God's Expectation of the Vineyard

Scripture: John 15:4-5

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.  "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

Insights:  Remember these words were spoken by Jesus on His final night before His arrest, trail and crucifixion.  These are last words of teaching to His closest and most intimate friends.  He tells them the Father’s expectation of their lives is to bear fruit and that if they attempt to do it alone, they will fail and no fruit will be born.  The power for fruit bearing is to remain in the vine, who is Jesus.  There are two kinds of fruit.  First is the fruit of character.  This fruit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22).  How does the Father produce that kind of fruit in our lives?  He does it by putting us in situations where we will learn those characteristics by the Holy Spirit’s promptings.  So, if we are needing to show kindness because we lack that characteristic of God, then He may put call us to serve in a soup kitchen, or the like, where we will grow at showing kindness to those in need of it.  As He is pruning out the old branches and allowing these healthy branches to grow bigger the second kind of fruit will be a natural bi-product.  The second fruit is salvation to the lost.  In other words, lost people will see these changes in our lives and begin to be drawn to us because they will want what we have.  At that point we must share the gospel.  Now these last two sentences are the perfect example of fruit bearing.  There are times, more often than not, when the Father calls us to engage the conversation with the lost world.  Again, our ability to start conversations with the intent to share the gospel is a result of abiding in Jesus and letting the Father prune old selfish characteristics out of our lives.  The more we become like Jesus through the sanctification process, the more we are going to want to share Him with those around us.  Sharing Jesus becomes as natural as a grandparent talking about their new born grandchild.  Because we abide in Jesus, we will want to share!

Questions:

1. Are you receiving the Lord’s pruning with joy?
2. Is His pruning stirring you to share the gospel? 

Prayer: Lord, my life is full of the old nature and selfishness.  Prune my desires and make them Yours as You mold me through the process of sanctification.  As I grow through this journey with You, make me sensitive to Your promptings to share the gospel with the lost around me.  My heart desire is to bear more fruit.  Amen.

God Engages the Vineyard

Scripture: John 15:2

"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.

Insights:  In the mid to late 18^th century there were a growing number of people who openly expressed their belief as deism.  In some ways today we call that mindset agnostic.  Basically, the belief was God was like a watch builder and the world was the watch.  After He completed the making of the watch, He wound it up, put it on a shelf and then let it go.  From the agnostic perspective, we recognize there had to be a watch Maker, but there is no way we can know Him.  As a result, we don’t even try.  This type of false theology or philosophy flies squarely in opposition to today’s verse.  In today’s verse God is very much actively involved in the world.  He has not just wound it up and let it go, He is pruning branches that bear fruit and He is taking away branches that don’t.  This truth ought to give us a great deal of peace, joy and satisfaction in knowing this very real and personal God.  As we have learned in Henry Blackaby’s material Experiencing God, this activity of God IS His invitation for us to join Him.  The problem is we live in a world that is so fast paced we often times don’t recognize God’s work.  Beloved, I would encourage you to slow down and be intentional about looking for God’s invitation to You.  Take some time today and praise God for His gracious work He is presently doing around you.  Ask Him to open your eyes to see the work.  Ask Him to open your ears to hear His voice.  Ask Him for the courage to join Him in His mission.  Last night at the revival at Mt. Pleasant BC, Jamie Pruett preached out of Isaiah 6:1-9.  He concluded with this point: God is not just giving an invitation to a select group of people.  If we have worshipped Him, He is inviting us to be sent by Him.  At that point Jamie took us to Ephesians 2:8-10 and emphasized verse 10 which states, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”  Beloved, recognize God’s activity and join Him in His work, because you were created to do.

Questions:

1. Have you thanked God lately for His gracious involvement in the world?
2. Do you slow down enough to recognize God’s activity?

Prayer: Lord, my life is so hectic and fast paced.  In that speed Lord, I often times do not recognize You or hear Your voice.  Forgive me please for this self-centered perspective of life.  Turn my heart to You and open my eyes to see Your work.  Then, Lord, please give me the courage to join You in Your activity.  Amen.

God Establishes the Vineyard

Scripture: John 15:1

"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

Insights:  In the final week of Jesus’ earthly life He told the parable found in Matthew 21:33-46 about the vineyard owner.  Then after the Lord’s Supper when He was alone with His disciples He told them these words found in John 15.  If Jesus used this imagery twice in His final week of life, it would do us well to invest some of our time to understanding this message.  This first verse of chapter fifteen indicates two truths.  First, God IS the vinedresser.  In other words, He is the One sovereignly ruling over all of creation.  In fact in the Matthew parable, the vineyard owner is the One who laid the walls, planted the fruit, made the trellis’ and did all the preparation work before He rented out the vineyard to workers.  God established the world as He desired and saw fit.  Everything that exists is because of His infinite creativity and grace.  I am emphasizing God’s creative nature because it helps us understand that the second point found in this passage was not some kind of plan B.  Here is the second truth, Jesus in the TRUE vine.  In other words, there are a lot of vines out there in this world.  In today’s “tolerant” minded civilization, the world would have us to believe all these vines are the same or equal.  Universalists would have us to believe that as long as you are on some kind of path you will eventually reach the same final destination.  To state it a little bit more explicitly, the world would have us to believe that Allah and Yahweh are one and the same or at least equal in power.  These “tolerant” minded thoughts are absolutely false.  I write again, Jesus said He was the TRUE vine.  The implications are clear.  Jesus is the only vine where life can be found.  If one is not connected to the life giving vine, then they are dead because they are not receiving any nutrients.  One must be in relationship with Jesus in order to be connected.  The only way to be in relationship is to have received His gift of eternal life.  In other words, one must be born again to be connected to the true vine.  God knew in His sovereign grace that His plan was to send His Son to be the TRUE vine to save a people for Himself.  It was for that explicit purpose He created and orchestrated human history to the climactic point of His Son’s death, burial and resurrection.

Questions:

1. Have you thanked God lately for His gracious sovereign rule?
2. Have you received the eternal life offered by the true vine? 

Prayer: Lord, I thank You for Your sovereign rule over all creation.  I also praise You for the plan You established before the foundations of the world to redeem a people to Yourself through the atoning sacrifice of Your Son. Amen.

Choose to Covenant with the Lord

Scripture: Joshua 24:25

So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

Insights:  Joshua called the children of Israel to enter into a covenant relationship with God.  A covenant is more than just a legal contract.  Especially today, we see legal contracts broken all of the time.  A covenant on the other hand is weightier.  It actually affects the heart and is eternally binding.  Covenants are not to be entered into lightly or haphazardly.  To enter into a covenant with God is always to our best interest.  The reason for that is God NEVER fails to uphold His end of the relationship.  God is offering the children of Israel this great covenant relationship and the best part is His offer still stands today.  Will you enter into a covenant relationship with God?  God is offering you this free gift of eternal life.  A gift you do not deserve and cannot earn.  The reason for your inability to do anything about your eternity is because you are a sinner and you can’t save yourself.  But God IS love and therefore does not want to punish you.  At the same time, however, God is just and must punish sin.  He solves this apparent problem in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ.  He is the infinite God-man.  In other words, He is fully God and fully human at the same time.  Jesus came to this earth and lived among us.  He died on a cross for the payment of your sins.  He was buried, but on the third day He rose again.  And now, by faith, you can receive and enter into a covenant relationship with this merciful God with which Joshua is telling you to covenant.  Faith is not just head knowledge of facts about Jesus.  Faith is not temporary either.  In other words, you can’t let Jesus “fix” your present problem and then walk away from Him and think you really belong to Him.  Faith is an eternal heart change where you trust in Him alone for eternal life.

Questions:

1. Have you entered into a covenant relationship with the Lord?
2. If not, why not today?

Prayer: Lord, I sense You are drawing on my heart to enter a covenant relationship with You.  Thank You for offering me this free gift of eternal life found in Jesus.  Forgive me of my sin because it is impossible for me to save myself.  I am so grateful You are a God of love, but I understand You are a righteous and holy Judge Who must punish sin.  It is for that reason I receive Your Son Jesus by faith into my heart.  He alone can bear the punishment my sin deserves and requires.  Thank You for allowing me to enter into this covenant relationship of new life.  Thank You for forgiving me of my sin.  I am now Your child.  I ask all of this in Jesus name, Amen.

Choose to Understand the Lord

Scripture: Joshua 24:19-20

Then Joshua said to the people, "You will not be able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgression or your sins.  ²⁰ "If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you after He has done good to you."

Insights:  Last week we looked at choosing to fear the Lord and expressed several reasons for such fear.  In a similar vein our verses today speak to one of those reasons to fear the Lord.  Joshua is addressing our need to understand the Lord and His character.  In these verses we are told God is holy.  His holiness sets Him apart from everything else.  His character is so pure that no sin taints His countenance.  It is from such a perfect position that God is able to judge accurately every case before Him.  Another dynamic Joshua wants us to know about God is that He is jealous.  This type of jealousy is a proper kind.  In modern day vernacular we see jealousy as a bad thing because we associate it with coveting.  With respects to God, however, jealousy is His right to glory.  He is the only One worthy of worship and glory.  Because of God’s jealous nature, He pursues us with the intent for Him to receive glory.  In fact Isaiah 48:11 states, “I will rescue you for my sake— yes, for my own sake! I will not let my reputation be tarnished, and I will not share my glory with idols!”  It is for His sake alone that He rescues us.  These verses from Joshua, however, describe a third dynamic to God’s nature we need to understand.  It is this third aspect that refers back to last week’s thoughts regarding our need to fear the Lord.  There are consequences to our sin.  If we choose to walk in rebellion against the Father, He will turn and consume us.  In other words, God is not going to perpetually turn a blind eye to the sins of one of His children and not intervene.  When we as His children choose to walk in rebellion, yet continue to claim we are His, we are robbing Him of glory.  And we have just determined He is jealous for His glory!  Last week when we addressed fearing the Lord, we mentioned that we do not actually fear the Lord today.  If we did, we would understand the consequences would be the result of our sin against God.

Questions:

1. Are you making decisions that displease the Lord?
2. Have you truly considered the cost of such decisions?

Prayer: Lord, You are indeed a jealous God.  You do not share Your glory with anyone or anything.  It is Yours and Yours alone because You alone are holy.  Empower me, Lord, through Your indwelling Spirit, to live a life of obedience to You.  Let my life please You.  Amen.  

Choose to Remember the Lord, Part 3

Scripture: Joshua 24:17-18

for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed.  "The LORD drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God."

 

Insights:  Today we are going to look at two more characteristics of Jesus that we need to remember.  First is the peace of Jesus that is ours.  Paul wrote in his letter to the church of Ephesus, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility (2:13-14).”  Jesus becomes our peace when we enter into that love relationship with Him.  It is because He desires such a relationship that He broke down the dividing wall of sin by His death.  The second characteristic goes hand in hand with this last sentence.  It is the forgiveness of Jesus.  Hebrews 8:12 states, “For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins.”  What an amazing promise and characteristic of our loving Lord.  He will be merciful to our wrongdoings.  He will forget our sins.  Amen!  It is important for us to frequently remember the nature of God just as the Israelites did in the time of Joshua.  These moments of recollection give us the courage to press on and enter new adventures with our Lord and God.  Let me close this morning with just a small list of some of Jesus’ other attributes upon which we would do well to reflect.  Jesus is also our righteousness, deliverer, fellowship, example, companion, brother, guardian, security, sufficiency, fulfillment, and everything.  We could provide scriptural evidence for each and every one of these marvelous attributes of Jesus, but I think the point has been clearly made—we need to remember our Lord regularly.  I encourage you to take some time today and think beyond even this list of Jesus’ nature and attributes.  After you spend some time doing that exercise, I know you will be even more encouraged in your walk with Christ.  To His glory and praise!

Questions:

1. Are you experiencing the peace of Jesus?
2. Are you harboring sin that needs to be forgiven?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, Your peace is an incredible comfort to my heart.  Even when life seems to painful to go on, there still remains a peace that quiets my spirit.  There is also a sweet refreshing when I repent of sin and turn my heart back to You  Thank You for Your forgiving love.  Amen.  

Choose to Remember the Lord, Part 2

Scripture: Joshua 24:17-18

for the LORD our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and who did these great signs in our sight and preserved us through all the way in which we went and among all the peoples through whose midst we passed.  "The LORD drove out from before us all the peoples, even the Amorites who lived in the land. We also will serve the LORD, for He is our God."

 

Insights:  We mentioned yesterday that the Israelites remembered God’s faithfulness to them and it aided them in choosing to follow after God.  We then mentioned we were going to “remember” different traits of Jesus that we often times take for granted or even over look in our lives.  The first traits and dimensions of Jesus I wish to review is His Lordship.  In Acts 2:36 Peter, in the first sermon of the New Testament Church, said, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”  Peter is making it abundantly clear in calling Jesus Lord and Christ that Jesus is the anointed One.  He is set apart.  His IS God’s Chosen One, and as such, He IS Lord, and therefore, in control.  Nothing happens outside of His providential hand.  One of the traditions I have observed living in the South is the raising of children to say, “Yes, ma’am” or “Yes, sir.”  I really like this picture of respect and authority.  We as Christ-followers need to get to the place we are saying, “Yes Sir” to Jesus no matter what He tells us.  There is no room for debate.  He IS Lord.  Another characteristic I want us to review is Jesus is our Love.  Jeremiah the prophet foretold of the type of love Jesus would have for us when he wrote, “the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”  Jeremiah is using wedding language here.  He is describing the faithful love of a husband to his bride.  Jesus IS our Love and the church is His bride.  If we are born again, we are a part of the church and therefore the recipients of His everlasting love.  Because of our union with Christ and our upcoming wedding we are empowered to love others with the same kind of love we have been given.  Beloved, let Jesus’ love shine through your lives today!

Questions:

1. Are you surrendered under the Lordship of Jesus?
2. Are you allowing Jesus’ love to flow through you?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, I humble myself before You and ask for forgiveness for times in which I take the lead in my life.  You are Lord and God and I am not.  Teach me to be submissive to Your will and let Your love permeate my entire life.  Amen.