The Stonemasons Son

(9) Daniel Porteous - The Stonemasons Son - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFTrC_c6ulk

Transcript:
(00:00) so here we are this is the this is um the father's day weekend i guess tomorrow is father's day in this in in the US it's a day where we think about and we celebrate fathers and already we've had mentioned and and I thought you know we could mention lots of fathers and sons in God's word um for instance in the bulletin today we have um Abraham and Isaac there's a father and son which have a lot of appointments a a lot of importance and then for the younger ones or people like myself there's some word search
(00:41) that you can work on about an Abraham word search and if you missed last week there's Noah's ark as well all right so I'm not giving these to anybody i'm keeping them for myself for later and then also in the um did you know this week I just like to quote one paragraph i'm sure you all read this last night right when it came out um Mr l started to get on my case because I was reading it before church services but it's actually because I'm going to quote him so I'm going to quote Mr ls a well-known biblical scholar that you may have heard of so just one paragraph he says the Bible
(01:20) doesn't always celebrate bold extra extroverted men it honors men who fear God obey his word and make right decisions when no one's looking joseph the husband of Mary is a powerful example though scripture records no spoken words from him he obeyed God at every step protecting his family responding to God's direction and quietly fulfilling his role with courage and faith he didn't make headlines but he helped raise the Messiah so Joseph is not someone we um usually focus on a lot because as as was mentioned in the um did you know we
(02:04) don't actually have any words recorded from from Joseph turn with me if you will Matthew 13 matthew 13 as we think about fathers and sons this weekend matthew 13 and if we go to Matthew 13 and verse 55 Matthew 13:55 so we have this this scripture here where basically they're referring to Jesus Christ and they're saying what who is this guy who does he think he is to teach us and they say so verse 55 is this not the carpenter's son is not his mother called Mary and his brothers James Joseph Simon and Judas and his sisters are they not all with us
(03:07) where did this man get all these things it's basically saying who does he think he is to teach us the carpenter's son is what it says now I'd like to focus a little bit more on this word that's carpenter here um the Greek word is tecton and if you want the uh the reference number there the strongs reference is 5045 a G5045 but when you look up this word it can actually refer to any craftsman or workman any craftsman or workman so it doesn't necessarily mean um a carpenter i'd like to quote from um Professor Mark Baker this is from June 1st 2022
(04:09) um on a blog and the title of his um blog was Jesus carpenter or construction worker so carpenter so I'm just quoting from now from um Mark Baker he says carpenter is not technically a wrong translation of tecton but the word is broader than that more the sense of a builder who uses various materials so wood stone metal thatch plaster etc carpenter may have seemed like the most fitting word for Bible translators in the 17 in 17th century England surrounded by woods and buildings made of wood but does it make sense in
(04:53) Galilee there were not many trees around Nazareth hence little little work was done with wood h I just find that interesting you like you might be thinking okay so what if he wasn't a carpenter and he he worked with all sorts of materials if if you actually go to on the if you get on your computer and you do a Google search now I don't know if you've noticed this but you know it wasn't very long ago you did a Google search and one of the top things was Wikipedia right and give you definition things well now it actually gives you um what is right at the top usually now is an AI
(05:34) I overview so what it is it gives you AI overview of all these websites that they think would fit what your question is so if you put a question into your computer on the internet a question like um what was the builder material during the time of Jesus or the time of Christ and it gives you an AI overview well this is I put that question in and this is the AI overview that gave me as it pulled information it says "During the time of Christ building materials were primarily sourced from the local environment
(06:10) and included stone wood reeds and mud stone was a common choice for foundations and walls especially in the region of Palestine where limestone was abundant mud was used as mortar bricks and for covering roofs wood was primarily used for roof structures and doorways although it was more expensive and less readily available material so we know wood was available we have the cedars of Lebanon right but you had to go further north for for that very fine wood and it was more expensive so if you want a title for today's message the title I have is the stonemason's son
(07:04) the stonemason's son now what does it matter what does it matter carpenter construction worker stonemason well the the reality is this word tecton at that time whatever building material was used was a lowly position it was a lowly position i'd like to read another quote this is from um Jordan K monson so this man is a professor at Huntington University um and he's also an investigative writer for Christianity today now I wouldn't follow this u man's um theology but he's really good at researching um the meaning of words and researching the background here so this
(07:58) is a quote from the December 2021 issue so about what's about two and a half years ago two and a half three and a half years ago three and a half years ago my mathematics could work eventually so um an article by Jordan Monson so Monson writes "Jesus was not elite his trade was not respected early church leaders of an aristocratic bent found Jesus' trade to be embarrassing they wanted to distance him from it.
(08:38) " The first substantive pymic against Christianity attaches the respectability of Jesus precisely on this account in the second century the pagan philosopher Celsius disparaged Jesus as only a tecton again what does it matter what does it matter well I want you to pause and think sometimes you have we have this romanticized view of Jesus Christ maybe um working alongside his dad in a in a wood shop maybe crafting a nice piece of furniture that's probably not likely instead so instead of this more solitary you know upbringing Jesus spent years working with rubbing
(09:28) shoulders with the lowly now hopefully this is starting to put a little bit of different perspective on this and also I think it connects with scripture like other builders of his time Jesus likely worked um not just on small projects in his village but he would have traveled with his dad right with Joseph gone further field to big building sites um you know things that were uh sponsored or or being built for King Herod or others so Jesus at time would have worked under like a a head builder and he also very likely he would had less skilled workers that he was also responsible for
(10:20) so he had to work under authority and then he would have had authority over others so this work and you think about this work experience I believe shows up in scripture and I give I I believe it gives an extra depth and that's why I'm giving this today an extra depth to some of the things that Christ referred to in his teaching not only did he give the spiritual lessons but he physically did the work and he came into contact with people okay let's just pause you know I said "What does it matter?" Let's picture Jesus Christ on a
(11:00) construction crew now that's good honest work but very often people on a construction crew right they're messy they're grungy they're dirty is that the only work you could get h even today right but they're constructing they're constructing these buildings they're constructing you be beautiful when when it is finished you're like "Wow look at that what was built.
(11:38) " But when they're down in the basement in the building it's not really considered and the same with at Christ time so when they when this statement here in verse 55 of of Matthew 13 says "Is this not is this not the carpenters's son?" Right is this not the tecton you can see why they were asking this like "Well hold on we saw him in the muck we saw him carrying rocks.
(12:11) " Also the image that Christ is portrayed of you know very often you know when there's pictures painted of Christ right in in in the Christian world it's a very effeminite looking Christ isn't it i believe Jesus Christ would have had biceps strong forearms strong hands right he would have been rugged because he was picking up rocks he was carrying them and placing them just think about that this is a totally different image it's not this romantic view of of you know somebody working on some you know planing a piece of wood but someone out there in the midst of it so along with that you know if he had people under authority of maybe giving
(13:01) bad instructions or people under him like murmuring and complaining what would firsthand what would Christ have experienced he would have had he would have seen frustrations with a supervisor drudgery of the job unfair pay or being totally drained after a long day now you don't have to raise your hand but I'll put my hand up have you ever been totally drained after a long day i was I was drained yesterday by the way i had to I came home and I was like I really need to work on this message I've got tomorrow but I need to go have some sleep right because I had to be up at what
(13:43) time was it 8 i had to drive to Seattle so we had to I had to get lab work at 8:30 I think it was now I wasn't doing physical work but that was draining for me what if I had to get up really early and go to a construction site in Seattle and work for 12 hours and then come home before the Sabbath hopefully this helps you when you pray to God the Father and our the advocate is sitting at his right hand Jesus Christ he understands the tough things that we go through you know complaining and whining and and oh what a how did I get this terrible
(14:30) boss or okay I have to work with these people that I'm responsible for i'm the supervisor i'm the manager whatever the case is I have to right jesus Christ understands the frustrations that we have why else why else does it matter why else does it matter well this work experience shows up in the teaching of Jesus Christ when Jesus Christ talks about wages managers hiring firing building projects does this start to connect with some scriptures that hopefully come to your mind okay let's go to one set of scriptures here let's go to Matthew 20
(15:26) this was not a building site although it talks about a tower being built um maybe I'll just paraphrase what this this is this is the um the workers in the vineyard this is a parable that Christ uses us uses remember and the um the harvest is great and he goes out and gets workers and he says "Come on.
(15:57) " And and it's too much work for who and then he goes out the third hour gets more workers in the sixth hour and the ninth hour and then at the 11th hour he goes in and get more workers and you remember if you recall this what happens is then the owner he he says the ones that came and only worked for an hour he gives them their wages those that worked for 3 hours he gives them their wages those that worked for 6 hours those then last is those who work for 12 hours and he gives them what he agreed to pay them and they say "Uh-uh how come we're only getting as much as
(16:37) those that worked one hour?" And the owner says to them "Am I cheating you aren't I paying you what I agreed?" But Christ would have experienced this people being unhappy with their wages managers people working over people he would have experienced all these things in his physical life growing up and then he drew spiritual lessons now do you think when Christ was working as he was growing up some of these spiritual lessons because he knew the whole of Old Testament do you think some of the spiritual lessons
(17:20) were in his mind as he's working and the spiritual lessons into mind and then later on he teaches now are there other scriptures that start come to mind when you consider that instead of cutting boards or shaping furniture Jesus the Christ had very likely spent years chiseling carrying and then laying stones precisely laying stones does this start to add some depth to the many scriptures where Christ references stones rocks foundation also the the apostles who were taught by who jesus Christ and Paul right who taught Paul directly
(18:16) jesus Christ and then the inspired Old Testament and I I like to think of the Old Testament as the foundation for the New Testament it was built upon let's review some of these verses let's go to Ephesians we've already been in Ephesians this morning let's go there again but this time we'll go to Ephesians chapter 2 and and not Ephesians 5 as we did the first message ephesians chapter 2 so turn with me to this one ephesians chapter 2 and we'll read from verse 19 and you may have a title there that says Christ our cornerstone
(19:07) now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God having been built upon the foundation did Did Christ in his physical life know exactly what it meant to build a good foundation yes he did he also knew the spiritual principle that went with that i don't know if any of you have done construction work i know there are some that have done construction work in their in their lives you know that's that used to be a job that quite often guys go to university in the summer they'd get a construction
(19:50) work and it's it's hard work while you were doing construction work did you ever think ah look I'm placing this oh yeah just like Christ when he was placing a foundation it says having built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building verse 21 being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the spirit now that's the spiritual building there built on the solid foundation
(20:34) the spiritual building so the stonemason's son let's go to Mark 12 and and you also think about other scriptures like when um Christ threw out the money changers in the temple it wasn't just righteous you know fervor that he had righteous indignation i believe he would have been a forbidable man to to to come across right because he had shifted rock i believe it so physically I think he would have been able to throw people out a lot of strength let's go to Mark 12 mark 12:10
(21:44) this is right after the parable of the um the wicked vine dressers right this this owner of the the vineyard had had built up nice walls around built a tower and left the vineyard for others to to work on and take care of to rent the land and then eventually he sends his son to check out what's happening with the land and they they kill him so Christ used this analogy but then you get to verse 10 after you talking about this he says "Have you not read this scripture?" And this is really putting acid this way this is phrase "Have you not read the
(22:36) scripture?" Like he's he's talking to some of these people that see themselves as scholars have you not read the scripture the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone this was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes right and this was recorded by three of the gospel writers let's look at it luke Luke 20 verse 17 and just slightly different different wording sometimes uh Luke 20:17 it says "And he looked at them and said "What then is this that is written?" Right there's a little bit acid in the way that's said what then is this that is written the stone which the builders
(23:34) rejected has become the chief cornerstone and then in Matthew 21 Matthew 21 Matthew 21:42 Jesus said to him "Did 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.
(24:09) " So not only did Jesus Christ inspire the scripture to be recorded in the Old Testament right let's look at that right he inspired it recorded so this is quoting from Psalm 118 so let me see if I can get there psalm 118 i'll read it there i know we're repeating the same thing it's emphasizing this importance of this psalm 118 and verse 22 and 23 the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and you notice this is was inspired to be written in the Psalms probably about a thousand years before Christ and it says and that was approximate when I said that um verse 23 this was the Lord's doing
(25:00) it is marvelous in our eyes marvelous in our eyes so just pause and think about this i think that Christ in his physical life knew exactly the importance of a chief cornerstone you know if he got to work on one of Herod's King Herod's big projects and seeing a a chief cornerstone being placed in a for a temple or a a palace or some fortress or a palace fortress right quite often they were he knew that from inspiring scripture he knew it from physically and he knew the spiritual importance of it for me it just adds a depth of
(25:55) understanding and it's helped me to appreciate so part of what I want you to do is is when you come across scriptures that where Christ is making references or or talking about someone who's a manager someone talking about wages talking about foundations you think "Yeah that's right jesus Christ knew from where he spoke obviously spiritually but also from physically doing that work and what are we told to do we are told to build upon the rock we are told to build upon the rock luke 6 go to Luke 6 that's right i had another word and another scripture was coming to mind
(27:11) let's go to Luke 6 luke 6 and verse 48 luke 6 and verse 48 it would help if I turn to the right chapter luke 6 and verse 48 it says and I'm just breaking right in here it says "He is like a man building a house who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock and when the floods arose the stream beat vehemently against that house and could not shake it for it was founded on the rock.
(27:56) " It was founded on the rock and let's go to Matthew 7 it's also recorded and and we'll read um extra scriptures here matthew 7 and let's start in verse 21 for this one verse 21 in Matthew 7 and this is a scary section of scripture I find um I I've I put this question my wife and I have put this question of people before a few times and it's a message I was going to work on and then someone by the name of Tim Pworth you might know who he is gave a message on it a few months ago but it was what is the scariest prophecy in God's word well I think this could be one of them in here let's just start
(29:04) reading it says "Not everyone who says to me Lord Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father in heaven right this is this father-son relationship here many will say to me in that day Lord Lord right and there's emphasis Lord Lord have we not prophesied in your name cast out demons in your name and done many wonders in your name i just want you to pause and think about this is people who come to to Christ and say "But hey I cast out demons in your name." Well that's impressive
(29:51) i I'd be I'd be impressed right but notice verse 23 this is the scary one of the scary prophecies that you don't want to be in this category it says "Then and then I will declare to them I never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness." What but hold on i cast out demons in your name i never knew you okay that's a scary prophecy i never knew you but notice what it follows up with after that has this these verses about to build on the rock therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them so this is who is likened to that those that know
(30:51) how to build i will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock and the rain descended the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house and it did not fall for it was founded on the rock can you don't have to put your hand up but I'll put my hand up for you right how many of you and you can have felt like you've had the wind beating on you i think I felt some of that this week actually i started getting anxious oh no I've got these appointments this plane and then when I saw that terrible Indian plane crash and I was like
(31:42) God thank you for delaying my plane flight sometimes things that seem to go wrong we need to say thank you God for we're to build our house upon the rock the solid foundation and when Christ said these words he knew exactly what that meant cuz I believe he spent many years chiseling carrying and precisely placing stone what is Christ doing with us is Christ chiseling carrying and precisely placing living stones there are so many more scriptures we could um go to you know there's scriptures like um
(32:56) counting the cost right you know what man building a tower doesn't first count the cost of whether he's able to finish it and that was loosely paraphrased um Luke somewhere 14 let's go to Deuteronomy 32 and I thought about finishing with the scripture but I'm not going to deuteronomy 32 and if you can come up and tell me later Daniel you should have finished on Deuteronomy 32 i always like to have a strong scripture to finish on so this is one that I thought of remember this was inspired by the word who became Jesus Christ
(33:46) sometimes I like to pause and put things in perspective and then what did he very likely do growing up i I believe he spent many years chiseling right cutting the right size carrying it and placing it so Deuteronomy 32:4 he is the rock his work is perfect and I believe he would have been admired with his physical work on this earth and I said I said to you this was a low considered a lowly position and it wasn't that he was not without artistry right you know the the images that Christ paints through the gospels that recorded the images that are he inspired to be
(34:38) recorded through the psalms right show the artistry but he also was a man that got in there and did the hard work so he is the rock his work is perfect for all his ways are justice a God of truth and without injustice righteous and upright is he that that could have been a nice finish right for the sermon this is the rock that we're to build upon as we consider how this applies to each of us as we endeavor to become Christlike right what did we just come through we just came through Passover days on 11 bread Pentecost
(35:35) right we had some of these lessons right christ our Passover like the p the power of the Holy Spirit that was made available to us pictured in Pentecost and and unleavened bread where we're to put on Jesus Christ we're to put on the Savior as we think about trying to become Christlike think about the firsthand knowledge that Christ had choosing and cutting stones physically and what is he doing spiritually rejected right the chief cornerstone we read that scripture rejected and yet the most precious stone let's go to first Peter 2
(36:24) 1 Peter 2 so the son of the stonemason 1 Peter 2 and we'll start right here in verse one therefore and and you know I like therefors right have I emphasized therefors because when there's a therefore it's referring back to what was already been said what is first Peter about first Peter is about enduring through trials and coming through well right you could give other definitions for first Peter but it's really about hope in Christ through trials and you know right in ver chapter one of my subject it says enduring the word
(37:35) so verse chapter 2 starts off therefore laying aside all malice so when we think about becoming Christlike here's a list of things right we don't want to have as part of our foundation laying aside all malice all guile hypocrisy envy and all evil speaking oh that's quite of a load to work on isn't it cuz I never have any of those in my life i never have any of these thoughts remember Christ would have experienced people who are like ah that boss of mine he's not even going to pay me properly for today he would have experienced that
(38:27) physically so instead of right lay aside all these things don't have this part as part of your foundation it says as newborn babes desire pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby if indeed you have tasted that The Lord is gracious have you tasted that that the Lord is gracious i'll put my hand up i have i have tasted that the Lord is gracious it says "Coming to him as a living stone rejected indeed by men but chosen by God and precious.
(39:11) " Right how does God the Father view Jesus Christ precious but notice this this verse five you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ so we also are to become living stones there's all there's so many references to the rock the stone the foundation and here Peter wrote these words he was inspired to write we are to become living stones therefore it is also contained in the scripture behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone
(40:12) elect precious and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame so that's been quoted from Isaiah actually let's hold your place in First Peter i'm going to go here quickly to Isaiah 28 and I'll read this for you this is where it was quoted from verse 16 of Isaiah 28 therefore thus says the Lord God behold I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation a tried stone a precious cornerstone a sure foundation who whoever believes will not act hastily don't you love the way that's worded there a tried stone
(41:05) a precious cornerstone a sure foundation the Lord that we strive to emulate knows what it is to build a shore foundation he has built that for us and he wants us as living stones to be built he knew from where he spoke okay back to first Peter 2 okay verse six therefore it is also contained in scripture behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone elect precious he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame therefore to you who believe he is precious but to those who are disobedient right we know which where we want to be we want to have the sure
(42:07) foundation to those who are disobedient the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling a rock of offense they stumble being disobedient to the word to which they also were appointed but you and I'm looking at all of you but you I'll point at myself as well because this is where I want to be but you are a chosen generation a royal priesthood a holy nation his own special people that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light