Luke chapter 20, look at verse 23 there.
In Luke chapter 20 verse 23, the Bible says,
But he perceived their craftiness, and said unto them, Why tempt ye me?
The title of the sermon this morning is, He perceived their craftiness.
He perceived their craftiness.
Now, chapter 20, Luke chapter 20 starts a new, sort of a new chapter in this book, if you will.
The first three chapters of the book of Luke were prior to the ministry of Jesus Christ.
We learn about John the Baptist, and we learn about the birth of Christ,
and Christ comes to be baptized of John the Baptist.
And then from chapters 4 to 19, we have the three-year ministry,
the bulk of Jesus Christ's three-year ministry, as he's going from city to city,
town to town, preaching the gospel, healing the sick, casting out devils.
But if you remember, last week in chapter 19,
we saw Jesus come in the final time into Jerusalem,
riding on that donkey, being praised as the king of Israel by his disciples,
and then he comes in, he cleanses the temple that one more time.
So now, from chapters 20 to the end of Luke, we really have this final week.
It's all one week, and it's all crammed into these last chapters here of the Bible.
The book of Luke doesn't cover too much about the events following the resurrection of Christ.
We see the resurrection, but then I think in the last chapter,
it just basically descends up to heaven.
We don't see so much more about what took place afterwards.
But yeah, so I just want to get to that picture here,
that Luke chapter 20 to the end of Luke is one week,
like seven days pretty much, and the resurrection, so three days later as well.
So let's pick it up from verse number 1.
And it came to pass that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple,
so here we have Jesus, not only did he cleanse the temple,
but there's another day now, maybe the second day of the week,
where he's teaching in the temple.
People are coming and hearing him preach, and he says, and he preached the gospel.
He preached the gospel. You see, that was the main thing that Jesus came to preach.
The chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders,
and spake unto him, saying, tell us, by what authority doest thou these things?
Or who is he that gave thee this authority?
So we as his believers, we as people that believe the Bible,
we know where the authority of Jesus is coming from.
We know that it's coming from God the Father.
We know that he's descended from heaven.
He was born of Mary, that is God in the flesh.
But they're asking the question, what was it, the elders, the scribes, the chief priests?
The religious leaders, once again, come.
They don't like the fact that Jesus is teaching the gospel.
They don't like that he's teaching the common man.
The people that are here in the temple, you need to understand,
these are people that have a heart for God.
These are people that want to serve him.
They want to be right with him.
They come and bring their sacrifice to the temple.
They come and pray in the temple, whatever it is, singing praises.
These are people that are seeking God.
These aren't your other Jews that just have no time for God in the temple.
Jesus is teaching those that truly have a heart for God,
and the religious leaders don't like this at all.
Before we look at Jesus' answer to this question,
the title of this sermon is, He Perceived Their Craftiness.
What you'll see in this chapter is that people are asking Jesus questions again and again and again
in order to find fault in him.
They're not people that are truly seeking an answer.
They're just trying to put Jesus in a bad light.
And we need to be aware of this, brethren,
that not everybody that comes asking you a question or comes asking me a question
does it from a pure heart.
Quite often they come in with craftiness.
They come in to hurt you or hurt me.
I've told you this before, but when I first started this church,
I got the weirdest phone calls.
You can still get the weirdest call from time to time,
but when we started, just weird people asking perverted things,
asking about intimate things between husband and wife,
asking about divorce and remarriage and lying to me on the phone,
me catching them out in their lies.
I could tell these people. I didn't tell straight away.
I'm a new pastor. I'm just trying to do the best.
I think this is just normal until I realize these people are trying to find fault in what I have to say.
I have to be like Jesus. I have to perceive their craftiness.
And what we see in this chapter are just little red flags that you can be aware of
of people that come and ask you questions because of their craftiness.
But the first thing we see is people of authority coming to ask questions.
Instead of just being there quiet with the rest of them listening to the teaching of Christ,
they're coming and asking Christ questions.
Now, I'll just read to you a few passages.
If you guys can go, keep your finger there.
Turn to Proverbs chapter 21.
Turn to Proverbs 21.
Proverbs chapter 21.
And I'll read to you from Colossians 4, 6, which says,
Let your speech be all way with grace, seasoned with salt,
that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.
Hey, when we answer every man, every man that comes and asks us questions,
we need to make sure that when we answer, we do it by grace.
We season it with salt.
We're mindful with how we respond to questions is what the Bible says.
Be mindful.
Hey, don't be someone with no filter whatsoever.
Okay?
You guys look at Proverbs 21 verse 23.
Proverbs 21 verse 23.
The Bible says,
Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.
You know, sometimes the right answer is no answer.
All right?
You just keep your tongue and you stay quiet.
Okay?
And it'll keep you from trouble.
Go to Proverbs 17.
Proverbs chapter 17 verse 27.
Proverbs 17 verse 27.
The Bible says,
He that hath knowledge...
So if you're someone with knowledge, you're not stupid, right?
He that hath knowledge spareth his words.
You know, you're mindful about what words you speak.
You have some type of filter that will prevent you from speaking too much.
And it says,
And a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.
Verse 28,
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise.
And a man of understanding...
Sorry.
And he that shut off his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
So look, even if you're foolish, even if you're lacking understanding,
if you just stay quiet and listen,
you'll be seen as someone that is counted wise when you hold your peace.
Okay?
Even fools can get away with looking intelligent just by being quiet.
But usually the foolish are the first to speak, you know, with an unfiltered mouth.
But I just wanted to read these passages to you about our speech,
about how we answer that you don't...
You know, you're mindful when someone asks you a question and it's a bit odd.
You know, you're kind of thinking,
Hold on.
What is this person's motive?
Why are they asking me this question?
And how am I going to respond?
You know?
And this requires tact, okay, with how you speak to people.
Now, I'll just quickly...
Well, we'll talk about that later on.
Go back to Luke chapter 20.
Go back to Luke chapter 20, verse 3,
because I want to show you how Jesus responds.
Does he just tell them,
My authority comes from God the Father?
Does he just tell them,
My authority comes from heaven?
He points them to the right direction,
but that's not how he answers.
Look at verse number 3.
And he answered and said unto them,
I will also ask you one thing and answer me.
The baptism of John,
was it from heaven or of men?
So we see Jesus is very mindful of how he responds.
He asks them a question, okay?
And he does that.
So their force,
because they're the ones that came with the question,
they're forced to respond
and by their response,
they would make known
what authority Jesus speaks or teaches with, okay?
Because if it's from heaven,
then what Jesus is saying is that,
yeah, that's where my authority comes from as well, okay?
So by extension,
Jesus is revealing what authority he is coming from,
what authority he is preaching from.
Verse number 5.
And they reasoned with themselves saying,
if we say from heaven,
he will say,
why then believe ye him not?
Say what?
So if they say John the Baptist was a prophet
with the authority of God,
with the authority of heaven,
Jesus will ask them,
well, why didn't you believe what he taught?
And what did John the Baptist come preaching?
He came preaching,
pointing people to the son of God,
pointing them to Jesus Christ,
the lamb that take away the sin of the world.
He came teaching that.
So if you're saying that John the Baptist's
authority is from heaven,
then why don't you believe me?
Why don't you accept my authority is what Jesus is saying?
They can't answer that question like that.
They're trying to fall in fault in Jesus.
They're trying to turn the hearts of the people
against Jesus.
They can't say it's from heaven.
Verse number 6.
But if we say of men,
all the people will stone us,
for they be persuaded that John was a prophet.
So look these people that are coming to the temple
to serve God to do the right thing, right?
The things that God has commanded of them.
These same people will stone us
if we say the authority of John was from men.
Say, why is that?
You know, these religious leaders
were profiting
from the preaching of John the Baptist.
It's John the Baptist that
had created a new generation
that had a heart for God
that were prepared for Jesus Christ to come.
And you know,
he converted these people
that was baptized in them by the thousands.
These people were being made right with God.
Then they go into the temple
to do their temple worship.
And of course, these priests,
they're profiting from that, right?
That the people's hearts were turned to God.
They were benefiting from that.
So if they say, hey, it's from man,
they'd be like, what are you talking about?
It's John the Baptist that got me saved.
It's him that pointed me to Christ.
It's him that told me to come to the temple
to come and do the right things before God.
You know, and they'd get mad at this, right?
So they're mindful, they're afraid
of the worshipers of the temple.
They're afraid of the people.
So in verse number 7,
they answered that they could not tell
whence it was.
They have no authority.
We don't know by what authority,
John the Baptist,
they'd just rather remain quiet.
Just as we saw in the Proverbs.
You know, even a fool can stay quiet
and appear wise, okay?
So they took that advice on board
from the book of Proverbs.
But you know, Jesus used tact
in how he responded.
You know, to reveal the truth
out of the mouth of his enemies, okay?
And sometimes when I have somebody
asking me a question that I think,
I've learned this now, but you know,
it's like, that's a bit weird.
Why are you asking me that question?
I normally just ask him,
oh, what do you think?
Just to see where they're at,
to see where their heart's at,
to see if they're genuine, okay?
If they're really seeking this answer or not.
And I look at verse number 8
and Jesus said to them,
neither tell are you
by what authority I do these things.
So Jesus just undermines their position.
He doesn't respect their authority.
He doesn't respect them as religious.
I'm not going to tell you.
You've asked me.
You can't answer my simple question.
I'm not going to answer yours, all right?
Jesus put himself in a position
where he didn't have to engage
with time wasters, okay?
Be mindful of that.
Again, people ask you questions
to waste your time as well, okay?
Jesus was preaching to the multitudes.
He was preaching to the people in the temple
and these religious leaders
are distracting him,
causing him to waste time
with their nonsense questions.
Verse number 9.
Now Jesus begins to speak here a parable
and this parable answers the question once again
as to who sent him,
as to where his authority comes from.
Let's have a look at it from verse number 9.
Then began he to speak to the people this parable.
A certain man planted a vineyard
and led it forth to husband men
and went into a far country for a long time.
So in verse number 9,
this certain man represents God the Father, all right?
And the husband men,
they're people that attend into the vineyard,
the gardeners if you will,
these people are employees
that God the Father has left
to look after the vineyard.
If you understand what we just read,
really these people are these chief priests,
are the Pharisees,
are the Sadducees,
are the scribes,
are these elders in the temple
that were rejecting Christ.
Verse number 10.
So these servants represent
the Old Testament prophets,
the Old Testament prophets
that were sent by the man
who owned the vineyard, okay?
The Old Testament prophets
sent by God the Father.
Now what's important about this is
John the Baptist was the last,
you might want to say Jesus,
but really John the Baptist
that was the last Old Testament prophet, okay?
And remember Jesus comparing himself
by the authority by what
John the Baptist was sent
and ordained by, okay?
So here we have,
I'm sure Jesus is putting John the Baptist
into this picture as well
because remember he was beheaded, okay?
He lost his life.
And then verse number 13.
So in this parable,
we see that Jesus as the son,
as the beloved son
of the man who owned the vineyard,
he was already the son, all right?
And I don't want to go into
the eternal sonship of Christ right now,
but we see even this parable
that the man of the vineyard
is sending his beloved son,
meaning that he was already
the son of God prior to being sent.
We see that already in this parable, all right?
And I don't need to cover that.
We've already discussed that,
you know, about it,
but yeah, the eternal sonship
of Christ here is being reinforced, all right?
But God the Father thinks,
if I send my son, he sees it as,
if I send my son with the authority
that I sent him, you know,
then surely they'll reverence him,
surely they'll answer him.
Verse 14.
They think if we kill the heir,
the man that would inherit this vineyard,
if we get rid of that lineage,
then we can just take over the vineyard.
There's no one else here
that can take it
once that certain man passes on.
There's no other, you know, heirs to that.
So they kill him.
Now Jesus Christ obviously
has not been crucified as of yet,
but once again we see Jesus
now prophesying of his future death, right?
Being cured at the hand of the husbandman,
being cured at the hands
of these religious leaders, all right?
Now what's ironic about this
is that they're thinking
they're going to kill the heir
and there'll be no more heirs
and they can take over the inheritance, okay?
But what's ironic about this is
it is the death of Christ
and his resurrection
by which we can become the sons of God
and heirs according to the promise.
Not only is there the one heir, all right,
but by killing him, you know,
they fulfill the prophecy,
the requirement that everybody
that believes in Christ
can become a child of God,
becomes an heir of God.
So they actually multiply
the amount of heirs
that can take that vineyard
thinking that they would kill the one
and they can take the vineyard
for themselves.
This reminds me of John 10, 1.
You don't need to turn there,
but it says, Jesus says,
Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that entereth not by the door
into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way,
the same is a thief and a robber.
You know, there are people
that are striving to get
into the kingdom of God,
striving to be saved,
like these Pharisees,
like these scribes and rulers
and whatever,
they're seeking to be saved,
they're seeking the kingdom of God,
but they want to reject Christ.
And they want to find some other way
to get into that kingdom.
They set themselves up,
they start churches,
they preach behind the pulpit.
You know, you might be thinking,
hey man, you know,
some of these sermons,
they preach are good.
But no, Jesus says about them
that they're thieves and robbers.
They're in it for themselves,
they're in it to hurt the children of God.
Be mindful about who you listen to.
Be mindful just because
they have title pastor or doctor
or whatever, reverend or whatever, you know.
Make sure this person's first a believer
before you start listening to them,
because you might be listening
to a thief and robber,
someone that will take advantage of you.
All right, let's keep reading verse 15.
So this is still the parable.
So they cast him out of the vineyard
and killed him, killed the son.
God therefore shall the Lord of the vineyard
do unto them.
He shall come.
Now Jesus asks,
it's a rhetorical question
because Jesus answers himself.
He says, he shall come and destroy
these husband men
and shall give the vineyard to others.
I mean, this is in the face
of the religious leaders.
He's saying, look,
if you don't receive me,
God's going to kill you.
God's going to destroy you.
You know, we know ultimately
cast into the lake of fire.
And look what it says here.
And when they heard it,
they said, God forbid.
So when they hear this,
like, what?
We're going to be destroyed by God?
God forbid.
You know, it brought fear upon them.
They don't want this to be true.
Verse number 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.
Now, just to explain this to you,
Jesus here is talking about a cornerstone.
The Bible references Christ
as the cornerstone, okay?
That here's the foundation.
The cornerstone is another way
of saying the foundation stone.
Now, today in construction,
we don't really build things with stones.
All right, we have bricks.
And, you know, but in these days,
you know, they would build,
you know, buildings with stones, okay?
And the cornerstone would be
that first stone that would be laid
whereby every other stone would then be placed
and measured and the right angles
would be built upon.
That was the chief cornerstone, okay?
And everything else that would be built
would be based on where that chief cornerstone
was placed.
And if you understand this,
this is talking about Jesus Christ,
that he is the chief cornerstone,
that he is that foundation stone
whereby we are to build all things.
Now, there in verse 17, it says,
what is this then that is written?
The stone which the builders rejected, okay?
So Jesus would be that cornerstone
that would be rejected.
Now, if you reject the foundation stone,
what's going to happen to that building?
It's going to collapse.
It's not going to be built properly.
It's not going to be strong.
It's not going to be firm, all right?
And then it says in that verse 17,
the same is become the head of the corner.
Whosoever shall fall upon that stone
shall be broken,
but on whomsoever it shall fall,
it shall grind him to powder, all right?
So look, let's understand what's being said
here in verse 18.
There's two scenarios.
There are people that come to the stone of Christ
and they stumble, okay?
They break.
They fall at it, okay?
That's one group of people.
Now, these people are still redeemable.
They can still get up, you know,
and accept that stone, all right?
This is what, you know,
when you preach the gospel of Christ,
people reject it.
You know, in a way,
they are people that are falling on that stone, okay?
You may need to preach that gospel
a few times to them.
I mean, you know, my wife, you know,
I had to preach the gospel a few times,
maybe five or six times
before she believed the gospel, okay?
So she would be an example of someone
that would fall out of the stone, you know?
But by the sixth time or whatever it was,
she received it.
She started to build her faith on that cornerstone.
So that's one group of people.
You keep falling at it,
and you never receive it.
The second part of verse 18
is what happens to these people.
But on whomsoever it shall fall,
it shall grind him to powder.
So there comes a time
where you can keep stumbling at the cornerstone, okay?
If you keep doing it,
there's going to come a time
when that stone itself
will fall on that person
and grind them to powder.
It will be utterly destroyed.
Obviously, that is the point
where someone, you know,
dies without Christ
and is cast into hell.
All right.
Now keep your finger there.
Turn to Matthew 21, please.
Matthew 21.
Because I want to show you
a parallel passage here
in Matthew 21.
Matthew 21 is almost identical
to Luke chapter 20.
But it's got a little bit
more information here about this.
It says in Matthew 21 verse 42,
Matthew 21 verse 42,
Jesus saith unto them,
Did ye never read the scriptures?
The stone which the builders rejected,
the same is become the head of the corner.
This is the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.
Therefore, say I unto you,
the kingdom of God
shall be taken from you
and given to a nation,
bringing forth the fruits thereof.
So those that reject the cornerstone,
okay,
the kingdom of God
will be taken away from them.
You know, these Jews,
these religious leaders,
they should have been the first.
You know, they had the scriptures.
They had the positions of authority.
They should have been the first
to receive Christ.
They should have been the ones
believing Moses
that they would believe
eventually on Christ, all right,
but to be taken away from them
and given to a nation,
bringing forth the fruits thereof.
We know the nation here
is a reference to the nation of Israel
as a whole, okay,
the nation of Israel as a whole.
You know, there were certain people
that rejected Christ in that nation.
The majority did,
but there were many
that believed on Him.
And then it says here in verse 44,
And whosoever shall fall on this stone
shall be broken,
but on whomsoever it shall fall,
it shall grind him to powder.
So I just wanted to show you
that reference in verse 43
because that's not mentioned there
in Luke 20,
but you see it's in the same story
of the cornerstone
that it's talking about
taking away the kingdom
from those that should have
received the first,
and it's been given to a nation
bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Now turn to 1 Peter 2.
1 Peter 2,
let's see what this nation is.
What nation,
if not the nation of physical Israel,
what nation then
are we talking about?
What nation shall inherit
the kingdom of God?
1 Peter chapter 2 verse 6.
The Bible reads,
Wherefore also it is contained
in the scripture.
Behold, I lay in Zion
a chief cornerstone.
That's Jesus.
Elect, precious,
and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded.
Hey, how do we receive
that cornerstone?
We believe on him,
and the Bible's consistent.
It's by faith.
Verse number 7.
Unto you therefore
which believe he is precious,
but unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders
disallowed or rejected,
the same is made
the head of the corner,
and a stone of stumbling,
and a rock of offense,
even to them which stumble
at the word being disobedient,
whereunto also they were appointed.
But ye, brethren,
New Life Baptist Church,
this is you,
but ye are a chosen generation,
a royal priesthood.
Jesus, he's rebuking the priests, right?
But he says, look,
we are a royal priesthood
and holy nation.
All that believe on that cornerstone,
all that believe in Christ,
the Bible says,
is that holy nation,
is that royal priesthood.
Hey, this is the nation
it's been given to.
It's a people of all nationalities.
Okay, Jew, Gentile,
Chilean, New Zealander.
What else have we got?
Korean.
I don't know.
What else?
Austrian, was it?
Yeah, whatever.
Whatever your nationality is, right?
If you've believed on the cornerstone,
you've received that.
You are that chosen generation.
You are that holy nation
which has received the kingdom of God.
What an honor.
What an honor that God will allow us
to take up that mantle
which these leaders of Israel had rejected.
It says a peculiar people,
that ye should bring forth
the praises of him
that have called ye out of darkness
into his marvelous light,
which in time past were not a people,
but now the people of God,
which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy.
You know, Jesus,
when he was in the temple,
he was speaking of you and I.
He was speaking of us
making up that spiritual nation.
The Bible also calls it
the Israel of God, all right?
Go back to Luke chapter 20, please, verse 19.
Luke chapter 20, verse 19.
People call this replacement theology.
If that's what they want to call it,
I guess that's what it is.
It's what the Bible teaches, okay?
That it be taken from the nation of Israel
and given to a spiritual nation, all right?
But of course,
those in the nation of Israel,
if they believe, which many did,
then they also make up that spiritual nation.
They don't miss out.
Those that believe in Christ
have not been replaced, okay?
It's those that reject Christ.
They're the ones that miss out on the kingdom.
Let's keep reading, verse 19.
And the chief priests and the scribes,
because obviously Jesus has offended them here,
the same hour sought to lay hands on him.
They wanted to kill him right there.
They wanted to take him.
And they feared the people,
for they perceived that he had spoken
this parable against them.
Yep.
They worked it out.
Yep, this parable was against them, okay?
They're the ones that would
ultimately kill the Son of God.
It's amazing because Jesus
is just telling them outright,
you're going to kill me.
And they do it, all right?
They do it.
Verse number 20.
And they watched him and sent forth spies.
Pay attention now.
These Pharisees, they can't,
or chief priests and scribes,
they can't get their hands on Jesus
because he caused an uproar.
But they sent forth spies.
And I truly believe these phone calls
that I received the first,
you know, we started this church,
I believe these were spies sent by someone.
If not a man, maybe the devil.
I don't know, okay?
But sent forth spies
which should feign themselves or pretend,
fake themselves, just men.
That they might take hold of his words
so they might deliver him
unto the power and authority of the governor.
Hey, look, it's a possibility
that we would have brethren
come into this church,
that we think of brethren,
but actually false brethren, okay?
And we need to be mindful.
This chapter warns us about false brethren.
This chapter warns us about spies
that are just trying to hear our words
or trying to hear the words of the pastor
to bring a false report,
to bring some, you know,
some evil to be put upon ourselves
as children of God, you know?
This is why we need to be
tactful with our responses.
If someone's asking you a weird question,
I'd question why they're asking that question, right?
Look at verse 21.
These false brethren, these spies,
and they asked him,
what did they ask him?
Saying, Master, we know that they'll say this
and teach us rightly.
They call him master.
They say, hey, everything you preach is bright.
Yeah, it's spot on.
Neither accept this doubt, the person of any,
but teach us the way of God truly.
You know, what are they saying?
They're flattering Jesus Christ.
They're using flattery.
They say, hey, we know.
You know, and this is something
I need to be careful of.
When someone comes up to me and says,
you know what, master?
You shouldn't be calling me master.
You know, the things you preach are right.
They're from God. They're awesome.
You're always right.
You're always 100%.
You're always teaching me new things
that I hadn't seen again in the Bible,
and they heap praise.
They heap flattery on the preacher.
You know, this is a telltale sign
you're dealing with a spy.
You're dealing with false brethren, okay?
Now, that's not to say that you can't ever say,
hey, that was a nice sermon.
I got something out of that.
You know, but don't overdo it, okay?
You know these people don't believe in Christ.
You know, they're calling him master
and saying, everything, man,
such great preaching.
That's all right.
We know you're teaching the way of God truly.
It's perfect.
You never make a mistake, Jesus.
These false brethren love using flattery.
Now, I'll get you to turn to Psalms.
Again, keep your finger there in Luke.
Be careful of flattery.
You know, there's been a lot of preaching
on the internet about flattery lately.
It's sort of relevant that we come to a passage here
where we see it,
but go to Psalm 5, please.
Psalm 5, verse 9.
For there is no faithfulness in their mouth.
Their inward part is very wickedness.
Their throat is an open sepulchre.
They flatter with their tongue.
Hey, that's where flattery comes from,
from those that are very wickedness,
that have very wickedness, are very wicked.
Their throat is an open sepulchre.
Hey, they speak dead things.
They don't truly say what they mean, okay?
There is no faithfulness in their mouth.
Go to Psalm 12, verse 2.
Psalm 12, verse 2.
The Bible reads,
They speak vanity, everyone with his neighbor.
With flattering lips,
and with a double heart do they speak.
Hey, those with the flattering lips,
they've got a double heart.
Okay, you think their heart is one way,
but really it is another way, okay?
They speak vanity.
They waste time.
It's empty.
It's useless.
You know, have some tact about you.
You know, perceive people that are trying to fool you,
that are trying to flatter you.
It's very hard because the flesh likes flattery.
You know, the flesh likes to be praised, you know?
And this is why, you know,
anyone that preaches here,
you need to always remind yourself
I'm coming in humility.
I'm preaching as a servant.
I'm feeding the people of God.
You know, don't make yourself
more than what you really are.
You really are just a man, okay?
And that will prevent you
from enjoying the flattery that comes your way, okay?
Because it's not about you.
It's about feeding the brethren.
It's about doing the work of God.
Back to Luke 20, please.
Verse 22.
Luke 20, verse 22.
What's the question these flatterers,
these spies ask Jesus?
Is it lawful for us to give tribute
unto Caesar or no?
You know, is it according to the law of Moses
that we should pay taxes to Caesar?
Does the law of Moses say
we should pay taxes to Caesar?
Think about that question for a minute.
It is such a stupid question.
Of course, the law of Moses,
when they say lawfully,
they're talking about the law of Moses.
They're talking about the Old Testament law.
Of course, God does not say there
to pay taxes to Caesar.
Of course, right?
I mean, they're to be a sovereign nation
under God, Israel, okay?
And they're asking such a stupid question.
And honestly, people ask me stupid questions.
I'm not saying you guys.
I'm just saying people ask me
like phone calls or emails.
Why even ask it?
I haven't even realized that's a question
you can ask, all right?
Of course, look, God was,
it's not his intention that the Roman Empire
would have, you know, taken over Israel
and other parts of this world.
There was never, you know,
it was always God's intention
that Israel would be that sovereign nation
under God.
So it's not gonna write
about giving taxes to Caesar, okay?
But if Jesus says no,
the law of Moses never says that,
then they can accuse him
of saying they shouldn't pay the taxes.
They can accuse him in reporting
to the authorities of Rome
and get him arrested or whatever,
you know, as a troublemaker.
How does Jesus respond?
Verse 23.
But he perceived their craftiness.
There it is.
That's the title of the sermon.
He perceived their craftiness
and said unto them,
why tempt ye me?
Why are you doing this?
Verse 24, show me a penny.
Whose image and superscription hath it?
They answered and said Caesar's.
And he said unto them,
render therefore unto Caesar
the things which be Caesar's
and answer God the things which be God's.
It's an awesome response.
Jesus is saying,
look, who cares about money?
You know, serving God
is more than your money.
If it's God Caesar's face,
just give it to Caesar if he wants it,
if that's what's required of you, okay?
We ought to respect the authority
that God puts.
God has instituted government
as it will, okay?
We know that the government,
you know, we live in a nation
where we have a decent government,
I suppose, but still it's wicked.
Still it's got their hearts against people,
but it's not as, I guess,
as corrupt or wicked
as some other nations, you know?
It's still corrupt.
It's pretty corrupt.
But still, look,
if the government requires you
to pay your taxes,
then just pay it, okay?
But he says,
and answer God the things which be God's.
So give him the money,
but give your life,
the things that belong to God,
the greater things, give it to God.
Don't give it to government, okay?
It's such a great response
because he respects the authority
of the Roman Empire there, you know?
But he also highlights
what's much more important
than the government.
You know, that's serving God,
giving to God what belongs to God.
Verse 26,
and they could not take hold of his words
before the people
and they marveled at his answer
and held their peace.
And they're like,
oh man, he's really, you know,
he's really given a good answer here.
We can't really, we can't find fault in him.
They just stay quiet, okay?
They hold their peace.
So they hold their peace,
these spies.
But now another group of people
come to Jesus to find fault in him.
Verse 27,
then came to him certain of the Sadducees.
Now, I don't know much about the Sadducees.
I don't really know what they,
I think you can sort of look it up
on the internet,
find out what they believed.
But we get a little bit of
what they believed here in verse 27.
Then came to him certain of the Sadducees
which deny that there is any resurrection
and they asked him.
So the Sadducees are a sect
of the Jewish religion,
I suppose, back then.
I've heard that they were very liberal
in their views
and it would make sense
that they were liberal
if they denied a resurrection.
So they don't believe,
they believe there's a life now
and that's the life you need to live.
There's no future resurrection to come.
So I think if you had that mindset,
if you just believed I'm going to die,
like when I die, that's the end of it,
I guess you would be liberal.
I guess you just live it up
and you know, whatever.
So I guess that makes sense.
It's such a weird thing though
that they would deny the resurrection
and they asked him,
what are they asking?
Verse 28,
and again, guys,
when you read this,
don't worry about the question too much
but just think about
who's asking this question.
It's people that do not believe
in the resurrection.
Verse 28, saying,
Master,
Moses wrote unto us,
if any man's brother die having a wife
and he died without children
and his brother should take his wife
and raise up seed unto his brother,
there were therefore seven brethren
and the first took a wife
and died without children
and the second took her as wife
and he died childless
and the third took her
and in like manner the seven also
and they left no children and died.
I mean, just think of it as,
it should already make you go,
man, it's so stupid.
How real is this question
that seven brethren
would take the same woman
over and over and over again
and they would just die
before they can have any children.
Verse 32,
last of all,
the woman died also.
Therefore, in the resurrection,
whose wife of them is she?
For seven had her to wife.
I should tell you immediately,
why are they asking Jesus
a stupid question
about a resurrection
that they don't even believe in?
Are they seeking a true answer
from Jesus?
Of course not.
They don't even believe
the resurrection.
What kind of nonsense
is this question?
And that's another stupid question,
an unlikely question.
Verse 34,
and Jesus answering,
said unto them.
So even though it's a stupid question,
I guess at this point,
Jesus sees the need to answer it.
He answers it pretty black and white
this time, okay?
But I just want to see
every question that comes to Jesus,
he measures it up.
How am I going to answer this?
This time he feels,
I'm just going to answer this one
straight out.
And it's good that he does
because he puts them
into their place.
Jesus answering said unto them,
the children of this world marry
and are given in marriage.
All right,
so children of this world,
till death do us part.
In this world,
we ought to marry,
given to marriage, all right?
And then verse 35,
but they which,
now notice this,
but they which shall be
accounted worthy
to obtain that world
and the resurrection of the dead
neither marry nor are given
in marriage.
So it says look,
in the world to come as it were,
eternal life, salvation,
those that are resurrected
from the dead,
those that are accounted worthy,
neither marry nor are given
in marriage.
So just a quick doctrine there,
once you get into heaven,
there's no more marriage, all right?
You know,
the Islamists believe
they'll get seven,
what is that,
if they kill themselves?
I mean you might know this,
is it seven virgins?
Seventy virgins they'll get
to marry, okay?
If there are,
you know,
if Allah accounts them worthy.
You know,
but even the,
not that different,
the Mormons.
The Mormons believe
when you get married,
you have an eternal marriage.
It goes into the resurrection.
It goes into forever,
eternity.
And you know,
they can have many wives as well
they believe.
It's very similar.
But Jesus says,
look, once,
you know,
once we're in eternity,
there's no more marriage.
So let me just say
to those that are married,
appreciate the marriage
that you have today.
It's the only one
you're going to get, all right?
In eternity,
it's not going to be,
I mean,
eternity is going to be
even better, okay?
But you're not going
to have the marriage,
enjoy what you have today.
It's a special thing
that God gives
to the children
of this world, okay?
But verse number 37,
so what I wanted to show you
there is that
Jesus says they're accounted worthy.
So the Sadducees don't believe
in the resurrection.
What is Jesus saying about them?
They're not worthy.
They're not accounted worthy.
He's not just answering
the question,
he's putting them down, okay?
He's criticizing them.
Verse 37,
Now just to show you this,
I thought this was interesting.
Just keep your finger there.
Turn to Exodus chapter 3.
Exodus chapter 3.
Let's just have a look
at the passage
that Jesus is referring to here.
Exodus chapter 3 verse 6.
Give you a moment to turn there.
So this is God speaking to Moses,
and he says here in verse number 6,
Exodus 3, 6,
The God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac,
and the God of Jacob,
and Moses hid his face,
for he was afraid to look upon God.
But notice how God answers
or responds to Moses there.
He says,
I am the God of thy father.
He doesn't say,
I was the God of your father.
I was the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.
No, I am the God.
Hey, I'm still their God today.
They're still living today
because they put their faith on him.
You know,
they're rejoicing in heaven,
and so you know what?
Even when he passed away,
he's still our God.
You know,
our brethren,
our loved ones
that have believed in Christ
that are no longer with us.
The God that we worship
is still the same God
that's still living today
as far as God is concerned.
Okay,
the resurrection is something
that is real.
Go back to
Luke 20 please,
verse 39.
So I thought it was
just a bit clearer there
in Exodus 3, 6
how God responds there
than what we just read there,
but look at verse number 13.
Look at verse number 39 now.
Luke 20, verse 39.
I'm not sure if I read verse 38.
I'll just read it quickly.
For he is not,
I did read it.
For he is not a God of the dead,
but of the living,
and all live unto him.
So again,
just what's he saying to the Sadducees?
You're dead
because God is a God of the living.
All right,
they're currently spiritually dead.
Okay,
so when you understand
how Jesus responds,
he doesn't just give the answer.
He's also showing
the error of their ways,
and that's why
we get to verse 39
because now we have
another group of people
come up to Jesus.
All right,
and it says
then certain of the scribes
answered and said,
Master, thou hast well said.
All right,
because the scribes obviously here,
they believe in the resurrection.
I'm sure they're having
their theological debates
with the Sadducees
about the resurrection,
and they're like,
Jesus, yeah, you're right.
You know,
there is a resurrection.
All right,
so they're delighted
that Jesus had shown
the error of the ways
of the Sadducees,
but you know what?
Even these scribes
don't get away
from the rebuke of Jesus Christ.
It would have been just better
if they just stayed quiet,
but you know,
they say,
yeah, Master,
you said well,
but verse 40,
and after that,
they thus not ask him
any question at all,
and he said unto them,
unto who?
The scribes that just said,
you know,
He said unto them,
how say they
that Christ is David's son?
All right,
so go back to Luke 18
very quickly.
Luke 18, verse 38.
So we see this acknowledgement
by everybody there
that Christ, the Messiah,
remember,
they don't think it's Jesus.
You know,
they know Messiah's coming,
but they don't think it's Jesus,
but there's an acknowledgement here
that the Messiah is David's son.
All right?
Now remember back in Luke 18,
we had the story of the blind man.
Now in the book of Matthew,
he records it as two blind men,
but in the book of Luke,
they only focus on the one blind man,
and remember what he said
to Jesus here in Luke 18,
verse 38.
Luke 18, verse 38.
He says,
and he cried saying,
Jesus,
thou son of David,
have mercy on me,
and I had told you,
see, when he's called there
the son of David,
he was acknowledging there
that the son of David,
the son of David,
was the Messiah.
He was acknowledging there
that that was the one that would,
you know,
have an eternal kingdom to come.
Okay,
so I just wanted to show you that.
Go back to Luke 20.
So there was,
in this time,
people knew the Messiah,
the one to come,
would be the son of David.
All right?
Now,
let's look at verse 42.
Luke 20, 42.
And David himself saith in the book of Psalms,
the Lord,
okay,
God the Lord,
said unto my Lord,
sit thou on my right hand,
till I make thine enemies thy footstool.
David therefore calleth him Lord,
how is he then his son?
All right?
What's that about?
All right,
so this Psalm is about David's son,
okay?
But what does he say about the son?
He says,
the Lord said unto my Lord.
So David is calling his own son,
whoever that one is,
as his Lord as well,
all right?
Of course,
this is Jesus Christ.
This is God the Father
calling Jesus Christ,
you know,
Lord as well,
okay,
sit thou on my right hand.
And so,
David's son told the question there
in verse number 41,
how say they that Christ is David's son?
It's David's son in the flesh,
okay?
When Jesus Christ was born,
he came down the lineage,
down the descendancy
of David,
okay?
But,
before he became the son of David
as it were in the flesh,
he was already the Lord of David,
okay?
He was already the Lord God.
And this is important
because this ties in right at the beginning
the question,
by what authority
do you teach these things?
By what authority
is God?
He's the Lord of David,
all right?
So he's answering
not directly but indirectly
the very first question
that came his way,
you know?
If that didn't make sense to you,
please ask me,
but the son of David
was known to be the Messiah,
Jesus Christ.
Christ means Messiah.
You know,
we're acknowledging that
Jesus is the Messiah.
We're acknowledging that
Jesus is the son of David.
We acknowledge that
he's the Lord of David,
that he's the Lord of Lords.
You know,
that he is God,
not just the son of man,
not just the son of God,
but that he is God himself.
Let's keep reading verse 45.
Am I up to verse 45?
Yep.
Then in the audience
of all the people,
he said unto his disciples,
beware of the scribes.
See, it'd be really better
if the scribes just said nothing, right?
You guys, look,
beware of the scribes,
which desire to walk in long robes
and love greetings in the markets
and the highest seats in the synagogues
and the chief rooms at feasts,
which devour widows' houses
and for a show make long prayers,
the same shall receive
greater damnation.
So these scribes love
to go along,
walk around with their long robes.
I mean, isn't that
just a Roman Catholic Church
in a nutshell right there,
with their long robes?
I mean, even the Anglicans I've seen,
not always, but many times
they do put on that dress,
that long, you know,
and it's so ugly.
Why would you wear that?
It's so disgusting,
these long robes,
but it makes them feel holy,
makes them feel important
by putting that on.
You know,
don't go near any religious leader
that's wearing a long robe.
Just avoid them altogether.
Jesus already warned us of them.
They love the greetings
in the markets.
They love,
they seek to be acknowledged.
They want to be known
by all people.
It says,
and the highest seats
in the synagogues.
You know,
they want to be seated
in the places of prominence,
you know,
to be seen as people
high and above others
and the chief room of the feasts.
But really,
what do they do
in verse 47, Seth,
which devour widows' houses?
They don't care for the people.
They take advantage
of whoever they can.
You know,
the widows are the ones
that have a need the most.
You know,
they don't have a man
in their life.
Maybe they come to these people
seeking some guidance.
Instead,
they devour the widows' houses.
They take it,
they take the possessions
that belong to others
and make,
and for a show,
make long prayers.
The same shall receive
greater damnation.
Hey,
they're leading others
away from Christ.
The reason they get
the greater damnation,
they turn the hearts
of the people away
from the truth,
the way the truth
and the life being Jesus Christ.
I mean,
the greater damnation.
And,
yeah,
that's the end of this chapter,
but I hope you realise now
when you answer people,
be careful.
I'm not saying amongst the brethren
we have a chitchat
and we have a general discussion.
We ask questions
and all those kind of things.
I'm not talking about that.
I'm just talking about
the flatterer,
the spies,
the people you may not know
very well.
They ring you up
asking you questions
or emails or,
you know,
text message you
on social media.
You know,
they'll copy those messages
or whatever they can with it,
you know.
Be careful about
how you answer people,
even Jesus.
You know,
time and time again
we saw this chapter,
people coming to him
and Jesus was very mindful
how to answer,
you know,
and praise God
that Jesus has given us
this example.
And I'll just finish
with this.
Just on the topic
of responding with tact,
I don't know,
did I write down
the definition here?
Let me just check my notes
because I don't want
to mess it up.
I don't generally
look at my notes
too much when I preach
so I might not
have even written it.
But with tact,
the way you answer,
some people have
a misconception
of what tact means.
Tact means
you respond tactfully.
You're mindful about
how your words
might be perceived
or conveyed.
Now,
there are people
that use tact
that are wicked people
and they use it
to deceive.
They say half truths,
okay,
in order for people
to come away
with one understanding
when really that person
meant something else.
Obviously,
that's not the way
we should be,
okay.
With tact,
all I'm saying is
we should make sure
that our speech
is seasoned with salt,
that there's grace,
that we're also thinking
about the person
we're responding to,
okay.
How can I get
the message across them
where they can't
misrepresent what I'm saying,
where they can't take
my words and use
it against me?
That was Jesus Christ.
So, you know,
we should be similar
as well.
Let's pray.