Vineyards and Presumption

 

Today, we’ll treat you with a sermon by Derek Prince, a long-time preacher who started out back in the ‘40s.  He preached all over the world, and wrote 51 books.  This lecture (in 1990) is just excellent Christian doctrine (he died in 2003).  I’ve shortened it a little, but not eliminating his main theme. It is titled, “The Banquet;” it is a study in self-deception and humility.

He begins by saying this message is a warning; a warning against presumption—presuming on a relationship with God that you don’t actually have.  This discussion will be based on a parable about banquets.

But first we lay the groundwork in Matthew 21:33-46:

There was a certain landowner who planted a vineyard and set a hedge around it, dug a winepress in it and built a tower. And he leased it to vinedressers and went into a far country. ³⁴ Now when vintage-time drew near, he sent his servants to the vinedressers, that they might receive its fruit. ³⁵ And the vinedressers took his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent other servants, more than the first, and they did likewise to them. ³⁷ Then last of all he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the vinedressers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vinedressers?” ⁴¹ They said to Him, “He will destroy those wicked men miserably, and lease his vineyard to other vinedressers who will render to him the fruits in their seasons.” ⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, And it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁴³ “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. ⁴⁴ And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” ⁴⁵ Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them. ⁴⁶ But when they sought to lay hands on Him, they feared the multitudes, because they took Him for a prophet.

The landowner rented out his vineyard to others.  He expected them to bring some of the fruit as payment for the use of the vineyard.  They refused, and this describes how the landowner dealt with them. The listening Pharisees perceived, correctly, that the rebellious renters were them.  In the parable, the renting vinedressers assumed they could take over ownership of the vineyard for themselves.  They didn’t realize that they were only stewards, appointed by the owner, and they had an obligation to him.  The real issue, too, is the issue of fruit.  The vineyard is for those who bring forth the fruit.  Jesus was really telling people that if you don’t bring forth the fruit that God requires, the fruit of righteousness, the fruit of faith, the fruit of mercy, God will remove you from His vineyard and give it to another “nation.” (v.43).

The Greek word for “nation,” ethnos, is normally translated “Gentile,” or non-Jews. The Hebrew word for us is “goyim.” The Hebrews tended to look down on the goyim, the non-Jews.  So when Jesus effectively said, “You Jewish people are in danger of losing your inheritance.  This vineyard God has provided for you, already planted, and all ready to bring forth fruit—if you don’t bring forth the fruit, if you don’t give God the fruit that is His due, God will take it from you and give it to a Gentile nation.” (PS:  Mr. Prince did not believe in Replacement theology—another blog).  These were terrible words for Jewish ears; considering all their special privileges and background God had bestowed upon them. They couldn’t conceive that they would lose their privileged position.

Mr. Prince cautioned that he did not believe that Jesus’ word “nation” refers to a specific country; the “nation” obtaining God’s favor is His saved people. His saved people form God’s kingdom. He has a kingdom all over the world.  Consider the Scripture that says, paraphrasing, “You are a holy nation, a special people, a people that belong to God” (I Peter 2:9, written to all believers).

The problem with the Jews of that time period, especially the leaders, the Pharisees, was that they presumed that they had a special relationship with God, but actually, by their behavior, they forfeited their inheritance.  They presumed because of thinking of their background.  For 14 centuries to that point, they had been a privileged people.  They had the Law, the Temple God designed, the prophets, the only priesthood God had blessed.  All true, but men’s hearts, receiving all this, become presumptuous.  They took these things for granted. In subsequent years, God did exactly what Jesus warned them He would do. He gave the Kingdom of God, through the evangelistic message, to the non-Jews, as well as believing Jews--His people everywhere.  A new part of God’s “nation” began—non-Jews.

And then Jesus reminded them that this forfeiture had been predicted, through their own prophets. Verse 42 is a quote from Psalm 118.  (Yes, David was also a prophet). The ‘stone which the builders rejected’ meant He was the Stone, rejected by most Jews. Then He said, Whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.  This meant, “You builders may reject Me, but I Am the chief cornerstone, and the whole building is built on Me.  There are two ways you can respond to This Stone:  You may fall on the Stone, that is, kneel in repentance, and cry out to a holy just God for mercy from your sin.  You will receive mercy.  You ‘will be broken’ means your pride, your arrogance, your religious assumptions will all be smashed—but you will be saved.  But if you refuse to bow before This Stone, refuse to humble yourself, refuse to acknowledge your need for God’s mercy, the Stone will fall on you—and crush you to powder.  It will destroy you.

So you can find mercy through brokenness, or you can be crushed in divine judgment.  There are only two ways that anybody can respond to Jesus.  A lot of people don’t want to make a commitment, but they don’t want to be accused of rejecting.  They feel they can best get along with neutrality.  But Jesus never offers that as a third way.  He said “He that is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matt 12:30).

So I ask you, search you hearts:  where are you in your relationship with Jesus Christ?  Don’t presume; you may have a Christian family, you may even know a lot about the Bible.  But that’s not the question.  If you’re with Him, you’ll be gathering fruit, or serving Him, doing what He commands. Or you’re against Him, whether you know it or not; and your activities are as wasteful as scattering abroad. They are being used on things that have no permanent value.  You’re missing the privilege of investing in the kingdom of God.

History records the tragedy of those Jewish people. They presumed that which they didn’t have—a relationship with God.  If they had that, they would not be a part of the killing of God’s Son, Jesus.  (But God had planned ahead for that).  Remember, privilege should be taken with humility.  We do not deserve the extra blessings. It is supposed to also confer responsibility; Jesus said “to whom much is given, much shall be required” (Luke 12:48). The more privileges we receive (ed. I’m thinking of the United States), the more God expects of us. Mr. Prince launches into a praise of many people in nations that have little to start with, but they become mighty witnesses for Him—they generate much fruit for God.  They are hungry for His Word, and love to pray, and stay long at church.  They are excellent vinedressers.  They do not waste “endless hours before a television set. We need to exchange that time for Bible study and prayer.  You’ll be surprised how you grow spiritually.  In churches where there were honest times of prayer, many sins were confessed, including adultery, fornication (sex though single), but the worst was idolatry—the idol is most often the TV!  Remember the warning that God led Paul to write in II Corinthians 5:10 about our accountability to God for our behavior:

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

Now Mr. Prince moves on to the banquet parable. Matthew 22:1-14:

And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said: ² “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, ³ and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. ⁴ Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ⁵ But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. ⁶ And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them. ⁷ But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. ⁸ Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. ⁹ Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ ¹⁰ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests. ¹¹ “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. ¹² So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. ¹³ Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ¹⁴ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The king is God the Father; the son was Jesus. He was to be married to His bride, which is the Church, the saved of all humanity.  The Jews were the first to receive the invitation for the wedding. This invitation and conditions of it, were made clear by the previous prophets, who pled with them to make sacrifice and cease their sin so they could attend the wedding. But the Jews refused, and even killed God’s prophets.   Mr. Prince asserts that verse 7, God’s judgment on them, has been fulfilled in the Jewish nation in 70 AD, when the Roman army killed a million of them and destroyed the Temple.  The wedding had to be postponed, until new invitations were sent out—this is referring to bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles.  (The church age, which we are now in, was somewhat hidden from the Old Testament, since that volume was about the Jews). Jesus gave the order of Gospel rollout in Acts 1:8:

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Note the Gospel goes to the Jews’ prime city, then to the two Jewish nations (Israel was split in two after a dispute with Solomon’s son).  Finally, it includes Gentiles, both “bad and good.”  Interesting that the “bad” is put before the “good.” Mr. Prince knows that people who were “bad” in the past, get invited into the Lord’s kingdom—he was one.  Many times, the “bad” accept the terms of the invitation before the “good.” Jesus said to the religious rulers in Matthew 21:31:  tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you! Why? The religious people have a hard time dealing with the humility required to gain God’s invitation because they think that they are good and settled enough already. If God has blessed us financially and physically, that means we are bound for heaven forevermore, right?  No. In verse 11, the king is suspicious because a guest at the wedding did not have on a wedding garment.  In that culture, the Inviter told you, the guest,  the appropriate garments to wear.  The wedding garment means that if we live for Him, He will award us clothing of the righteousness of Christ. Isaiah 61:10 says:

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, My soul shall be joyful in my God; For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness…

God, the great Inviter, clothes us with Christ’s garments, and thus His righteousness is imputed (transferred) to us.  The transfer, or imputation, is on two levels.  Not only are we clothed with the righteousness of Christ, but secondly, God amazingly imputed (transferred) our sin onto Christ.  The double imputation was so we can be righteous in Christ, and the Father can be holy by punishing sin (on Jesus), so He can accept us despite our sin. That’s why Jesus died.   That is atonement.  II Corinthians 5:21 puts it so well:

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Meditate on it.  Think of the Love that God had to give His Son, to gain sinners like us for fellowship.  Think how lavish His love is, that better, sweeter things are still before us in heaven.  But God doesn’t do this if we have no relationship with Him. Not just “accepting” Him. But a relationship with Him is required. Think of His fierce Justice; if we ignore this, the horrors of hell await us. That's clear in v. 13 above.  For this man not clothed in Jesus' righteousness, he was in improper wear; he should have understood that the Father would question.  But he was shocked speechless at the question.  His problem was, he presumed that he was invited. He presumed, and never thought that he would not be given a pass.  He underestimated God’s Justice, or didn’t understand the Word.  Note the importance of this wedding; it was to get to be with Christ in heaven.  The importance of disobeying the rules of invitation cannot be underestimated; he was bound hand and foot (in public), and cast into outer darkness.  The phrase “weeping and gnashing of teeth” says he was consigned to hell. Jesus was saying, in effect, that God extends the invitation, which is the marriage of Jesus, to all who are properly saved by faith and by fruit from relationship, as we saw above.  You cannot be in heaven and ignore His commands while you live on earth. That offer will see if you are humble in the Lord to accept those terms.  What is your relationship with Jesus the Christ?  Your answer to that tells whether you get an invitation to heaven for the wedding to His Son.