Sent of God to the Tenants

And Jesus began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard and let it out to tenants and went into another country for a long while. When the time came, he sent a servant to the tenants, so that they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. And he sent another servant. But they also beat and treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. 

“And he sent yet a third. This one also they wounded and cast out. Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected

    has become the cornerstone’?

“Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” (Luke 20:9-18 ESV)

Do you know that is perfectly within the divine authority and purpose and will of God to even send women to speak to “Christian” men when the men are not acting within the will and purpose of God, but when they are rejecting the Lord and his commands? 

Now, not exactly in the same context, but our Lord did send the women at the tomb to go speak to his male disciples and to let them know that Jesus had risen from the dead, and he did send the Samaritan woman at the well to go share with her townspeople what Jesus had said to her, which resulted in many of them believing in Jesus Christ. And he approved of Priscilla and Aquila helping Apollos to teach the Scriptures more accurately. And both men and women prophesied on the day of Pentecost out in public.

For we live in a day and time when so many men professing faith in Jesus Christ are spiritually AWOL, including many pastors of “churches.” For so many of them are all caught up in the world and in worldliness, and many are living in addiction (slavery) to sin, in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord and against other humans, including against their spouses and children, and particularly in sexual immorality. This is huge! And this is permeating the American church at large, but not in every congregation.

And if our Lord can use a donkey to speak to a false prophet (Balaam), then he can certainly choose to use women as his messengers to those who are speaking falsely in the name of the Lord and to those who are teaching a false gospel of men and who are not adhering to the commands of God. So in our day and time, some of these messengers (servants of the Lord) who are being sent of God to the “tenants of his vineyard,” i.e. to pastors and elders of church congregations, may, in fact, be women.

Why? I believe it is because there is a drastic shortage of men, at least here in America, who are walking in holiness and in righteousness and in moral purity, honesty, and faithfulness to God and to their spouses, who are living for the Lord and who are willing to be the Lord’s messengers (servants) in taking his messages to those “tenants of the vineyard” who are not doing the will of God but who are doing opposite of the will of the Lord. There is a huge shortage of “Christian” men in America living in obedience to God.

Now I have no idea how many servants of the Lord (male or female) the Lord is presently using here in America to speak to the church and some to the leaders of these church gatherings. I know there are some of us that he is using and has used to be his messengers to the gatherings of the church, and some to the pastors and elders of those congregations, though some of this more in indirect ways, i.e. in ways we were not anticipating or seeking out but just how the Lord led as he opened the doors for that to happen.

But I can speak from experience that when the Lord sends you and/or he puts you in a situation where he opens that door for you to speak, and so you speak what you are given to say, all within the appropriate means of communication, that in such settings as this where the leaders are followers of man in place of followers of God, and where they are marketing their churches to the world rather than winning people to faith in the Lord via the truth of the gospel, you may be told to “hit the road and don’t come back.”

But if we are truly following the Lord Jesus with our lives, and if what we are speaking is the truth of the Scriptures, as being led by the Lord, then when they reject us and our messages, they are truly rejecting Jesus Christ and they are giving him the same message. And so they “kill” the messenger, figuratively speaking, because they want to “kill” the message. And that is because they are teaching a false gospel in order to attract the world to their gatherings, for they don’t want to offend the ungodly.

And one day God is going to judge his adulterous and idolatrous church because they have refused the Lord’s messages, which come from his word, because they favor the words of man which tickle itching ears and which do not offend the ungodly who they desire to have in their gatherings. And this is because they want to grow their earthly kingdoms and so they are saying what the people want to hear rather than what they need to hear. And so they reject the truth in favor of the lies because the lies don’t offend them.

But we are not saved from our sins and on our way to heaven based on lip service to God. We are saved by God’s grace, and not of ourselves, yes, but that grace instructs us to renounce (say “NO!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. And Jesus said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin) and follow (obey) him. And he said that not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father in heaven.

[Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23]

So, don’t be taken in by the lies, but be willing to listen to those who are speaking the truth of God’s word (male or female) who are also living (practicing) what they preach, in practice. For if sin is what we practice, and not righteousness and holiness and obedience to our Lord, we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what faith our lips profess.

[Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

Hear my Voice 

An Original Work / July 9, 2012

Based off Psalm 27

The Lord is my great salvation.

He’s the stronghold of my life.

When my enemies attack me,

My heart will not fear at all.

Though a war break out against me,

Confident in Christ I’ll be.

Of the Lord, I ask that I may

Live with Him eternally. 

Hear my voice, Lord, when I call you.

Merciful to me You’ll be.

Though my relatives forsake me,

My Lord God will receive me.

Teach me Your way, O my Jesus.

Lead me in Your righteousness.

I will sacrifice to my Lord.

I will sing with joyfulness.

I am confident that I will

See the goodness of the Lord.

All the richness of His blessings,

My Lord has for me in store.

He asks me to be of courage;

To be strong and to take heart,

Patiently as I wait for Him,

And from Him to ne’er depart.

https://vimeo.com/119813963