Preparing to Bear Fruit, Pt. 2 (08/20/2000)

Always careful to hop up, last week I hopped too quickly, and today I was right on my mark.

Next Sunday, the Lord willing, I want to preach a doctrinal message to you called the

Sanctification Cycle, and it'll be more of a teaching time where we talk about all the different aspects of sanctification, and we'll look at it from a doctrinal point of view.

This morning, though, this will be more of a sermon in the sense that I want it to touch your hearts, and not that I don't want the teaching to, but I want to continue this message that we began called

Preparing to Bear Fruit, and we're going to just pick up where we left off, and if it takes us anywhere near where it took me in the study this week, we're going to have a good time today, hallelujah.

So turn to Isaiah chapter 30, we're going to be in Isaiah chapter 5, but I want you to look at chapter 37 and verse 30 first of all, just to review just a little bit.

Let's look at Isaiah 37, 30, and 31, because remember that the whole idea of discussion for several

Sundays has been fruit bearing. Isaiah 37 and verse 30, and this shall be a sign unto thee, ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself, and the second year that which springeth of the same.

And in the third year, sow ye, and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.

And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward, and that's going to certainly come to light this little, this sets up a little cycle, or the beginning of a cycle that we're going to talk about next

Sunday, the sanctification cycle. Now turn to Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 1, and we're going to pick up in that passage of scripture that we preached from last time

I preached, a couple of Sundays ago. All right, just follow along with me, just in case it might be somebody that wasn't here two

Sundays ago, it'll kind of get you up to speed on this passage. Now will

I sing to my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard.

Who do you think is the well beloved in the Bible? Jesus. My well beloved hath a vineyard, and a very fruitful hill.

And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a wine press therein.

And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray ye, betwixt me and my vineyard.

What could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it?

Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes.

And now go to, I tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I want to stop there just a moment.

And let's just review what we learned about that part of the passage before we go further. You could turn this down just about a little couple of hairs there.

Thanks. First of all, we see this passage begins with the work of a sovereign

God in the life of the believer. And sometimes we call this sanctification, although sanctification has other aspects.

We'll talk about that next Sunday. But we see Jesus as the vine dresser in verse 1.

And we see several things that God has done. First of all, he planted seeds in good soil.

It says he put them on a fruitful hill. So God planted the seeds, the

Son of God, or I should say by the Son of God, he planted the seeds.

And he planted them in fertile soil. Secondly, it says he fenced it in, which pictures protection.

Psalm 37, 28 says, For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints.

They are preserved forever, but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever. So God places a fence around his own, a fence of protection.

Jude 1 says, Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the

Father and preserved in Jesus Christ. Don't you love that word preserved?

And then Hebrews 7, 24, But this man, and we're talking about the one who is over the vineyard here, the vine dresser, but this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto

God by him. So we have a fence built about us.

And then we see as we go on down in the passage that he gathered out the stones in the soil.

Now, in Luke chapter 13, verse 8, it says, And answering, said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it, and if it bear fruit well.

So here he removes the rocks. He takes care of the plants. He fertilizes the plants.

He works the soil. And then the next thing we see is that he planted the right seed.

He calls it the choicest vine. This is God's seed. And God's very nature is born within the person when he is born again.

And we are God's seed. And so he plants the right seed in this place.

And then the next interesting thing that we see is that it says he builds a tower right in the midst of it.

Now, that's beautiful symbolism. Because it points out the omnipresence of the

Lord, of the Father, let's say. But it also points out the fact of the indwelling

Holy Spirit right in the center of the life of the believer. Now, that's an amazing thing that not even the

Old Testament saints had. They had the Holy Spirit. Sometimes he would come upon them.

But we have the Holy Spirit indwelling our bodies. And our body is the temple of the living

God. The Apostle Paul taught us so very clearly. And it's like the Holy Spirit rebuked me a little bit this week as I studied for some things that I've said before.

Because I've heard other preachers say them. You get in trouble there. You ever notice that, Brother Otis? You get in trouble when you repeat other preachers sometimes.

So probably y 'all get in trouble when you repeat me sometimes. But I've had this saying.

And I never liked it when I said it. But I said it anyway. Have you ever had one like that? Where you said it and something pricked your heart?

Who do you think that might have been? The Holy Spirit saying, let me teach you. You need to be careful about these men teaching you.

Let me teach you. But I've said, well, God showed up.

You ever heard that expression? God showed up. You've heard it because I've said it.

Well, I think I know what we mean when we say it. And it's certainly not meant to be wrong or evil or anything.

But you know what? It is undoctrinal. It is completely outside of Scripture.

Because if you walked in this building, God showed up. Because He dwells within your hearts.

And everything that the ark of God pictured in the Old Testament, which we're going to see in a few moments.

It pictures what's in your heart. So what does it mean? The presence of God. The presence of God is here if you're here today.

So I think sometimes, and this is a fascinating study that we're doing on fruit bearing.

Because what it does is it brings in this marriage of the sovereignty of God and the will of man.

It forces us to examine how they exist together. We may not understand how, but that they exist together is a fact.

It forces us not to just look at the outside of time viewpoint. But also at the end time viewpoint.

And let me say this. If you have seen the outside of time viewpoint.

The sovereignty of God. The fact that God is the I Am. And the

Father is not in time. And it's present tense to Him all the time.

If you've seen that, it's only because the Lord revealed it to you. Because you would never naturally understand those things.

If He hadn't put some little nuggets in the scripture, you'd never have known that. But I'll say this.

Even though God makes us aware of the sovereignty of God. We're living in time.

And there are times that you need to live like you live in time. And if you don't, you become what they call a hyper -Calvinist.

And you just sit at home and wait for God to do everything. And that's not only unbalanced.

It is heretical. Now I've enjoyed talking with some of the folks in our church about these things just privately.

I get an opportunity to speak with Brother Otis about it a lot. And I got to visit with the

Evermans this week. And Brother Everman was talking to me about the same subject.

He was talking to me about a preacher that, or actually it was a little church. You don't mind me telling this.

It's good because I'm doing it anyway. But anyway, I already told it. I hope that's okay. No. He was telling me about a little church that actually he was instrumental in helping to start this church.

And actually donated the building that they could meet in. And years later he looks back on that.

And I told him, Brother Everman, that's hindsight, which is always perfect. You don't need to worry about what happened.

But he said, I think I may have made a mistake in going with that group at that time.

And I said, well, why? He said, well, today if you go to that church, they just kind of sit there.

And they may study the Bible, but they sit there and they just think God's going to do everything. They don't witness.

They probably don't pray all that much. And they've gotten so far out on the sovereignty of God issue and out of balance that they just don't do anything.

It's kind of like maybe they would open the back doors. You've heard me give this example of a hyper -Calvinist. You open the door and God will bring in the elect and they'll get saved.

Well, that's a little bit out of whack. And he was explaining to me how the fact is preachers need to also preach the whosoever will passages.

And as we go out in our lives, we need to share the gospel with people. In fact, Jesus said, share it with everything that moves.

And God will work. This study brings us to a place where these two great doctrines come together.

And we have to study sanctification not only from the outside of time viewpoint, which is what we'll see next

Sunday is called positional sanctification, but also from the end time viewpoint, which is where we live every day of our lives until he comes back for us.

And that's called the experiential side of sanctification or experimental as some of the theologians call it.

It means what happens now, what is happening in my life right now as I move forward in time.

And these two things meet in this study. It makes it very interesting to take a look at it.

Well, Jesus is in this lookout tower, which is in the midst of the garden.

Now, I've I've really been thinking a lot about outside of time and inside of time.

And I really have a hunch that one of the things that has kept the great theologians of the past from being able to even talk about the sovereignty of God and the will of man in the same sentence is because they haven't understood the lack, the outside of time versus in time.

And perhaps it's two different dimensions. But we know that it's two different things existing at the same time.

God can see perfectly how simple that is. And we struggle with it. But I will say this, that God the

Father who is outside of time and beyond time extends himself into time in two ways.

One by the Holy Spirit and the other by Jesus Christ or in Jesus Christ. And so as we see

Jesus in the Bible, sometimes we'll see him in the Old Testament. Sometimes we'll see him in the New Testament.

And we even see in the book of Psalms that it says he has a special affinity for this earth and for the men of this earth.

Jesus does. That's in time. As the Holy Spirit dwells in your body and you take sequential steps through time, then the

Holy Spirit is in time. And therefore the Father is in time because his spirit is here within you.

Now, chew on that a little bit this morning and think about it because it is a way that God can be both outside of time and inside time at the same time.

Easy for me to say, wasn't it? Well, as we study this little passage today, we're going to see

God in time in his son, the vinedresser. Now, this is pictured in some places and we'll see it a little later.

David, King David, is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ many times. And we'll get to that in just a few moments.

But anyway, he planted this perfect seed in this perfectly fertile soil.

He gathered the stones out, worked the soil, and he builds this tower right in the midst of it, signifying his presence in the middle of it, in the heart of it.

And then it says that he built a wine press. Can you remember what that picture is from when we did this study?

A couple of weeks ago. What is the wine picture? The blood of Jesus and a result of that blood that happens to us.

What is it? What does wine picture throughout the Bible? Come on.

Joy. I shouldn't ask a bunch of... Why am I asking Baptists about wine anyway? But it pictures joy.

Now, let's go into Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 2. And let's look at the second part of the verse.

And he looked that it should bring forth grapes. Who is looking?

Okay, God. But here's what I want you to do in this study. And I've always known this, but I never really practiced it that much.

But I've learned to practice this by talking with Brother Otis for some time now.

He has made me focus on this. We know that God is one God. But he extends himself into time by his spirit and in his son.

So, in this particular study, I'm going to ask you to be specific. And to talk about which one we're dealing with.

Now, it is God, yes. But who is the vinedresser? Jesus. And why am

I thinking this is important for this study? Because Jesus can walk in what?

In time. And we have an in time viewpoint in this study. The Holy Spirit, as he is in us, is what?

He's in time. And so, therefore, God can be in time in this way.

And yet, the Father is outside of time the entire time. Okay, so now

I want you to look. Let me ask again. And he looked that it should bring forth grapes. Who is looking? Jesus Christ.

He is looking that it should bring forth grapes. Let me ask you this. Is he looking from an in time vantage point or an outside of time vantage point?

In time. Is the Father at that very moment in time?

Only indirectly though. Right. Only in Jesus. Because the

Father is outside of time in some way. We will never, well

I won't say never, but right now we're not going to fully understand that part. But we do know it's true, don't we? Because he's the

I am. And so, specifically, God in Christ, or Jesus Christ being

God, is looking that it should bring forth grapes. And he's doing it in time.

Now, when Jesus was on the earth, let me ask you this. Did he exhibit all of the attributes of his deity?

What is one of the things he left behind when he came down into time? Exactly.

I want you to hang on to that thought. And you're going to begin to be able to bring together the sovereignty of God and the will of man.

You're going to be able to bring together the concept of why it is that Brother Otis teaches that God does not respond to man.

And yet you seem to see God responding to man throughout the entire Bible. As man does something and it says, and the wrath of God comes.

It's obviously a response. How can that be? How can both be true? Because the

Father, who is outside of time, responds to nothing. He is the great cause. He is the great beginning and cause and end of everything.

So it would be totally illogical to say that he responds to man. Because then all of a sudden man is determining what's going to happen in history.

And God's no longer sovereign. That's impossible. But as God extends himself into time for whatever reason he does.

I just say he does it because he enjoys it. I mean, if you created something, wouldn't you want to take part in it?

Or would you just want to sit up there and watch it? Or would you want to make it all happen like a puppeteer?

Well, what if you were God and you didn't think like we think. And you were able to be far beyond anything we can conceive of.

And it's possible for you to both be in complete control and view it as if it's all already happened.

And at the same time be in it and watch it as it happens. And even to respond to it in that manner.

And this is what we see God do as we look at the Lord Jesus Christ.

As he looks that it should bring forth grapes. Now look at Isaiah 5, 2 and the second half or the very end of the verse.

He looks that it should bring forth grapes. And or you could say, but it brought forth wild grapes.

That means bad fruit, by the way, in this context. Well, now look at verse 3.

And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you between me and my vineyard.

Now, I can't really see the father per se saying that as the father.

But I can certainly see him as the Lord in time saying this. It makes sense if you put it in that context.

And you know the word of God has come from the heavenlies and landed on your lap this morning.

And it's in time. And it's the story of God predominantly as he walks with us in time.

Because that's the only way, that's the starting place. How could we as born again brand new baby Christians have ever contemplated

God outside of time? What if he had come to you and the first thing God did is all you had in the whole Bible is it said some of the stuff about that I am and I'm always now.

And you'd be going, what? So he gives us these stories of himself walking with his people.

And look what happens. He says, well, I want you to judge between me and my vineyard. What could

I have done more than what I did? What is there that I haven't done to cause them to bear fruit?

Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth fruits, why did it bring forth wild grapes, he says.

And now go to, I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. Now we see here the sovereignty of God acting in the way that he has made preparation for everything.

Everything that man needs, that his people needs to do what he commands has been provided so that they can do what he commands.

And he's commanding fruit. And yet we see in the very same passage the responsibility of man because he says, what more could

I have done? He is showing that the fact of failure is not his fault.

Now let me tell you one thing that I, and I've mentioned this in private to some of you, but let me say it publicly this morning.

There's one thing that I know is true. That I could go into a large congregation of the most serious

Calvinists in the world. And I could say it and not one of them would disagree with me.

And that is that at the great white throne judgment, as the world comes before God to be judged, not one of them will stand and say, well

God you can't throw me into heaven, it's your fault, you ordained me to go to hell. How many of you think he'll hear that by one single preacher?

He won't hear that. But is it a fact? Some of you balk at that.

Read your Bible, you'll find out there are some ordained to the smoke of their torment will ascend forever and ever.

But they won't be saying that. Why do you suppose they won't be saying that? Because they're not going to blame that on the sovereignty of God.

But you know what we do? Since we're schooled in these issues and we focus on God rather than man, which is the right position to take by the way.

But sometimes when we fail, we blame it on God. Well, he must have ordained it.

I mean, if it happened, he ordained it. Well, there's a sense in which that's true, but he's not going to allow them to say that at the great white throne judgment.

And I don't believe we'll be saying it at the judgment seat of Christ either. Do you? Well, Lord, I mean, you made me exactly what

I am and the gifts I have you gave me. I couldn't do that. I know you told me to be kind to people.

I know you told me to give. I know you told me to witness and to pray. But I couldn't, obviously, because I would have if I could have.

It's your fault. If you're going to say that, you better say it now and then confess it.

Because you won't get that opportunity when we meet Jesus. So what we see is the responsibility of man.

And we see it right here. And God says, what more could I have done? Now, for God to say that, he had to come down into time, though, didn't he?

For him to ask any such question. If God appears to be seeking information, he has to be in time, doesn't he?

Because the Father knows all things, the end from the beginning. And so all of a sudden we see that man bears fruit or lacks bearing fruit.

Because he does what he wants to do, even in the face of God's grace and goodness and provision and everything that God has done.

Man does what he wants to do. And he's held accountable for it. Lack of fruit is the result, both of man doing what he wants to do.

And as we'll see in a few moments, and especially next week, this sanctification cycle. All of a sudden God withdraws certain of these benefits that he gave.

And then it gets real bad. But you know what he always does? He comes back and puts his love on us.

Because he knows we're responders. And he'll bring us back to himself. And there's a cycle we'll talk about next week.

Right now though, what I want you to do. That was all kind of just preparation to see this message this morning.

Turn to 2 Samuel chapter 16 and verse 20.

And I want to read to you a couple of verses from Ephesians while you're finding that.

Sounds like most of you found it before I did. But Ephesians 5, 24. Now listen to this carefully.

Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

Man, there was your chance to say amen right there. You blew it. Now ladies, are you ready to go?

Oh, amen. Husbands, love your wives. Even as Christ also loved the church.

Oh, nice, godly, small, quiet, amen. I like that. Husbands, love your wives.

Even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.

And later it says, I speak of a mystery. I speak of Christ and the church. And so we see here that Christ being the groom and the church being the bride.

We're starting, God is starting to give some symbolism and some pictures in the physical world to help us understand spiritual truths, is he not?

Well, he does this in the Old Testament too. And I want you to notice for the rest of our time this morning.

I want to talk about two different kinds of wives. Both very real. Both end time and end time viewpoint.

And I want you to see David as a type of Jesus Christ. And you know what I mean by that, a picture of Jesus.

David in these stories is going to be a picture of Jesus. And the wife, or in some case the wives, are going to be a picture of the church.

Now you have to understand that or you're going to miss this whole message this morning. Jesus is who? He's the groom and who's going to picture

Jesus? King David. And who are the wife and or wives of David going to picture?

The church. Now I think what you're going to notice is David being a picture of Jesus Christ.

David is going to be end time. David is going to be the lover.

And the wife is going to respond with love back to him.

Hopefully that's what he desires to happen. And we're even going to talk about bearing fruit. Because fruit comes from a marriage, doesn't it?

In the form of babies. So this whole thing is going to be pictured here. But you're going to see two different types of wives.

And you're going to see God in time in Jesus Christ responding. So even though we understand the

Father does not. We better understand as we walk in time, we better live as if we're in time.

Better not hold to the part that we're going to meet God someday and say, Well, I did everything your sovereign hand made me do.

Therefore, everything's okay. It's your fault, God, that it's going to happen. What's going to happen is

God is going to ask us, Why did you do that? You know why?

Because perhaps even that judgment occurs in sequence. And we're going to answer to who?

The Lord Jesus Christ. That's why they call it the judgment seat of Christ. So let's start with the first form of wife and see what happens.

And I want you to know this. I was talking with Brother Russ about this this week.

We just had an amazing discussion about this, I felt like. And I was telling him how the

Pentecostals have the cart before the horse. And he looked at me. See these glasses?

Look at his glasses. See how he does that right there? He looked over the top of those glasses. He said, David, sometimes the

Baptists don't even have a cart. So I went down under the table. I dropped my fork,

Brother Russ. But I want you to see both errors this morning in the church.

We have, and I'm not really picking on the Pentecostals per se. But you'll see what errors we're picking on there.

And then we've got the other errors that we can see among ourselves. Which is more important to us, would you think?

Our own. Okay. But naturally, being a good Baptist, I'm going to start with the other one.

Alright? So let's look at 2 Samuel 16 and verse 20.

Now, we see Absalom who has usurped the throne from the rightful king, who was

David. So Absalom is going to picture who? Satan.

Let's just say the enemy. Could be the flesh, the world, Satan. Let's just say the enemy.

And notice that he's getting counsel from an ungodly counselor in verse 20.

Then said Absalom to Ahithophel. I should have practiced that one out loud and said it just to myself all week.

Ahithophel. Give counsel among you what we shall do.

Now there are a lot of folks in churches around today that are taking counsel from the wrong people. They're being given bad counsel and they're preaching things that aren't true.

And saying things that they've heard other people say and carrying it on as if it's the truth. And they're getting in trouble.

And Ahithophel said unto Absalom. Now this is real good advice. He says, go in unto thy father's concubines.

Now who's his father? Who's Absalom's father? David, the rightful king.

And when David had to flee for his life. He left. He couldn't even have time to get his household out of there.

So his wives are left there. He didn't get to take them with him.

He had to leave and they're left there. Well, Absalom takes over and all of David's wives and concubines.

Or maybe not all of them, but a lot of them are there. And this evil counselor tells

Absalom. Go in unto thy father's concubines. Which he hath left to keep the house.

And all Israel shall hear that thou art abhorred of thy father. Then shall the hands of all that are with thee be strong.

Because they'll be afraid David's going to come and kill you. So they'll protect you. Now that was real interesting counsel, wasn't it?

That's logic, isn't it? Boy, that just shows how if you start with a false presupposition.

You can end up with a conclusion that's wrong. But if you follow the train of logic, it seems perfect.

As long as you'll accept the beginning as right. Then when you follow it on down, it's perfect.

That's how the devil always deals with us. He'll throw out a false presupposition.

Eve, God would want to keep from you that which he knows is good. She accepted that and then the rest was easy.

Just follow right down to the place. We'll take the fruit and eat it. God wants you to have it. Now look at verse 22.

So they spread Absalom a tent upon the top of David's house.

And Absalom went in unto his father's concubines and wives in the sight of all

Israel. Now that's a certain kind of wife that got caught in that problem.

That's the kind of wife who was deceived by the enemy to say the least.

Taken advantage of by the enemy. And I would say that this is kind of a picture of the part of the church in the world today.

That will accept any form of doctrine and counsel. Because that's not what's important to them.

What's important to them is just sometimes worship, sometimes praise, sometimes excitement.

And not that the excitement is wrong, it's certainly not. But what is wrong is when false counsel will be accepted and the doctrine is not important.

And we see that all around us. I would say it's the fastest growing movement in the country right now.

And the reason is because of the excitement. People want to be where people are excited about God. And these people are.

But they're being taken advantage of by the enemy because they're given false information. Now I want you to turn to 2

Samuel 6 .12 and let's look at the other kind of wife. And if you want to leave, now would be the time because this one's going to talk about Baptists.

The modern Baptist. 2

Samuel 6 .12 Now what is the

Ark of God picture? One of the most important things in pictures is what?

The presence of whom? The presence and power of God. So David went and brought up the

Ark of God from the house of Obed -Adam into the city of David with gladness.

Why would David be glad about bringing the Ark of God to the city of David? To the temple where it belongs?

Why would he be glad? That man.

It sure is. And why is it going to be a blessing? Is it actually the Ark that was the blessing?

Who was it? The presence of God. David was excited about the presence of God.

David brought the presence of God back to where it was supposed to be, which represents our hearts.

He brought this back with gladness. And it was so that when they that bear the

Ark of the Lord had gone six paces, David stopped them and sacrificed oxen and fatlings.

Every six steps. And I don't know how long the journey was, but it was probably, how long?

Fourteen mile journey on foot. Every six steps they stopped and offered offerings.

And this man's a religious fanatic. And David danced before the

Lord with all of his might. He certainly was not a Baptist. And David was girded with a linen ephod.

So David and all the house of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

Now let me ask you this, was this a religious choreograph?

Was this choreographed to make something happen? No, that's getting the cart before the horse.

What really happened? The presence of God was recognized and that made something happen, right?

The presence of God was there which created the joy and the gladness and the dancing and the shouting.

But the cart was there. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the

Ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet. And as the Ark of the

Lord came into the city of David, now we're going to look at this other kind of wife. Now both picture the bride of Christ because David pictures

Jesus. Michael, Saul's daughter, looked through the window and saw the husband which represents the

Lord Jesus. King David leaping and dancing before the Lord and she despised him in her heart.

And they brought the Ark of the Lord and set it in his place. In the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it which pictures your hearts and mine.

And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings.

He blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. And he dealt among all the people even among the whole multitude of Israel.

As well as the women as men to everyone a cake of bread and a good piece of flesh and a flagon of wine.

And they celebrated the presence of God. So all the people departed everyone to his house and there is no way to read into this what was happening.

This was a celebration. This was an awesome outpouring of emotional show of love in response to God's presence in his great love.

And it was led by David the leader which represents the Lord Jesus. And then look what happens.

After all of this took place. Then David returned to bless his own household. He had blessed all of the household of Israel and they all received it and were joyful before the

Lord. And responding properly to God's great love. Comes into his own home and look what he finds.

This wife which pictures a certain portion of the church today. And Michael the daughter of Saul came out to meet

David. Now let me tell you some things about Michael. She wouldn't have been caught on that roof with Absalom.

Because she knew what was right and what was wrong. She was a fundamentalist if there ever was one and that's not bad.

But she had a problem. She was very judgmental and critical and stayed in her ways.

And didn't want to show any emotion ever. Because it embarrassed her. And Michael the daughter of Saul came out to meet

David. And said how glorious was the king of Israel today. Who uncovered himself today in the eyes of all the handmaids of his servants.

As one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovered himself. And she accused him of an impropriety and being inappropriate.

In the way that he was praising and dancing and shouting. And having joy and outpouring the joy of his heart because of God's presence.

And she judged him as doing this for the wrong reasons. She judged that he was having a quote charismatic experience.

In the way that we think of the charismatics today. That it's all fake. It's all a vain show. Much of it is.

But we can't judge all of it. But I'll tell you this. She was judging it in David. And David said to Michael.

It was before the Lord. What does that phrase mean? That's right.

That phrase carries a lot doesn't it? He's saying what I just did was before the

Lord. I fear him more than I fear my wife. I fear him more than I fear what you think of me.

It would bother me more David said for me not to rejoice. And in time grieve the

Holy Spirit. And quench the Holy Spirit. And act like I don't even love him. That bothers me more for him to think that in time.

Than for what you might think of me. And to put that in our context. It should bother us more than what the charismatics might think of us.

Think about that one for a little bit. Let it kind of settle down. What the world, what course the canon might think of us at any given time.

If one of you dared raise your hands and praise to the Lord. What would your neighbor think in here? Would your neighbor be

Michael? Well. Does it bother you more what they think or what

God thinks? Now I'm not advocating that you raise your hands. I'm certainly not wanting any of you to come up here and dance around.

Unless. You're doing it before the Lord. And you know that's a fact.

This is not the kind of dancing you've seen either by the way. It's like the

Jews do when they're happy. It's like David did when he was rejoicing in the

Lord. But it's a praise of God. It's an outpouring of the heart.

Before the Lord because the Lord has moved you to do it. Now let's go on.

It was before the Lord which chose me before thy father. And before all his house.

Is he not making some points to this wife? You're out of line he's saying. God chose me in preference to your father.

He appointed me ruler over the people of the Lord. Over Israel and you are one of them.

Therefore will I play before the Lord. And I will yet be more vile than this.

And will be base in mine own sight. And of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of.

Of them shall I be had in honor. They will not view me. He's saying the daughters of Israel will not view me in that bad light that you're viewing me.

Because they saw my heart. They saw what was behind what I did was God himself.

And my joy over the Lord. And it says therefore Michael the daughter of Saul.

Had no look at the next word. Fruit. Until the day of her death.

Now we're talking about fruit bearing aren't we? We're talking about fruit bearing.

And the fact is. That God has done everything. He has.

Put everything in place. For us to bear fruit. He has loved us with an eternal.

Depth of love that we can never comprehend really all of it. I want you to turn back to Isaiah 5.

And Jesus Christ. God in time. Now looks to see what we'll do with all that provision.

He looks to see what we'll do about the fact that he's placed a tower in the middle of our hearts and he lives there.

He's looking to see what we'll do about the fact that anytime we meet together God showed up.

He's going to look to see what our response to his love is. And this is where you have to be careful.

With your balance in your life. Is that you are walking in time. And the

Lord in time will. Respond to your response. He will.

Respond to your response. Let me show it to you. Isaiah chapter 5 verse 5 and now go to I will tell you what

I will do to my vineyard. The word now is a time word. It means now that I've seen what my vineyard would do.

Now let me tell you what I'll do to my vineyard. Now in time that I the

Lord Jesus Christ see what my vineyard has done or in this case not done.

They did not bear fruit. They bore wild grapes. Then I will show you what I'm now going to do.

I will take away the hedge thereof and it shall be eaten up now follow along with me now.

We're in Isaiah 5 5. So he takes down the hedge and what did the hedge picture?

Protection from whom? The enemy. Then he says and I will break down the wall thereof and it shall be trodden down.

What is the wall picture? Defense.

And then he says I will lay it. If you don't add energy to something, what does it do?

It decays. It naturally goes towards disorder. Did you know that if you don't add work and energy to a garden, you know what happens to it?

Thorns and thistles just come up naturally without you laying one hand on it. And that's what's happening here.

There shall come up briars and thorns. And then

Isaiah 5 and verse 6 the second part of the verse.

I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. What is pic? What's water picture?

And what else? And what is life the Holy Spirit? What else?

It's one sitting in your lap. The water of the word. I will withhold the rain from it.

Now what's going to happen to that garden now? Is he going to be very fruitful?

It's not is it? Amos 8 11 says, behold, the days come say it.

The Lord God that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the

Lord. So what happens to our vineyard when she does not respond to the

Lord properly? She is eaten up. She is trodden down.

She is choked by thorns, which we know from the New Testament. Jesus Christ taught this meant the cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, other things coming in and the pleasures of this life.

And it will choke the word from her. And she is dried up. So we see a cycle beginning that we'll talk about next

Sunday. God provides all that man needs. God plants the right seed in the right soil.

Man does what he wants to do with it. Which sometimes includes bearing grapes, which is fruit bearing, which we will get to the positive side of this eventually bearing fruit.

But sometimes it includes bearing wild grapes. At which time

God withdraws his provision and the grace to grow. Man becomes at that time profoundly unfruitful.

And we see this. If you were to read the rest of this passage, you won't believe the backslidden state that this reveals.

Read that on your own when you get home. And so we see that drunkenness and lack of regard for the

Lord's work and even captivity and a famine of God's word results.

But I want you to see the last part. Look down at Isaiah 5 and verse 14. Because of all the results of this taking away of the working of the soil, all the results of Jesus, the vine dresser backing away from the vineyard because the vineyard didn't respond properly.

Of all of them, this should frighten us the most. Look at verse 14. Therefore, hell hath enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure.

And their glory and their multitude and their pomp and he that rejoiceth shall descend into it.

And the mean man shall be brought down and the mighty man shall be humbled and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled.

But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment. In other words, he will be found to be right in all of this.

No one will bring up the excuse. Well, you made me to be this way because he'll say, well, now you tell me, what did

I not do to cause you to have the ability to be a good vineyard? What did I leave out?

Name one thing that I didn't provide for you that you might bear fruit. Name one. That's what we'll hear.

And God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. And this is what we see.

These people realize too late that what they do is going to affect the next generation.

The little children in this room today. We'll look at the fruit that we bear.

And there are three types of fruit character, fruit, conduct, fruit, and convert fruit, convert fruits found in Proverbs 1130.

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. And he that wins souls is wise. What I'd like to ask us to do as a congregation this morning is picture ourselves as a wife.

And hopefully there's a third kind that we didn't discuss today because you had two wrong kinds that we saw.

One type is all too ready to rejoice and throw celebrations, but they have no care for the counsel they're receiving.

Their doctrine is awful. They're listening to the enemy. And the other kind is a person who perhaps is right in that area, but she has no feelings for the

Lord, even in his presence. Not a totally lost the ability to rejoice, to celebrate, to shout, to sing, to praise

God, even to the point where it's an embarrassment. When we get to that place, all of a sudden we will not bear any fruit.

Because guess who it took for Michael to bear fruit? Who had to be there besides her for her to have another baby?

David. And who did he picture? Jesus. So do you think for a moment that we as the bride of Christ will bear any fruit if he withdraws himself from us?

Does the Bible say somewhere in the book of Revelation something about lukewarmness? That he might spew a church out of his mouth?

That's what David did to Michael. He said, I have anything, you know, you, you, you will not bear another child.

And I doubt that she saw his presence again the rest of her life. Jesus can and will do that to a church.

And then there will be no more fruit. I would ask you to ask yourselves the question this morning.

When's the last time I bore fruit? Have I had character fruit this week?

Have I exhibited the very. Fruit of the spirit and kindness and love towards others.

Have I exhibited conduct fruit? Have I walked holy because he is holy this week?

When's the last time I bore con vert fruit and someone literally was saved because God used my witness in their life, either directly or indirectly.

And I know that they came to the Lord because I had witnessed to him. At least that's one reason.

When's the last time someone was discipled by you? When you went into their home and said, let me help you.

You're a baby. Let me help you grow. Let me see some fruit in your life. Like the apostle

Paul was always doing. I come to you that I might see some fruit. He said. When's the last time you bore that kind of fruit?

And if your answer this morning is. It's been a while. Could it be because the

Lord has withdrawn himself? Can you not bear fruit if he's in the chamber with you?

Can we blame our lack of fruit bearing on the sovereignty of God? Harvey, would you come and play?

Let's stand and have a time together. And I pray that the

Lord would deal in our hearts this morning. And this is not the kind of message where you get up and run around and shout.

Because this is the kind of message where you just want to fall on your face. It's the kind of message where we have to examine ourselves, not the charismatics.

We don't need to worry about them. I mean, I'm preaching to me. I worry about him more than any of you do.

Because I'm the last person that wants one person in this town to think this church is gone charismatic.

Because it ain't going to go charismatic. As long as I'm here. But let me ask you that.

This. Would we worry so much about that feeling? About what everybody thinks of us?

That we don't stop and worry about how the Lord. As he lives in our heart in time.

Are we grieving him? Would it grieve your wife if you never showed love to her emotionally? Would it grieve your husband, ladies, if you never outwardly showed you were excited about him?

Would it hurt his heart? Could the Holy Spirit? Is there any verse in the

Bible that says that God in time could be grieved or quenched? Or am I making this up?

Can he be? So can he be influenced by what we do in time? Either that or those verses are wrong.

So I want us to think about him this morning. And I want the

Lord to move among us this morning and free us from any bondage we might have. And we can so easily see the bondage that everyone else has.

That's human nature. I mean, I can sit down and I can share with you everything the charismatics are doing wrong.

I can show you where the Pentecostals are off to the extent that I know what they're doing. Boy, I can see that with a microscope.

But have you ever taken some binoculars, turned around backwards and looked? That's how I see us.

From a distance, we look pretty good. But we need to think about how we respond to the

Lord and just be free. That's all I'm asking. I don't want one person to ever do anything in this building.

God forbid that they would do anything that's not like David said, it is of the Lord. I'm doing this unto the

Lord. But if that happens, I don't want anybody else being a Michael. And so may we examine our hearts this morning.

And as Harvey plays, you feel freedom. If you need to come and worship or be quiet before the Lord, if you need to come, then you come.