for there is no other name under heaven given by which among men by which we must be saved pretty clear isn't it pretty profound of our Lord he is the sovereign Lord who has come to die in Jerusalem and he's not afraid of this particular conflict and this one he is kind of instigating this is still in fact if you think about it when he came in to Jerusalem he wept over the city next day he clears the temple of those who are selling says this is supposed to be a house of prayer for the nations of God next day they say to him buy what authority are you doing this and he asked them the question about John answering their question and this follows right on the hill it is the answer it is Jesus giving his teaching to those who are saying buy what authority they rejected him by the way a tender heart receives Jesus not just receives Jesus but comes to Jesus and seeks him out we'll talk about that more in a minute number six a hard heart ends in destruction verse 15 they threw him out of the vineyard and kill him what then will the owner of the vineyard do to them verse 16 he will come and destroy he will come and destroy these vine growers we'll give the vineyard to others and again verse 18 after saying the stone which the builders rejected this became the chief corner stone verse 18 tells us everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces but on whomever it falls it will scatter him like dust such a sober sober thing you're saying it's due to examine your hearts think through these signs where are you with the Lord I don't want to the message the climax yet I want to give you more to consider before that but I want you to see
should I see the weight of the teaching of our Lord that those who were the most religious in Jesus's day were hard-hearted and hated our Lord and while they sought to destroy him
it was only in a sense that they could but when he destroys them there's no recovery amazing the tender-hearted experiences life evermore because their heart has been changed by the only one who can soften a heart of stone and make it alive let's let's look at the signs four signs of a tender heart I take these again from our New Testament lesson from 1st Peter chapter 2 and you may want to turn there in your Bibles or from the the text that's printed in your bulletin and four four points the first one a tender heart comes to Jesus verse 4 and coming to him that is Jesus coming to him as the living stone which has been rejected by men but choice and precious and the side of God coming to him it's it's not speaking here of their conversion the tender-hearted have already been converted okay and I'm speaking to you who profess faith in Jesus Christ who whose profession is God has changed my heart this was the profession of the religious leaders before whether they would use those words or not but this is our profession too God has changed my heart and so as those who have a changed heart attend their heart toward Lord so in the process of those who are the children of God whose heart has been changed they come to him okay so it's not coming to Jesus for salvation we do come to Jesus for salvation we see that God sent him to die on the cross cross for our sins and if there are any here who have never been reconciled to God start there just pray to Jesus Jesus forgive my sins may your death on the cross covered them may have made that punishment be my punishment and may I have the life that only you can live come to him that way if you've never been reconciled to him but but if you profess to have a tender heart if you are in a relationship with God then know that the heart the tender heart of the child of God comes to Jesus I wish I had we could just start here and each one of these points was for the week we read the Bible and pray the Lord willing you have a discipline of coming to the Lord and word and prayer every day and remember the goal is not to read and pray the goal is coming to Jesus we just do it through word and prayer the tender heart do the heart that has been changed the heart that is in the hand of the Lord that he molds and shapes comes to Jesus for life for forgiveness for hope for assurance to hear do not be afraid be strong and courageous as our children are memorizing number two and I want to spend most of my time here Jesus becomes precious to the tender heart again process people of God but Jesus becomes precious verse 4 again coming to him as a living stone precious choice and precious in the sight of God you see in God's sight he is precious in God's sight Jesus's choice and precious God sees Jesus is elect his chosen one as precious highly valuable this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased he he sees Jesus as precious but we are too we are to see him that way too verse 7 therefore to you who believe he is precious verse 7 I know you don't have the verses marked in your bulletin but it's verse 7 therefore to you who believe he is precious what's that mean we need to know a tender hearted person for the tender hearted person for the for the child of God whose heart is in the hands of the Lord the Lord is precious in my personal devotions I'm actually going through Joshua I think I needed some of that encouragement it's a it's a bloody book with that be strong in the Lord is a great message but I'm also reading in the Psalms and I've been meditating this week on Psalm 27 and I highly commend it to you I highly commend the Psalms to learn how to talk to God using that language to talk to God to meet with God just seek his face in fact that term seek his face it's in there it's a command to the tender hearted Psalm 27 and in verse 4 says one thing I ask of the Lord this is what I seek that I made well in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple one thing I ask of the Lord one thing one thing one thing that's the one thing I'm going to seek after for us as believers today this is a good verse there is not a temple that we go to because we are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwells in us today is a day we're neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem is the house of God the place where we worship the Father in fact this is the hour it has come when the true worshippers worship God in spirit and in truth or such are the kind of worshippers the Father wants but still today the one thing the one thing is to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord how do we do that we don't have the temple if we had the temple we would have something something to help us worship aids if you will the beauty and structure of the temple of the holy place with the the table with the bread of life represented there the the incense altar with the smoke representing the prayers of the saints so we wouldn't go into the holy of holy that most holy place where the mercy seat with the cherubim wings up above but we would know what was there and and that holy place would help us to think about his beauty and the in the artwork and the creation of the curtains and such where worship is going on but we we are the temple of God we are the temple of God so to how do we gaze upon his beauty to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord the one thing the one thing I will seek how do we gaze upon his beauty I think I think we can do it by looking at the beauty of God's creation right and the prayer of praise talked about the the green trees and the very the array of colors and the flowers and such and and we see the beauty of God and the creation that he has made and with the idea that if if he made the world so beautiful and again it's so small so small so small in the universe so small in the galaxy and yet with what beauty I mean here we are living on it you know it's written here's a you who in reality for us here in who will it's beautiful the flowers are beautiful so delicate they last such a short period of time
and the beauty of the Lord he created beauty that way and we think about the way he's made us and we think about the DNA structure of the cells we've got billions of them in our body and each one carrying so much information beautiful I think there is gazing upon the beauty of the Lord as as we study in science and as well as art and we gaze upon the beauty of the Lord when we contemplate the great work of salvation how precious Jesus should be to us in his person in his person that here is the eternal God ever dwelling father son and holy spirit and perfect unity the eternal son became a man and took on flesh and dwelt among us beautiful and now forevermore God and man two distinct natures in one person forever beautiful you will not find a more beautiful love then the love of God exhibited in the sun and redeeming a people for himself and coming for a bride and sanctifying a bride and making her beautiful for her wedding day the tender heart find Jesus precious as they gaze upon his beauty brothers and sisters it's all of grace but it's the grace of God that's going to make us gaze upon his beauty it doesn't come in a five minute devotional halfway through a cup of coffee that's coffee as we run the yellow red light on our way to work it takes time contemplation meditation we need to take a day of solitude where we get away and there's quiet and we have time to gaze and to behold to seek let me just race through these other two points a tender heart lays aside some things and takes up other things this is from Peter we find it in verse one starting therefore laying aside okay there's the lays aside he doesn't use the words take up but he he talks about what to take up after he talks about what the lay aside right so verse one therefore laying aside what do we lay aside all malice all deceit hypocrisy in the all evil speaking what do we what do we take up what do we take on what do what do we put on to use a similar analogy used by the apostle Paul as newborn babes desire the pure milk of the word that buy it you may that you may grow thereby if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious there's a laying aside there's a laying aside it's or the putting off either way you want to say it laying aside putting off the old man the old nature the sinful nature Ephesians chapter 4 verses 22 to 24 talk about it in Colossians 3 8 and 10 talk about this putting off and putting on laying aside and taking up and we put on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh that's the putting off we put on the Lord Jesus we put off the sinful nature we that we come to the Lord as we as one who feeds us from the pure milk of his word and as we grow the meat of his word and we see what to put off and we put it off and we see what to put on and we put it on and and because Christ is in you the hope of glory you your heart is tenderized as you take off lay aside put off your heart is tenderized as you put on the Lord Jesus Christ finally a tender heart offers spiritual sacrifices for first Peter 2.5 you also as living stones because you have the life of Christ in you as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ the tender heart a tender heart is a priest who offers spiritual sacrifices who laid aside the old self and the corruption and malice and guile and envy and evil speaking and all that and has put on the Lord Jesus Christ is coming to him and drinking from the word is taking time to meditate to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek his face and then offering his body as a living and a holy sacrifice acceptable to God through Jesus Christ offering his time offering his will offering every aspect of her life or his life to the glory of God now dear saints of the Lord holy and beloved examine your heart what do you see I would imagine for every blood bought child of God you see both we're always putting off but we're also putting on we're finding in Jesus life we're finding in Jesus I think so precious let's pray we thank you Lord Jesus that even in this final week where it is so solidified in the hearts of your enemies to put you to death to destroy you that while not soft or weak or running away in any way yet lovingly and truthfully you speak the call the wandering from their wandering to life in you oh Lord Jesus grant that all your children us assembled and your people throughout the earth today alive on planet earth may it be that more and more we die to our hardhearted ways and with tender hearts come to Jesus to inquire to gaze to behold and then