The Difference Between Good & Bad Grapes (10/01/2000)

Please turn to 2nd Peter chapter 1. I Want to complete this study in series on fruit -bearing this morning and next week,

I'm going to preach a message that deals with the fall festivals and Also deals with well,

I should say this the fall festivals of God's people and also we'll deal a little bit with the fall festivals of the pagans

When Paul and I were on our way back from our trip I guess it must have been

Friday evening We got home probably about 11 o 'clock that night so it was late at night we were hearing one of these talk shows from Dallas on KLIF and I Think it was the

Ben Dover show. I don't know if any of you ever listened to him. He claims to be a

Christian but If he is one he is a very ignorant ignorant

Christian But he had on as his guests to Wiccans Anybody ever heard of a

Wiccan? Yes, well folks from the Dallas area know what Wiccans are

The reason that you know what Wiccans are is because the Dallas City Council has asked them to come and pray and begin their day

In in an attempt to have all religions represented so they had these two on the talk show and the sad thing about it was the poor

Christians that called in were so ignorant of what we believe that they could not even stand up against them and Paul was sitting there saying dad.

I think I could do better than they're doing I said son, I think you could there's no doubt in my mind and it was it was very troubling to me that The Christian churches are not equipping the people better Several Very simple questions could have been asked that would have really caused them to stumble but the right questions weren't asked and So the talk show host was primarily on their side it seemed like and he says well, however you get there

You know where everybody's different We're all gonna get there a different way And and this is what the Christian talk show host was saying and so he was really on their side.

And of course we Were called the right -wing Fundamentalists and I wondered why the

Wiccans weren't called the left -wing witches or something negative But no, no, no, they were just spiritual people and all the

Christians that called in were made to look like right -wing Fundamentalists, you know like the ayatollah or something

So that's the spin now these these Wiccans claimed that it is the fastest growing

Religion in the country right now many groups make that claim, but it's frightening to think that they can even make the claim

They claim to be the pagan religion is what they call it and Wiccan is just one denomination of the pagan religion and Next week when we talk a little bit about the festivals will tie in Halloween with the pagan

Festivals and what the pagan world Worships and what they're all about and the festivals that God has given his people and what they picture and so forth and So I'm glad Russ and Brenda were able to share some of that with us today since they won't be able to be here next

Next Sunday, they'll be out of town But I want to finish the series on fruit -bearing today.

And so turn with me to second Peter chapter 1 Many Of the things that go on in our society today

Have an awful lot to do with paganism a Lot of the things that the young people are involved in and our schools whether they be the public government schools

Or whether they be the colleges and universities, but the younger generation many of the things that they do

Have to do with pagan religion and yet they don't know that and so you see it creeping into a lot of the churches in very subtle ways, but Important ways

So we need to watch be watchful that I may speak to some of those issues next Sunday Second Peter chapter 1.

Let me go ahead and have you look at verse 5. Let's just go right to verse 5 Let me pray and then we'll begin father.

We ask you to Work in our hearts during this time of our service today and we thank you so much for the beautiful music and how it turned our hearts and minds to our priorities and how the pagans of the world would have our hearts and minds turn to the things of the flesh and the things of the world and Yet Lord, we know that your

Holy Spirit Has other purposes for us and that you

Want to walk in us in this world and be the light to this world and that is our purpose for being here

Father, we just pray that you would use this time to cause us to be more like the Lord Jesus Christ We pray that you would use our services to equip our young people our children and our teenagers young people

To be equipped to live in their day, which is going to be a pagan day in this country

It is going to be a day where paganism rules this nation and they are going to be

Persecuted by these people they're going to be held up as people who are divisive as people who would cause division as Hateful people in fact and so may you equip the young people in our church through these services as well and May you cause us as the adults to be examples of strength to these young people and we ask it in Jesus name

Amen, I think we're complacent. I think we're Somewhat protected in our homes and in our

Christian school and in our wonderful church here Many of us don't have much use for listening to the talk shows anymore because of the junk that's on them for watching

TV For watching the news and so forth and that's good because the Lord said to be wise

And that which is good and be simple concerning that which is evil, but sometimes I think that we may be unaware or we may be the last to know what's going on out there in the world and when you've got young people that are

In college age young people who are young married couples out there in this world Their generation is completely different than what we were used to Just like we look at our parents and we say well

They were kind of in the dark as far as what's going on in our generation, but we don't think we're that way but we are and a lot of what's happening out there now does deal with paganism and they're kind of coming out of the closet now like the homosexuals did in the 70s and the 80s and The pagan religion is coming out in the open.

They're proud of it There was a man and a woman that were on there the woman. He said well, you don't cast spells and things

He said well, yes, I do as a matter of fact And she said he said well, are you a

Wiccan? She said no, I'm a witch And the talk show host was trying to leave that out.

You see he didn't want to put any disparaging remarks towards them or anything negative and she kept bringing it out because she was proud of it and she said that they used all this for good and That they did not believe in Satan at all

Satan does not exist that there's only evil in our hearts and a lot of what they said had truth in it

Which is always the way Satan works But so they dealt in the area of the flesh, but they left out the idea of the world and the devil

Completely and so they're not even aware sometimes of who controls them Some of them don't even believe in him and yet he controls their very life and so what happens is

Satan uses this to put these subtle philosophies out there for our young people and and in many many ways it's our job to equip one another and equip our children to deal with that and To hopefully not be as ignorant as the poor

Christians were that we're calling in It was pathetic and it was just absolutely pathetic.

They couldn't stand up to the simplest of questions that the talk show host would throw back at them and they didn't know how to ask the right questions to To stop the foolishness of the pagan.

Can you imagine in this country back? I have Just a few little memories of the 50s.

I was born in 54 and Most of my memories have to do with the 60s But I remember in the early 60s that witchcraft and all that was not something that was here

It was over there in Africa or in the far corners the dark corners of the world And now it's right here on the front pages right in the midst of our nation well, one of the ways that this can all be battled is

For Christians to bear fruit in this world So let's look at 2nd Peter chapter 1 and verse 5 and beside this

Giving all diligence add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge

Now I want to stop there and I want to go through and review the list of these graces

Would you turn this down just a hair for me, please Greg? Remember that in Galatians chapter 5 verse 22

We have the fruits of the Spirit listed and they're kind of grouped into three groups of three

It's interesting to see that the order that they're in and they approximate the same list that we have by the way here in 2nd

Peter but it's interesting to see that the order is completely different and I Think there's purpose in that there's purpose in everything that the

Lord has done especially regarding his word He's showing us by listing these in a different order that It is difficult for us

If not impossible for us to order them at all in our lives And it has to do with a lot what was discussed in adult

Sunday school class about how the Lord brings Gifts to us and how the Lord even brings knowledge to us at just the right time

We don't get it all at once and we don't all understand the same things at the same time either

But the Sunday school lesson talked about having unity Part of that is understanding that we don't all get everything at the same time and that we can learn from one another and It's not it does not mean that we all have to wear the same

Looking clothes and we all have to dress just like the pastor and we all have to be like some of those kinds of churches

Doesn't mean that we all have to be in the same place at the same time What it means is we have unity because we know the same

Lord and he's working in us The same Holy Spirit is working in our lives at the same time

And enough of us are walking in the in the spirit That we have the unity.

It's called the unity of the Spirit by the way And that's the only place it can come from the same is true of these fruits.

It's very clear in the Galatian passage that these Characteristics are the characteristics of Jesus Christ and if the only way you have them is to be in Christ Let me just name them love joy.

Peace some call those the inward Fruits Long suffering gentleness and goodness some call those the outward ones because they show to our fellow man perhaps more than some of the others and then faith and Meekness and temperance some call those the upward fruits because they are towards the

Lord from us towards the Lord But they all are Jesus Christ and so Christ in us the hope of glory

That's where these things come from Then when we come into 2nd Peter chapter 1 we see them listed in completely different order and the first one that's listed as faith

And it's shown very clearly as a gift from God and Then it goes in and it says add to this faith

Which God has given you these other things and it expresses it in the grammar and in the context as Something that we are supposed to do and that we're held accountable for by God Now we know from the light of other scriptures such as Galatians chapter 5 starting verse 22

That there's no way that in the flesh in in the in the weak old man sense of the word

There's no way that in the power of our own flesh. We can do any of these things The only way that any of these things can come is as fruits which come from the root and who is the root?

Jesus Christ and So as we are attached to him Then these things can occur in our lives and be manifest and yet at the same time we're held responsible that they be and so I think that We have two things working.

We have two dimensions and we've discussed that we have God the Father working from outside of time and he he chooses to come into time through the

Holy Spirit and through the Lord Jesus Christ and To walk with us if you will in time and He expects to see some things as he is in time observing

He expects to see that after all that he has done for us that we bear good grapes

And yet with Israel he said one day and yet I see wild grapes

What more could I have done? And he said now you judge between The garden and myself who's right and Then we're gonna get into the end of that here a little bit in a few moments.

Now, let's look at these graces And I want to do I want to look at them from this point of view for just a few moments

I want you to tell me someone tell me volunteer to tell me this First this if I want to or if you want to build a relationship with another person

What do you do? How do you approach that from a practical point of view someone raise your hand?

Let me know it could be a young person or an adult doesn't matter or young adult Yes, ma 'am

Okay, you'd spend time with them What else? You have to know how they think and that's not difficult.

That's not easy to do And that relates to spending time with them, doesn't it?

What else? Trudy Find something in common and perhaps talk about it

To start to begin the relationship most relationships begin by finding

Common things in common that you have with the other person that you can begin to discuss and then that takes you into deeper things

So what what else that relates to what Trudy said then? You spending time with them you find out you want to get to know what's in their head who they are and To do that.

What would you do when you find something in common? What do you do then? You talk You communicate about it

Right with each other Now one changes the subject slightly and let's ask this question.

What would one do to develop a relationship with a living God? Assuming that you're already saved

You're already saved. How do you develop the relationship? Okay, all right now what part of the other example of the human relationship does that relate to studying this word

Spending time and As you're spending time Actually, you mentioned a second one besides the other one he mentioned studying the word you mentioned prayer

So let's take them separately Studying the word spending time with God studying the word

What what would that be likened to if you were talking about getting to know another person? You're finding out what's in who they are

Why? No, I mean how what are you doing that helps you find out who they are?

In that case Okay, so that would be equivalent to listening

To the other person you found out what you know some things you have in common But now you're going to listen and let them talk

You can't find out what's in their mind by talking if that's all you do, you know, if all you do is talk

You can't find out what's in their heart and mind you have to ask now You could ask the questions and then be quiet and let them talk, right?

So wouldn't you say then that reading the word is the Lord speaking to us? Or at least that's a part of the aspect of the

Lord speaking to us. He has to do that also by the Holy Spirit Now my dad mentioned prayer.

What would that be likened to? Us talking back to them. So it's a two -way relationship

We speak to them we speak our hearts and minds and then they speak to us and then who was it that said time spending time together

Did you say that okay, so the more time that you spend doing that Develops the relationship would you agree?

So I think that holds true with both our relationships with each other But also with the Lord, I want you to keep that in mind as we look at these

Traits we're going to add to faith. The first one is virtue and Remember in the

Greek it means manliness Which carries the meaning of valor or excellence?

now Think in terms of relationship with the father What would you do with regard to your relationship with God To add this to your faith if you wanted to add valor and Excellence to your life.

What do you think you would do sir? Practice what you've learned

Walk with him Imitate him

Okay, very good Now think about this and see if you don't see this Do you remember that the but the

Apostles were predominantly? Fishermen They were not educated in the universities of the world they were not

Known as as highly educated men. They really were simple men Blue -collar men

And yet what happened after they spent three years with the Lord Jesus? What was the observation of the sum of the world what was said about these men?

Yeah They didn't know why they were seen to be so educated and What was the remark that was made about them?

That's right. They have been with Jesus So if you want to have the kind of manliness that these

Apostles had now they didn't have it Brother Otis asked the question Our homework assignment who was there at the crucifixion

Well, not many of them because they did not have this virtue at that moment but one of the clearest proofs of the

Resurrection of Jesus Christ in history is the change in the lives of those men

They went from being cowards To having this trait called virtue, which means manly valor and excellence almost overnight and the reason is they had seen and been with the risen

Savior and Their faith was greatly strengthened by that And so I would say that if we're gonna add to our faith valor

Then it has to do with relationship with Jesus of being with him like they were with him for three years now

Isn't it interesting that Paul? His testimony is that for three years the same amount of time that they walked with Jesus He spent out in the desert the

Arabian Desert with Jesus just with Jesus And you wonder why these men were so great

It's not because they were so great It's because they spent time with the

Great One and they chose to spend more time with him Concentrated time with him than others chose to do

So that shows how we can bring this responsibility Into into our court if you want to look at it as tennis

God hits the ball over here and says now What will you do with it as far as virtue or valor and excellence in the

Christian walk has to do? It's in your court to decide how much time you will spend with the

Savior Alone just the two of you now think about that. He holds you responsible for that and When I listen to those poor sad

Christian people good people sweet people you could tell every one of them It was a funny observation that Paul made the women that called in were all witches and The men that called in were the

Christians But unfortunately the females Spoke more clearly and eloquently than the men did and they were on the witch side

To the men that called in were the Christians you could tell they were saved I mean you knew their hearts were just yearning to blow these people away and they could not do it because they didn't have valor

Why didn't they have valor? I? Don't know that we can judge that because we can't see their whole life

But we could guess that part of it might be that they've spent more time in the pew Going to church on Sunday than they have alone with the

Lord perhaps Now let's go to the next one knowledge remember in the

Greek language It's gnosis, which means taking in knowledge Now that one's a little easy to see if the responsibility is upon us to add to faith virtue and then to virtue add knowledge to take in knowledge

Someone give me a way that we can do that Practically how if we choose we say

I want to bear more fruit. I Want to have knowledge, how would you practically go about that in your lives?

Hmm Listen listen to what? that's right the word and I like what brother

Otis said early when the first few weeks. I knew him He talked about two books that God's given us one of them is the

Word of God the Bible Can you remember what the other one is? No Bill what's the other book?

That's right nature his creation Everything that God's created science Knowledge in the area of what

God has done around us and how we can learn about that by observing and it's interesting that God told

Adam one of the first things he was to do is to become a botanist and and Zoologist to name all the animals to study the plants in the end doesn't say the plants, but I'm just extrapolating a little bit but it specifically said the animals and So we can study these two books and take in knowledge

Now one of the problems with the hard the true hardline Fundamentalists that I've been associated with in the fundamental independent

Baptist movement is they are afraid of that second book They it's almost like a negative thing to be educated

And that's wrong That's not God's will that's not what God reveals in his

Word. We are supposed to learn From both books. We're supposed to study everything the

Lord leads us to study and to learn about and And listen part of the reason these

Christians could not relate To the witches is the witches were better educated. There's no doubt about they just were better educated

They knew more about the world and how it worked Than the Christian people did they knew more about science than they did and it was pathetic

You can't you can't ignore what miss Debra and Trudy are teaching in this school and You children remember that even the math is important believe it or not.

I know that's hard to believe The science is important It's all important and some of us who did ignore those things and in our school because maybe we weren't saved yet So we saw no purpose and why do

I need that? I'll never use it that sort of thing We didn't understand it was all to bring glory to the Lord, didn't we?

But our children understand that but maybe we need to go back review some of those things But the thing is we need to be if we're going to add to our faith virtue and add to our virtue knowledge

Knowledge means taking in knowledge all the time taking in knowledge. Certainly though The predominant part would be knowledge from the

Word of God Now the third one is temperance. I Believe that if if you're held you and I are held responsible for adding temperance, which means self -control to our lives

That the greatest choice that can be made at the beginning of every day and then throughout the day is to deny self if Temperance means self -control then it means control the self which to me pictures the old man the self -life

Do not allow the self -life to rule as it did before salvation

Walk in the spirit walked filled with the spirit so that the new man is what controls the whole being after all

That's who you really are. Now. The old man is crucified. You really are the new man walk reckoned that to be true

Reckon means to make a choice. So God is holding us responsible every day

Not just on Sunday, but tomorrow morning the next day every day when we get up and we go out into this world

He is holding us responsible For making sure that it is

Christ in us Which is the hope of our glory for making sure that is not it is not

I nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me Making that choice today and tomorrow and the next day.

I believe that's the only way we can have self -control There is no self -control in the flesh

The only self -control is to control the self by crucifying reckoning it to be crucified

So that the new man which is vitally connected to the Holy Spirit in unity They are one spiritually like a man and a woman are one in marriage they are one so that the

Holy Spirit and your spirit become like one spirit and And that's you throughout that day.

And that's the only way we have self -control whether it be in what we eat Who we spend time with whether it be in what we do

The whole arena of life as Satan brings the entire world system to to titillate us

To tempt us to take us off the track as he brings all of that to us.

He'll bring the peer pressure He'll bring the friends. Everybody's doing this So it's okay all of that stuff The only way you control any of it is to be filled with the

Spirit at any given moment and walking with the Lord Jesus Otherwise you are defeated

The next one is patience In Greek it means cheerful endurance

Isn't that interesting? God does not say just put up with it He says cheerful endurance now, we know that one can't come from the flesh.

Don't we know from the flesh we can have endurance But we cannot have cheerful endurance when we're going through hard times and trials and so forth

There's no way to have that in the flesh so the only way to have that and I would focus on this aspect is faith in the and I would put this adjective the sovereign

God Faith in the sovereign God Knowing God go back to the relationship once again

Getting to know God better all the time Making sure that the predominant things that you study in the

Bible or you study God You don't study how to be successful There are many many wonderful things in the word that he's given us for how to live in this life from having wisdom with people circumstances business principles

Everything is there and they're all good and to be studied But the main thing the majority of our time in the word should be spent.

What can I learn of God today? Because as we know God better, we know his sovereignty better and as we know his sovereignty better we gain patience

We can cheerfully endure anything that comes to our lives realizing that God is sovereign

He's in control and he is a God of love and he's my Abba He's my

Abba father. He's my daddy Abba father So that's how we gain the patience, but we're held responsible for that We're held responsible for having cheerful endurance through trials now if we're held responsible

How do we practically gain that in our lives? I think through knowing God better the more, you know,

God the more you trust him So the less circumstances bother you, you know

He is in control of everything from who's the president of the United States to to whether you can have a

Christian school or whether The laws are against it. He's in control of everything and anything that he brings may it be trial or whatever

We can go through it cheerfully because he brought it to us for a purpose To make us to be overcomers and to make us be ready for that service that we'll have in all eternity

The next one is godliness Remember in the Greek language that meant godly attitude or I like it better this way a

God word attitude an attitude of thought life that is toward God all the time as we walk

Now let me suggest two things that bring that from a practical point of view if you're held responsible for being

Got for having godliness, which means a God word or a toward God thought life

How can we develop that practically? I believe there are two prongs to this one is

Fellowship, this is where I believe church attendance is. So so so so so important in the right kind of church

Not just church attendance, but also Fellowship like we have when we have lunch together, but also and I believe in is so strongly

Of getting together with another Christian brother or sister or two Weekly weekly if possible

Spend time with them ask each other questions and study the Bible together could be your spouse.

It could be a friend Someone other than your Sunday school teacher Maybe even someone other than your pastor get together with a church member brother or sister your spouse or somebody

Regularly and fellowship. Now, what is true fellowship mean brother Otis? True fellowship.

Is that talking about the football game or when Christians get together? All right, what is

Christian fellowship Discussing the Lord, it's not wrong to talk about who won the game but That's not going to help us grow in the area of godliness

But what will is we bring in what what you study in your quiet time this morning share with me what God taught you?

Because he probably didn't teach me the same thing So I can learn it faster if you go ahead and share it with me

Right now and then I'll share with you what he taught me Now I can't tell you how important that is in you developing godliness because godliness is what makes you separate from the world

It's not being weird. It makes you you know, a lot of the fundamentals think well, okay We're gonna dress different and that makes us separated and it's not had that will work in a way

But that's not what God wants What God wants is you to develop godliness, which means

God wordness a an attitude or thought life Which is toward God predominantly throughout the day that I promise you will make you different than everybody else in the world

How can we do it spend more time with each other around the subject of this book right here?

Spend more time make a point if you don't schedule it. You won't do it Schedule time together and discuss the word together is a wonderful thing

And in the other I said it was a two -pronged thing one first is fellowship. There is a verse in Romans I wish

I had looked it up for you. It's in the early chapters of Romans is probably in chapter one Where Paul talked about I come together that by our mutual faith

That our mutual faith would be strengthened by our having come together something along those lines It shows that even

Paul himself needed fellowship And then the second prong is obviously the

Word of God because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God So if you have a personal

Bible study devotion time filled with the Spirit Studying his word letting him teach you and then you get together with brothers and sisters both in the assembly time

But also throughout the week and fellowship You will definitely grow in this area of God word attitude godliness

And it will change your life and to the extent that you begin to leave those things out and you get away from them

You will sometimes move back into a more carnal posture So be very careful, but understand that these are tools that the

Lord has given us He holds us accountable to be godly, but he gives us tools about how to make that happen fellowship and study of the word

The next is brotherly kindness Which is more of an affection and kindness toward one another and in charity, which is that agape love?

Which can only come from God. I feel that these last two are a result of all the previous ones.

I think as we are Accountable for the previous ones and we make a move in the garden of our life to do some

Some plowing and to make some things happen that as we bring these areas into our lives

Brotherly kindness and the love of God will be there from from the Lord himself they are strictly fruits of the

Spirit all of these are but There's no way you can have agape love in and of yourselves

It comes from the same thing this relationship that you're developing with the

Lord So it all comes to relationship and notice in verse 8 that that's how this passage ends up Look at verse 8 with me for if these things be in you and abound

They make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ Which is the relationship that you have with him the knowledge you are gaining of him day by day

She's choose to spend more and more time knowing him so Relationship is the key to this whole thing and yet we're held accountable to make sure that relationship grows and that time is spent

In those areas, isn't it interesting that from our point of view? It seems that the what is done with our time that that's in our own control.

Doesn't it seem that way? Can't you choose whether to come to church today or not? Seemingly can't you choose whether you're gonna spend time special time in your closet praying or whether you don't we can make those choices and they all relate to these things that God is saying add to the gift that I've given you and Now let's go on just a little bit.

I want you to notice Verse 10 because this can bring confusion to some people

Wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure Does that mean you can lose your salvation?

No a resounding no Yes, thank you very much.

Everyone in the room knows that that's not what it teaches Let me give you a Greek word. That'll help the

Greek word for sure I I'm sorry. Yes, the

Greek word for sure is a word that means firm or of -force and it comes from a root word

Basis, which our English word basis comes from and that literally means the foot

So if you want to really get a literal translation, you could say rather Wherefore the rather brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure -footed

Make your salvation so that you have a walk in this world. That is sure -footed

It makes a difference and that's really what it's talking about. It's talking about bearing fruit It's not talking about salvation whether you lose or keep or save your salvation

We know the answers to that are found throughout the scriptures that salvation is of God. We didn't save ourselves

Anyway, what it's saying is make sure you bear fruit Make sure that your salvation brings forth fruit

And then the promise that we see at the end of verse 10 is for if you do these things

You shall never fall now. We're about out of time. Let me close And I want to take you

Back to to a passage That we sort of began with in the very first of our study 2nd

Kings chapter 19 verse 29 And then

I want you to go to Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 16 I'm sorry,

Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 5 Let me read the 2nd Kings passage 2nd

Kings 19 29 and this shall be a sign unto thee shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves and in the second year that which springeth of the same and in the third year so ye and reap and plant vineyards and eat the fruits thereof and The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward and bear fruit upward in Isaiah chapter 5 and Verse 5 was the passage where God asked the question.

What more could I do? Now once he observed and he noticed that they were not bearing grapes

But they were bearing wild grapes was which was represents fruits of the flesh as opposed to fruits of the

Spirit Look what happens and look what God does

Now remember Isaiah chapter 5 verse 5 is an end time passage and it shows that as the father

Projects himself into our dimension Through the Holy Spirit or through the

Lord Jesus Christ He literally comes down into his creation and walks there in sequence and in time with us

Many things I have in this study. I don't have time to bring out but Anytime you see an area where it appears that God is responding to man

He can only do that in time If you can imagine the father who is outside of time can't respond to anything because it's all done

He's living in the present tense all the time He doesn't respond to us if he did then we would be determining future

We would be determining history and that's impossible because God is sovereign

However, as the father projects himself down into time by the Holy Spirit or the

Lord Jesus Christ himself then he comes into the sequence and observes things from that point of view and We see many passages where he deals with that.

Well in this passage, look what happens He says and now go to I will tell you what

I will do to my vineyard now This is the vineyard that has chosen not To add anything to their faith

He says I will take away the hedge thereof. Remember how you'd placed Protection around them.

He said I'll remove it He said and then the vineyard will be eaten up Now gentlemen, let's think about our families as we read this little passage

We're showing what happens if we make the choice not to add these graces to our faith

We don't add virtue. We don't add any patience. We choose not to do any work in the garden along with the

Lord There will come a time when he may take the hedge away and then it shall be eaten up There's a lot said in that little phrase.

It shall be eaten up that can be the family that can be your children That can be your church. That can be your life.

That could be your spouse It is eaten up by the enemy and then he says

I will break the wall down thereof and it shall be trodden down and I will lay it waste and it shall not be pruned nor did

God says I'll take my hand off of it and I won't do Any work in the garden either? But there shall come up briars and thorns and I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it

Now he takes his hand off so to speak and does no work, but let me ask you this

Isn't it true that through that he is accomplishing a work? Because what's happening trials come in and what do trials always do to us?

They take us back to our knees Take us back to a place where we see that we need to have a relationship with God And I will lay it waste and it shall not be pruned nor dig but there shall come up briars and thorns

I won't let it rain He says in mine ears said the Lord of hosts of a truth many houses shall be desolate even great and fair without inhabit without an inhabitant

Look down at verse 11 woe unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow strong drink and so all of a sudden as God removes the wall of protection this person goes into drunkenness and maybe drug abuse and he falls into the areas that we consider the deep sins and If this progression takes place

And he says that the harp and the vial and the tabret and the pipe and the wine are in their feasts

But they regard not the work of the Lord. They kept doing the religious things the outward things

And that amazing look at the church in America today Churches are growing like crazy today.

I don't believe Wicca is the fastest growing religion. I think modern Christianity is modern false

Christianity is the fastest growing religion and So they were they they come to church they play the music they sing the songs

They preach something out of the Bible sometimes sometimes they'll tell a story whatever

But they regard not the work of the Lord they don't see God doing anything Neither consider the operation of his hands.

Therefore. My people are gone into captivity Because they have no knowledge

Now what was one of the things we're supposed to add to the faith? Knowledge they have no knowledge.

They are not gaining any knowledge. They're they're lazy They've stopped all that and their honorable men are famished

And their multitude dried up with thirst Now this is the most frightening part.

Look at verse 14 Therefore now I want you to realize that the word therefore is a time word.

It is a sequence word That word cannot exist as at least with our my understanding today from the dimension.

I'm in I can't understand If you go to a place where there is no time where you would use a word like therefore because therefore

Relates to something that happened prior to what's about to happen. Now, isn't that right?

It relates to something else that happened and because of that the result is what we're about to talk to Talk about now in verse 14.

It says because of all that's happening. These people chose not to be fruitful They chose not to work in the garden of their life with me.

They chose to walk after the flesh and Because they made those choices and I held them accountable and responsible

God says I am judging them by withdrawing the hedge of protection that I placed around them

I'm withdrawing the knowledge of me that they could have had and all of these things

Took place and it comes down to verse 14 and look it says therefore because of all these things hell hath enlarged herself

That's a frightening phrase 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. You know what that is. That's the next generation Now, I know that it's it's a true statement to say that There won't be any potential

Christians in hell That is absolutely a fact

But when you come down into time and God speaks in the sequence of time where he's holding us responsible

And he says there are things that result when you make wrong choices There are things that you reap when you sow to the flesh

That's just as real as The sovereignty of God in election. It's spoken of in the

Bible just as many times Now we can't from our little dimension we cannot comprehend

God's dimension where both things are true at the same time It's impossible for us to see that that can be true, but it is true and I'm telling you this morning that If you choose to bear wild grapes in your life and let me speak to the fathers a minute

And the moms you make a choice to bear wild grapes in your life There's absolutely no guarantee in the

Word of God that your children are gonna end up in Even answer why witchcraft is wicked or why it's wrong to be a pagan

There's a problem here folks And I don't think God is at fault.

Do you I? Don't think there'll be a one of them at the judgment seat that'll point a finger in God's face say well

You didn't give me that gift. He didn't give me the gift of knowledge He's made me stupid and you made me lazy you made me where I didn't want to study

You made me where I didn't want to have a relationship with you I was too busy doing other stuff because you put me here to make money or to do this or to have fun or to do that and So Lord is really your fault

How many of you believe that's the way the judgment seat will come to pass? It will not come to pass that way

And I think ladies and gentlemen we need to live We need to believe that God is sovereign

But when we wake up tomorrow and we think of our children We need to live as if it's going to make a difference if we choose to walk in the flesh

You are you hearing me? You better live as if that's gonna make a difference because there's ample scripture that says it does

Does not defeat God's sovereignty at all But it tells us a truth

That have what we choose to do with our time and what we choose to love in our life and spend our thoughts on Will affect our children in the whole next generation in the whole nation and the whole world

Now I don't want to close on that note. I want to remind you

That the scripture Tells us some very wonderful things that happen if we make the right choice

And it's back in the second Kings passage Chapter 19 in verse 32. I won't go into it other than just to remind you because we just covered it already

But in that passage of scripture It teaches that if we choose to bear fruit

That the enemy cannot possess our land That pictures our life that pictures our spouse that pictures our children that pictures our school that pictures our church

And it can picture our nation if there are enough churches that believe this Secondly, it teaches in that past passage and I'm in the second

Kings chapter 19 Verse 31 32 in that ballpark. The second thing is the enemy will not be given the ability to hurt

Now this is if you walk bearing fruit if you make these choices and you live a fruitful life

The enemy has not the power to shoot an arrow there and then the third thing is

He cannot oppress or besiege The enemy is not allowed to surround you and cut off the food supply

He can't cut the Word of God off from you and from your church and your family if you're living a fruitful life

He's not allowed to besiege you and take the water away the word the joy

He can't take the food away the manna from heaven the Word of God. He can't take

Jesus Christ from you He can't take away the ability for you to know him better every day

The enemy is not allowed to do that if God looks down and he sees grapes Not wild grapes, but he sees good grapes in our lives.

And the other thing is in verse 35. It says For I will defend this city

To save it for my own sake and for my servant

David's sake the Lord defends it himself and The fifth thing is that the enemy is defeated verse 36 says the angel the

Lord went forth and smoke in the camp of the Assyrians 104 score 5 ,000 and when they arose early in the morning behold

They were all dead corpses the only place in the in the all of human history Where a dead army arose and figured out they were dead

So sin a cherub king of Assyria departed and went and returned and dwelt in Nineveh and it came to pass as He was worshiping in the house of Nis rock his

God the pagan God that a drama lek and Shiraz ear his sons smote him with the sword and they escaped into the land of Armenia and Esar had on his son rain in his said in his stead the enemy was slain by God So you see there's good news and bad news in this message

The good news is that God holds us accountable to add to our faith virtue and so forth to bear fruit to be fruit bearing

Christians the good news is that if we make those choices and We take full access of everything.

He's given us everything. He's already done. He's already told us He said you judge between me and my people.

He said have I not done everything? What have I not done for them? It's given us the Word of God an eternal book out of heaven down right into our dimension and put it in our laps this morning

He's given us his own spirit, which is he himself dwelling in our bodies power their

Untouched power in most of our lives power that we've never even put our finger on and used he's given us each other

But if we choose to forsake all that it's not bear fruit You lose it

Let's stand we can certainly lose a battle

We can't lose the war. Can we it's already been won And what beautiful things he gives us if he looks down and he sees the fruit

He gives us the very protection of his own strong right arm Let's pray together brother

Harvey. Would you come? Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for this study on fruit bearing and there's so much more to be

Learned about this subject that we feel we must leave it for now Move on and study something else but help us not to leave it practically help us to Live what we've learned help us to wake up each day and to add to our faith

These beautiful graces that you've brought into our lives and we thank you that you

As surely as you hold us responsible for them you provide the means for us to obey you in these areas

So help us to bear good fruit in our lives and to gain the peace and the protection from you

That comes thereby for both us and our little ones and father as you move us today if you would have any of us to Come forward and worship you at this altar

Come forward and spend time with you then may it be so And we ask it in Jesus name.