There's infinitely greater hope tonight for that man who's groveling in the gutters of sin than for the man who believes himself to be all right outside of Jesus Christ and His salvation. All that's needed by the former is to be picked up. The latter has to be knocked down. Good morning. Welcome to Trinity Reformed Baptist Church, Jackson, Georgia. It's July 1st, 2012. Join us now as guest speaker, Pastor David Dykstra from Grace Covenant Baptist Church, Willis, Texas, brings us a message from the Word. Please turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Luke's Gospel in Chapter 11. Luke chapter 11, and I'd like to read once again from verse 14 through 26. Luke 11, verse 14, and I'm reading from the New American Standard version of God's Word. He was casting out a demon and it was mute. When the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said he cast out demons by Bilzebul, the ruler of the demons. Others, to test him, were demanding a sign of him from heaven. But he knew their thoughts and said to them, any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste and a house divided against itself falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Bilzebul. And if I, by Bilzebul, cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? so they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. He who is not with me is against me. And he who does not gather with me Scatters. When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest and not finding any. It says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. And then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself. And they go in and live there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. The focus of our attention this morning is on these strange words in verses 24 through 26. When the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest and not finding any, it says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. And then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself. And they go in and live there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Our Lord is addressing a crowd of people, and as was often the case when so doing, He addresses them by way of a parable. When He addressed another crowd earlier in Luke, He used the parable of the sower, or more accurately, we would call it the parable of the soils. The four soils in His parable represent four kinds of hearers to His messages. He wanted his apostles to know not to get too excited about crowds. Luke emphasizes crowds of people, and aren't there men who are far too interested in crowds? And in the parable of the soils, the Lord Jesus is, as it were, telling the apostles, don't get so excited about the crowds because three-quarters of them aren't going to be here with you at the end. You're going to have wayside hearers where the Word of God goes in one ear and out the other, and they couldn't care less about what you say. Then you're going to have stony ground hearers, and they're going to immediately receive the Word with joy. And yet in a short time, you won't find them in church. They'll fall away. And then you'll have thorny ground hearers. and then there will be that minority of people that will be good ground hearers that will stick with you bearing fruit some 30, 60, and a hundredfold. He taught crowds by way of parables. What we have here in verses 24 through 26 is another parable. You will not find it commented upon in Gordon Keddie's book, He Spoke in Parables, nor will you find it in William Taylor's The Parables of Our Savior or in laid-law studies in the parables of our Lord. It's likely that all three of those authors made what one author refers to as the word-thing fallacy. What is the word-thing fallacy? Well, the word-thing fallacy is the refusal to acknowledge that a thing is present because the specific word describing it isn't there. Most people, many, many writers fail to recognize any covenant before Genesis 6. Even though there are covenants before Genesis 6, they make the word thing fallacy. They say a covenant isn't, the term isn't used until Genesis 6, and therefore there's no covenants before Genesis chapter 6. They make that word thing fallacy. And so I believe people do today when they come to these strange verses. They say because it's not called a parable, it's not a parable. They make the word thing mistake, the word thing fallacy. In order to have a parable, it's only required to have a comparison between the story and the audience. It's not required to have the specific term describing what the story is. A standard work on New Testament words tells us that a parable, quote, signifies a placing of one thing beside another with a view to comparison. The essential ingredient, then, of a parable is a comparison between the real world and the hearers of the parable, or the thing the Lord Jesus was illustrating. This is why we often read words like these, Matthew 13, 24a, Jesus presented another parable to them, saying the kingdom of God may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, or Matthew 1331 he presented another parable to them saying the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed which a man sowed in his field or Matthew 1333 he spoke another parable to them saying the kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened. A parable then makes a comparison and here we have A strange parable. I doubt whether you've ever heard a sermon on this parable. Of Luke 11, 24 through 26, unless your pastors preach through Luke. Which I'm doing now back home. Preaching right through the Gospel of Luke. Well, a parable then is a story involving a comparison between what is true both in the world and in the lives of those who hear. That's what a parable is. And that's what we have here. It's a story involving a comparison between what is true, both in the world and in the lives of those who hear it. Taking this basic principle of comparison found in every parable, we ask, what is the comparison between this man, whose last state is worse than the first, and the crowd that was then listening to the Lord Jesus? That's the important question if we're going to understand the text. what is the comparison between this man whose last state is worse than the first and the crowd that was then listening to the Lord Jesus. So please follow as I make just a few observations on our text. Observe in the first place the key to unlocking the truth of this parable. And the key to unlocking the truth of this parable was found in Matthew 12, the only other place where the Lord Jesus spoke these similar words. In Matthew 12, 38 through 45, we read the following. Pay close attention to what the Lord Jesus says here. Matthew chapter 12, and beginning at verse 38. Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, Teacher, we want to see a sign from you. But he answered and said to them, an evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. the men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah and behold something greater than Jonah is here the Queen of the South will rise up with this generation at the judgment and will condemn it because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon and behold something greater than Solomon is here now notice these words virtually identical to what we have in Luke 11 Now, when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept and put in order. And then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself. And they go in and live there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation. Brethren, that's the key to understanding what this parable is about. Here in the only other time our Lord uttered this parable, and now he adds a detail in Matthew 12 omitted by Luke. He tells us that the comparison involves a likeness between the man in the story and this evil generation. Matthew 12 and verse 45. In other words, the parable is not just about an individual. The man in the parable is compared to a whole generation. The generation to which the Lord Jesus was then speaking. The people that made up the crowds that he was then speaking to. When the parable is ended, the Lord says, this is the way it will also be with this evil generation. And we ask, what will it be with that generation? And the answer is, just as the last state of the man in the story was worse than his first state, so it will be with this evil generation. In other words, this generation that I'm speaking to now will have a bleak future. the last state of this generation will be worse than the first. Is it not important then to determine what generation our Lord was referring to? This phrase is used some 25 times in the Gospels and often there are descriptive adjectives used as well. The adjectives are as follows and recall that they were all used by the Lord Jesus. This evil generation, Matthew 12 and Matthew 16. This adulterous generation, Matthew 12, Matthew 16, Mark 8. This unbelieving generation, Matthew 17, Mark 9, Luke 9. This perverted generation, Matthew 17 and Luke 9. This sinful generation, Mark 8. This wicked generation, Luke 11. And recall, moreover, that in addition, the Lord referred to the leaders, the Jewish leaders of that generation, as what? As you serpents, you brood of vipers, indicating their likeness to their father, the devil. You are of your father the devil. You are a brood of vipers. F.F. Bruce wrote the following in the hard sayings of Jesus. This generation is a recurring phrase in the Bible and each time it is used it bears the ordinary sense of the people belonging, as we say, to one fairly comprehensive age group. When we are faced with the problem of understanding a hard saying, it's always a safe procedure to ask, what would it have meant to the people who first heard it? And there can be but one answer to this question in relation to the present hard saying. Jesus' hearers could have understood him to mean only that all these things would take place within their generation. Not only does generation in the phrase this generation always mean the people alive at one particular time, the phrase itself always means the generation now living. And so in this parable, these strange words in this parable, where the Lord is making a comparison between an individual man whose last state becomes worse than the first. He's saying, so what will it be to this generation, the last state of this generation to which I'm speaking? You people that I'm speaking to, your last state will be worse than the first. This is a parable of Christ. Ought we not to try to understand it? And the remainder of Luke 11 bears this out. Because when you look at the remainder of Luke 11, you find, for instance, in verse 29 and following, as the crowds were increasing, he began to say this generation is a wicked generation. It seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah. For just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The Queen of the South will rise up with the men of this generation at the judgment and condemn them, etc., etc., etc. Verses 47 through 51. Woe to you, for you build the tombs of the prophets, and it was your fathers who killed them. So you are witnesses, and approve the deeds of your fathers, because it was they who killed them, and you build their tombs. For this reason also the wisdom of God said, I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and some they will persecute, so that the blood of all the prophets, shed since the foundation of the world, may be charged against this generation. from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zachariah who was killed between the altar and the house of God. Yes, I tell you, it will be charged to this generation. You see, the Lord Jesus is identifying the people, the crowds that he was speaking to, and he says the last state of this generation is going to be worse than the first. That's what the parable is about. The only sign to be given to that generation was the sign of Jonah. And that sign was one given to the generation then living. Moreover, those with lesser revelation who responded in repentance and faith will condemn those of that generation for their failure to respond to greater revelation. And then two apostles and prophets will be sent to that generation and they will be persecuted and killed. And upon that generation will fall the accumulated wrath of God. That's what Christ is teaching. And he's teaching this, these sobering truths. because of the crowds that were listening to him. Now, the key then to understanding this parable is understanding that the man in the parable refers not to a mere individual, but to the whole generation alive at the time of Christ and the apostles. That's the key of what we've learned from Matthew 12. Now, observe in the second place, the man who goes from a bad to a worse condition. Luke 11, 24 and following, when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest and not finding any. It says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. And then it goes and takes along seven other spirits more evil than itself. And they go in and live there. And the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. The parable is fairly simple. A man is possessed by an unclean spirit. without being expelled by someone. It just decides to leave the man, and it does so. I think it was Calvin who said, when the devil has the deed, he doesn't need to live in the house. When the devil owns the deed, he doesn't need to live in the house. And so the parable is fairly simple. A man is possessed by an unclean spirit, and without being expelled by someone, it just decides to leave the man, and it does so. It leaves, but not because it has been expelled. It leaves, but not because Christ or his apostles have cast it out. It leaves, but no heart transformation occurs. The man is still, to use Paul's words, dead in trespasses and sins. He's still, by nature, a child of wrath. He's still in the flesh, not in the spirit. He's still hostile towards God, and he still does not subject himself to the law of God. But the demon leaves. And what happens after that? And while it is gone, the man improves somewhat. The man, his house, as it were, is swept and put in order. Here are real improvements, and yet the house is still open to the unclean spirit and his companions. It returns and brings with it others more evil than itself, and thus the last state of the man becomes worse than the first. A man, then, in the parable is likened to a house. And I want you to think of an actual house. Maybe you've bought a house to use as a rental property in a buyer's market and you want to have some rental income for the future. And so you buy a bankrupt home. You buy a home that the bank is selling and you buy it to have some rental income. But you're in a university town. And you rent it out to a student at the local university, but you find out that he's a slob. And, but your lease allows you, when he leaves and goes on vacation, when he goes back home, your lease allows you to go in and inspect the house. And you go in and you inspect the house and you find out that he really is a slob and you sweep it up. But then he comes back and not only he lives there, but now he invites seven other guys from the university to live there and now it becomes a fraternity house. And the last state of your house becomes worse than the first. when you bought it. And this is the simple parable that Christ is talking about. And he's comparing this man and this as this house, where the last state of it is worse than the first, to people. So consider in the last place the meaning of this parable. And we begin by reiterating that this parable is about that generation of Jesus's contemporaries. Matthew 12 requires us to identify it that way. So it will be to this generation. The last state of this generation will be worse than the first. We are not to get sidetracked by the details of the parable. We're not to focus on the demon. We're not to focus on the waterless places. It goes seeking rest. All of this is incidental. What we are to focus on is the fact that Israel as a nation went through a period of outward reformation that was only temporary and then following that period of being swept and put in order will come a period that is much worse where the last state of that generation will be worse than its original state and that is exactly what happened during the lifetime of our Lord. This is exactly what occurred and let me cite some particulars from the gospel record. In the first place, there was large-scale attraction to the ministry of John the Baptist and the reforms that ensued under his ministry. Large-scale attraction to the ministry of John the Baptist. Do you know that John the Baptist didn't need to go in search of sinners? John the Baptist did not have an aggressive evangelistic ministry. He had instead an attractive ministry. He didn't need to go in search of sinners. Sinners came in search of him. The Gospels tell us that the cities and the towns and the villages emptied out to go out to John. And where was John at the time? Out in the wilderness. His ministry was not one of going in search of sinners. He didn't need to. Imagine how powerful that preaching ministry was in that day. where they came like the thousands who came to seek out Whitfield during the times of Great Awakening, where the people came out to the countryside and the people walked for miles upon miles by the thousands to listen to Whitfield. And so it was with the preaching of John the Baptist. He didn't need to search out sinners. The sinners searched him out. And we say, what a time of national revival. What a time of reformation in the land. We read of that in Luke chapter 3, where it tells us that soldiers were questioning him. What about us? What should we do? And tax collectors were saying, What about us? What should we do? And prostitutes were coming and saying, What about us? What should we do? And there was real reformation under the ministry of John the Baptist in the nation. And these large numbers were also seen in initially following Christ. And then comes a time. When most of Jesus's disciples deserted him. Turn to John six. What a sad time this was. Going from thousands following him to thousands deserting him. John chapter six and beginning at verse sixty. Therefore, many of his disciples, when they heard this said, this is a difficult statement, who can listen to it? But Jesus, conscious that his disciples grumbled at this, said to them, does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe, for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who it was who would betray Him. And He was saying, for this reason I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it's been granted to him from the Father. As a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, you do not want to go away also, do you? And Simon Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life, et cetera, et cetera. You see, here's the great defection. Of many of Jesus's disciples just leaving him at that time. When he makes what we would refer to as a Calvinistic statement, And that was the straw that broke the camel's back for them. What was the straw in the text that broke the camel's back? His statement that no one can come to me unless it's been granted to him from the Father. As a result of this, many of his disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore. And so you've got a time in Israel's history when there's great reformation taking place. But then this large scale defection And then the Lord Jesus responded to the worsening conditions in Israel in that generation by warning his hearers of events soon to take place when God's judgment would fall on that generation. Things start to ratchet up. The Lord Jesus becomes much more serious. We have other parables that he starts to teach to that generation, warning them of things soon to take place. Things to take place within a generation. Things to take place within but 40 years, which is a generation. When the last state of that generation becomes worse than the first, he teaches them the parable of the landowner in Matthew 21, verses 33 through 44. Look with me at that passage. Matthew 21 and verse 33, listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it and built a tower and rented it out to vine growers and went on a journey. And when the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine growers to receive his produce. And the vine growers took his slaves and beat one and killed another and stoned a third. Again, he sent another group of slaves larger than the first, and they did the same thing to them. But afterward, he sent his son to them, saying, they will respect my son. But when the vine grower saw the son, they said among themselves, this is the heir. Come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance. And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Now, notice the parables at an end, but now Jesus asks a question. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine growers? You know, he has these men speak their own doom. And they answer and they say, he will bring those wretches to a wretched end and they will rent out the vineyard to other vine growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons. Jesus said to them, did you never read in the scriptures the stone which the builders rejected? This became the chief cornerstone This came about from the Lord and it's marvelous in our eyes. Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust. He's saying this is all going to happen within a generation. Luke 21. and beginning at verse 5, Luke 21, beginning at verse 5, and while some were talking about the temple and that it was adorned with beautiful stones and votive gifts, he said, as for these things which you're looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another, which will not be torn down. They questioned him, saying, Teacher, when, therefore, will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to take place? And he said, See to it that you are not misled, for many will come in my name, saying, I am he, and the time is near. Do not go after them. When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified, for these things must take place, but the end does not follow immediately. And he continued by saying, nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes and in various places, plagues and famines. And there will be terrors and great signs from from heaven. Notice skipping down to verse 20. But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains and those who are in the midst of the city must leave. And those who are in the country must not enter the city because these are days of vengeance so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. And brethren, all these things happened within but a generation. The last state of that generation became worse than the first. It's not just an individual he's talking about in this strange parable. It's a parable addressed to that generation. And within but one generation, the Lord brought sweeping changes in bringing the old covenant to an end and instituting the new covenant. I know your pastor is teaching you about the covenants. And let me just remind you of all the covenantal changes that happened within that one generation. What happened? These huge changes within but a generation. First of all, the temple and all that's associated with it, sacrifices, priesthood, feast days, was made what? According to the language of Hebrews, obsolete. That's the language of the book of Hebrews. The Mosaic Covenant, the Sinai Covenant, made what? Obsolete and ready to disappear. Hebrews 8.13, Colossians 2.16 and 17 and so on. The Jewish Sabbath was ended. Colossians 2, 16 and 17. Israel's covenantal right to the land of Canaan ended. Israel no longer had a covenantal right to the land and doesn't today. Israel's covenantal symbol, physical circumcision, is made obsolete. Galatians 6, 15 and 16. Israel, as the theocratic people of God, ends in judgment. All this happened within a generation. Just as Christ had said, the last state of this generation will be worse than the first. We don't know history very much today. People aren't taught history very much today. But what happened in 70 A.D.? According to Luke 21 and the teaching of our Lord God's army, And what was God's army? The Roman army came into Jerusalem and destroyed it. And over a million and a half people were killed. And God's church escaped because Jesus said, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, don't go back into the city. If you're out in the country, when you see the city surrounded by armies, don't go back into the city. If you're in the city, you leave. And Christians did just that. They remembered what Jesus said. And they got out. And God's Roman army came into the city under Titus Vespasian and Jerusalem was destroyed. And the Old Covenant was brought to an abrupt end. All the changes took place with bringing the Old Covenant, the Sinai Covenant to an abrupt end and instituting the New Covenant and all the changes of the New Covenant was made obsolete. The Lord's Day replaces the Jewish Sabbath, but the ordinance of the Sabbath continues. The New Covenant replaces the Sinai Covenant. All these tremendous changes And it all happened within 40 years of the Lord Jesus saying all these things. Dr. John Brown said this in Discourses and Sayings of Our Lord. The accumulated guilt of ages. And remember, Jesus warned them. He said so that upon this generation will fall the guilt of all those that you've put to death in the past, upon this generation it will fall. The accumulated wrath of God would fall upon that generation. John Brown wrote this, the accumulated guilt of ages was as it were to become theirs by the murder of the Messiah and his apostles and awful was the retribution which awaited them. How accurately the event corresponded with the prediction, who does not know? never was there a generation so guilty and never was there a generation so punished read the history of the last days of the Jewish Republic as recorded by their own unbelieving historian Josephus and then say of the judgments executed on the Jewish nation were not such as to fill to the full human nature's capacity of suffering and if our Lord's own emphatic words were not literally fulfilled His emphatic words in Luke 21, 20 through 24. What we have in this parable, this strange parable in Luke 11, is a parable of the last state of that generation being worse than the first. Just as the last state of the man in the story is worse than the first, he's been possessed by a single demon. The demon leads. The man is unchanged. except that he gets his house in order. He sweeps it and he puts it in order. But in his heart of hearts, he's still the same man, just an improved man, an improved unbeliever, if you will. And the Lord Jesus is saying that this is the way it will be with this generation. In inaugurating the new covenant, all these things occurred. A new Israel of God is established, made up only of those who have been circumcised in their heart, that is, regeneration. New covenant symbols replace the old believers' baptism in the Lord's Supper. New covenant Israel becomes comprised of both Jews and Gentiles who submit to Christ Jesus as Savior and Lord. A new Sabbath day is instituted, namely the Lord's Day. A new temple, that is, the church, is built and replaces the old. And a new book of the covenant, the New Testament Scriptures, replaces the old covenant civil and ceremonial laws. And it all happened within but a generation. Now, in conclusion, I want to say that while the primary meaning of the passage refers to a generation or a specific society, societies are made up of individuals. And herein we have a great lesson about individuals. What is the great lesson? This lesson. Reformation in an individual's life can happen without conversion. That's the great lesson. Real reformation can happen in an individual's life without conversion. The demon leaves. What happens when it leaves? the house is swept and put in order, but the man is inherently unchanged. Real reformation can happen in an individual's life without conversion. Here in the parable, the house which is the man is swept and put in order, and yet it all happens without regeneration, it all happens without conversion, and so we find it in many we meet. Illustrations of this abound all around us. Here's a man helped with his addiction to alcohol through AA. Here's a father who improves his fathering through applying things he's read in a book on the subject. And we could go on and on and you can see the point. Haven't you met unbelievers who have pretty swept and ordered lives? The kind of people you'd like as your neighbor. And yet they're still unregenerate people. They still don't submit to the law of God, and they not even can. They're still by nature children of wrath, but so much about their lives that's commendable, swept and put in order. But along with the Reformation comes a real danger for people like that, namely pride of accomplishment that hardens them to the Bible's description of their actual state. And they lead their swept and ordered lives. And we come to them and say to them, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And they don't believe it. They're proud of their accomplishments. They've left the bottle. They've left their abusive ways. But they're unchanged. Martin Lloyd-Jones put it this way, there's infinitely greater hope tonight for that man who is groveling in the gutters of sin than for the man who believes himself to be all right outside Jesus Christ in his salvation. All that is needed by the former is to be picked up. The latter has to be knocked down. Isn't that right? Listen to that again. There's infinitely greater hope tonight for that man who's groveling in the gutters of sin than for the man who believes himself to be all right outside of Jesus Christ and his salvation. All that's needed by the former is to be picked up. The latter has to be knocked down. And isn't that what we have to do when we meet people who lead swept and ordered lives? We have to bring the law of God. before we bring the gospel of God. We have to make them see their sinnerhood, make them feel their sinnerhood. We bring the law of God to bear upon them. We say it's not just enough to be faithful to your wife in your actions. You need to be faithful in your thoughts. We say it's not just enough to refrain from doing actual physical harm to people. The Sixth Commandment also requires that you not be angry without cause to somebody. And if you are, you've committed murder in your heart. What do we have to do with people like that who lead their swept and ordered lives? We have to bring the law to them. When I go into the prisons, I don't have to convince the men that they're sinners. They know they are. It's a delight to tell men like that, that there's hope even for them and bring the gospel to them. And that's the point that Lloyd-Jones is making. There's infinitely greater hope tonight for that man who's groveling in the gutters of sin and for the man who believes himself to be all right outside Jesus Christ and his salvation. All that is needed by the former is to be picked up. The latter has to be knocked down. And then we come to the people that Jesus was speaking to in this very strange parable. And we remember it all happened to say the way he predicted. There came that time of reformation and responding to John and to the preaching of Jesus, and then Within a very short years, what are the leaders of that generation doing? They're hiring false witnesses to condemn Jesus. And they're doing it openly. Pilate, the Gentile, without the law, without the scriptures, he says, I find no guilt in him. And they keep pressing Pilate into a corner that he couldn't back out of. They probably noticed the ring on his finger that designated him as a friend of Caesar. And somebody noticed that ring on Pilate's hands, the friend of Caesar, because he had saved the life of the emperor years before and had been given that ring. But then the Jews see that ring and say, if you release this man, you're no friend of Caesar. And you see what happens with that generation when the leadership becomes so utterly corrupt. And then in 70 AD, when the last state of that generation comes to the limits of God's patience, and God ends it. He ends the nation of Israel as a republic, as the nation of God. He ends theocratic Israel. He destroys the temple and he makes a new temple out of those who submit to Jesus as Lord. He ends the Sinai Covenant. He institutes the New Covenant. He ends the Jewish Sabbath. He begins the Christian Sabbath. He ends circumcision. He ends the Passover. He replaces it with baptism and the Lord's Supper. And all this happens within a generation. Well, brethren, that's sobering parable, isn't it? for us to consider today. But it all fell out exactly as the Lord Jesus said it would. And thankfully, we can say, yes, but there were some within that generation who responded to him. Jews and Gentiles who came to faith in Christ. And what did they become? They became the new Israel of God. They submitted to Christ as Lord. And that new Israel of God is being built today. You're part of that new Israel of God today. We should not be afraid to even use that term. We're part of what? According to Ephesians 2, the commonwealth of Israel. We're part of that new Israel of God that's being built throughout the earth in Europe and in Asia, here throughout North America. We're part of that new Israel of God. Brethren, it all happened as Christ said it would. Shall we pray? Father in heaven, we are thankful even for the hard sayings of Jesus and what they revealed. We pray that you would bless these words to our heart. To the end, that we would give thanks that we are part of that people that are being built now and that Christ Jesus is fulfilling his promise where he said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. We're so thankful for the work that you're doing throughout the world by your spirit. We're so thankful to be part of that new Israel of God. We're thankful for the new covenant being instituted and established. Help us to be ever more thankful. We ask in our Savior's name. Amen.