Well, we're still in Mark's Gospel.
There is a great benefit through going consecutively
through the word.
There are quite a number of benefits really.
And one good thing is that no one
can say that the preacher has chosen to
preach on certain subjects that he thinks are
needed, or that he is preaching at certain
people.
Because what he does in consecutive ministry is
preach on the subject as it comes, consecutively.
And it's marvellous how the Holy Spirit so
arranges that to meet the needs of the
individuals present.
And if you see anybody specially with a
face aglow this evening, it's because they came
up the mountain with us this morning and
they beheld the glory of the Lord as
he was transformed on the mount and they
by the Spirit were changed somewhat into his
image and glory.
I'm sorry in one way that the week
is coming to a close, although nice to
know I have an extra weekend with you.
I am not worthy of such blessings and
benefits, but the fellowship is good.
We're getting to know one another very much
now.
And we can, for instance Andy and I,
we can almost say something rude to one
another and we don't take offence now.
That's good isn't it.
Shows you how we're getting on and developing
in grace.
I'm reminded of Lady Astor who was the
first MP to be voted into the Houses
of Parliament in Westminster.
And she was from Bristol wasn't she?
Yes, now Lady Astor of course was a
friend in one way to Sir Winston Churchill.
But they were so friendly they used to
have a terrific rub at one another now
and again even publicly across the House of
the Floor.
That's right.
Now you can see how Irish I am.
The Floor of the House, the House of
the Floor, the Floor of the House.
And one occasion she said to him, she
said, Sir Winston, if I were married to
you I would feed you poison.
He said, Lady Astor, if I were married
to you I would take it.
It's nice to really get to know one
another isn't it.
Well you can tell I'm a little bit
Irish.
My grandfather was Irish, that's why I say
things backwards sometimes.
And my grandmother was Welsh.
That's why when Andy said, praise the Lord,
I said, Diolch.
He said, huh?
Never heard that one, he thought it was
the Tongues Movement started.
And it means, praise the Lord, Diolch Higol.
Bisamgofio chlucoslawol.
Praise be to Jesus every day.
And I always like to listen to a
bit of Welsh preaching with a bit of
Welsh fervour in it and Welsh singing.
Nothing like it on earth, except of course
the singing at Park of the Barren Land.
And however, although I'm a cosmopolitan mixture, Irish
and English and Welsh and so on, I
found out that I was a bad lot
altogether and had to be born again.
Now let's read the word together.
I'm going to read tonight, some of you
won't forgive me for this, will you?
I'm going to read from Phillips's version.
You won't forgive me.
Or two.
I feel led to read this from Phillips's
version tonight.
And you might not like Phillips's version, but
if you don't, that's just ignorance.
It's got to be because we have proved
by research, not only in the Moreland Bible
College in our lectures, but Dr Stephen Short
of Bristol.
He also has proved by diligent research that
Phillips's expressions from the original Greek are closer
than anybody's in modern English.
And it's good to break away sometimes from
the King James Version and read a modern
version, especially if it is Phillips's, J.B.
Phillips's version.
Now some of these others I'm not very
keen on.
I've got a bit of a critical spirit
myself.
Some of these where they put in their
own little bits and pieces and it seems
to me sometimes that adding to Scripture they
say things that are not there.
Some of these versions where they give two
or three ideas of their own of one
particular portion of Scripture.
And some of these are not Scriptural ideas
at all, they've just been talked in.
And they are propagated as interpretations of the
Word and they're not.
So a word to the wise, you have
to be very careful.
But you can't go far wrong, I would
give you that word for nothing.
You can't go very far wrong with J
.B. Phillips's version.
I'm going to read you the first few
verses of Mark 12 from Phillips's version.
Then Jesus began to talk to them in
parables.
A man once planted a vineyard and, he
said, fenced it round, dug out the hole
for the winepress and built a watchtower.
Then he let it out to some farm
workers and went abroad.
The end of the season he sent a
servant to the tenants to receive his share
of the vintage.
But they got hold of him, knocked him
about and sent him off empty handed.
The owner tried again.
He sent other servants to them, another servant
to them, but this one they knocked on
the head and generally insulted.
Once again he sent them another servant, but
him they murdered.
He sent many others and some they did
beat up and some they murdered.
He had one man left, his own son,
who was very dear to him.
He sent him last of all to the
tenants, saying to himself, they will surely respect
my own son.
But they said to each other, this fellow
is the future owner.
Come on, let's kill him and the property
will be ours.
So they got hold of him and murdered
him, threw his body out of the vineyard.
What do you suppose the owner of the
vineyard is going to do?
He will come and destroy the men who
were working his vineyard and will hand it
over to others.
Have you never read this scripture?
The stone which the builders rejected, the same
was made the head of the corner.
This was from the Lord and it is
marvellous in our eyes.
May God bless to us that reading from
his precious word.
A student came into my study some time
ago and he asked for permission to do
some grafting in the college orchard.
He was very anxious to try his hand
at grafting and he was asking permission to
do it in the orchard.
He wanted to see a special kind of
fruit growing from a branch which he wanted
to graft into a certain tree.
Somebody was showing me around here the other
day different kinds of fruit coming out of
the one stalk, the one tree.
And that reminded me that the world is
waiting to see the life of the Saviour
manifested in his own.
The life of the true vine flowing through
the branches.
The world is waiting to see Christians growing
by the life of Christ and bearing fruit
unto God by the life of Jesus in
them.
Now when our Lord Jesus in John 15
said I am the vine and ye are
the branches I'm quite sure he had in
mind Ezekiel 15 where he says likening Israel
to a vine what is the good of
a vine tree if it doesn't bear fruit?
It's only good for burning.
You can't even fashion a piece of the
wood to make a pin or a nail
out of it to knock it into the
kitchen wall to hang a kitchen vessel on.
It's not even good enough for that.
The only thing a vine tree is good
for if it doesn't bring forth fruit is
to be burned.
And of course God has put us here
for his glory to bring forth fruit to
his name.
And here we have the details in this
incident in Mark 12 tonight.
See what this particular farmer did and what
this particular farmer wanted and to what lengths
he went to preserve things for himself and
how through these men it was all a
complete failure and still it is a failure
today unless we learn the secret of real
spiritual fruit bearing.
This farmer planted a vineyard.
What did he plant a vineyard for?
Was it that he might just have the
pleasure of seeing the plants grow and get
taller and bigger?
No.
Was it that he just had got a
few men around he wanted to employ?
No.
Was it that he wanted to compete with
his neighbours and keep up with the smiths
next door?
No.
What did he plant a vineyard for?
He wanted fruit.
And I presume the product of the fruit
as it says in Psalm 104 and wine
to make glad the heart of men.
This was his whole purpose and he went
to great lengths to do this.
Now God's vineyard is the earth and God's
vines are men and he has put us
here that he might be glorified through us
that from our lives there may be fruit
to his praise and as it were wine
to gladden his heart.
It says in the book of Revelation for
his pleasure we were and are created.
This man planted a vineyard for his own
pleasure for his own good and God has
done that in the earth and we are
here his creation for his glory and unfortunately
we've all come short of his glory and
from us as of ourselves there has been
no fruit to gladden his heart and please
him.
Now this farmer not only planted a vineyard
but he hedged it round.
He put a hedge round about it.
The whole idea was to preserve the plants
as they grew to preserve the fruit as
it came so that he might get the
wine to gladden his heart.
He hedged it round and God has been
doing that in his vineyard all down the
ages.
You remember in the Garden of Eden there
was Adam and Eve hedged round.
Don't know whether there was a literal hedge
around the Garden of Eden but the idea
was there God blessed them and provided for
them was willing to protect them but unfortunately
the hedge was broken down and sin came
pouring in.
He did that you remember with Nor and
his family.
He eradicated evil and gave Nor and his
family a new chance and he blessed them
and he hedged them round so to speak
and soon sin came pouring in through the
broken down hedge.
Then of course God did that with Israel
he chose a nation and he gave them
all the necessary whereby they could glorify his
name as his representatives on earth and he
gave them his word and yet they came
short of his glory.
He hedged them round.
The idea of hedging round is seen illustrated
in Job.
At the beginning of the book Satan comes
to appear before the Lord and the Lord
God says to him where have you come
from?
He said I've been wandering up and down
the earth.
As a matter of fact he's still doing
that so be careful.
We must not be ignorant of his devices.
And he said well in wandering up and
down the earth he said have you considered
my servant Job?
And Satan said yes I have considered him
and I know why he's your servant too.
It pays him to serve you.
You've hedged him round and that was the
idea that Satan used.
You've hedged him round.
You've protected him and you've preserved him.
And look at the blessings and the possessions
he's got.
No wonder he's your servant Job said Satan
sarcastically.
God said alright.
You are at liberty to break down that
hedge that I have put around him.
And you can bring trouble into his life
through the gap in the broken hedge and
then we'll see.
And Satan came with a temptation but at
the same time it was the Lord coming
with a testing.
Now remember that.
The trouble that came into Job's life was
a test from God.
But the devil brought it as a temptation.
Remember that.
God doesn't tempt anybody.
We are tempted when we are drawn away
by our own lusts and selfish desires.
But Satan tempts us too as in this
case.
And so it was, you remember the day
came when Job heard that his possessions had
gone.
And then he heard that his loved ones
had died.
And then he found out that his health
had departed and from the crown of his
head to the sole of his feet he
was covered with boils, terrible boils.
And his wife said to him now you
turn round and curse God and die.
And he turned round and worshipped God and
said Blessed be the Lord, the Lord gave.
And the Lord put the hedge round about
me and the Lord has allowed it to
be broken down and the Lord has taken
away Blessed be the name of the Lord.
But that is the idea.
He was hedged around.
Satan was right there.
He is right sometimes.
But he always mixes the truth with a
bit of evil.
And so it was that he had hedged
Job around had God.
And the hedge was...
Now of course God has done that in
his vineyard all down the ages.
Blessed people abundantly.
But the greater the blessing the greater the
responsibility.
Think of all your blessings in your country.
Think of America.
I am amazed at the vastness of America.
I am in the process of trying to
learn the geography of America.
I know a little bit about the geography
of the British Isles the Scotland and Ireland
and Wales and England.
And one teacher in America said to another
boy he said, where do your forebears, your
ancestors come from?
And he said, teacher, from the west side
of Britain.
She said, did they come from Wales?
And he said, no, from human beings.
I told you my grandmother came from Wales.
The country of Wales I was referring to.
I thought I better explain that in case
you didn't get it quite right.
But the greater the blessing the greater the
responsibility.
Now you look back for a minute.
Don't count your troubles, count your blessings.
And don't stop at surprise.
It will surprise you what the Lord has
done.
Respond to God's love.
The greater the blessing the greater the responsibility.
Think of those dollars you've had month after
month all through your life.
Think how God has preserved you on these
busy dangerous roads.
Think how God has led you to this
place and given you a home.
Think of the thousand and one blessings of
yours.
This means you have a thousand and one
responsibilities to God.
And the apostle realising this said I am
getter to everybody and I am ready to
preach the gospel to you who are at
Rome also.
And he hedged it round.
God has done that in his vineyard.
Now this farmer he dug a winecrest It
says digged in the 1611 version.
That's a bit ancient and out of date.
I mean that wording.
He digged a winecrest.
He dug a winecrest to be a bit
more modern English.
And you know what was happening that when
he was putting in these tender vine plants
if that's what they do here and there
around the area he came to a corner
where the soil was only an inch and
a half deep.
And he said to his men it's no
good putting those plants in there.
They won't grow.
There's not sufficient earth.
He said I'll tell you what to do.
Scrape the soil away.
It will be useful somewhere else.
And he said bring your mallets and bring
your chisels and we'll scoop out from this
corner and from this piece of rock a
winecrest.
A wine fat it is called.
Probably about 8 feet in diameter and quite
a big basin and then what they would
do would make a channel you see at
the bottom and there would be a ledge
there underneath outside.
And the idea was that the men when
the fruit was grown and ripe would pick
the bunches of grapes and throw them helter
skelter handfuls and handfuls into this winepress you
see and then they would tread the winepress
let's hope they washed their feet first and
then the juice would flow into the channel
and into the wineskins that would be placed
on the ledge to receive the juice.
That was the idea.
It didn't work out like that in this
case.
But this is what the winepress was for.
It was the instrument to make the wine.
Now God has done that in his vineyard
given to us all that we need to
make the wine to glorify his name to
bring forth fruit to his praise he has
given you a voice to sing his praises
like the choir did so beautifully tonight.
He has given you a mind to be
occupied with him.
He has given you feet to walk in
his ways and a heart to love and
adore him and he has given you hands
to do his will and he says, son,
go work today in my vineyard.
But those of us who are believers in
the Lord Jesus he has given to us
a much more wonderful instrument if I can
say that reverently to make the wine.
He has given to us in our hearts
his gracious Holy Spirit to be our sufficiency
that we might, by his indwelling enabling make
the wine.
He might do it through us that there
might be not the fruits of our nature
but the fruits of the Spirit as the
life of the Spirit of Jesus flows through
us to the glory of God's name.
The winepress was the instrument to make the
wine.
God has done that in his vineyard.
He has given you, if you are a
Christian all that you need to glorify God
and you and I tonight should be glorifying
God because we have the necessary.
One boy was always painting and on this
occasion he got paint all over his knees
and hands and over his socks as well
and his mother said to him, Johnny, you're
forever painting and you've got paint all over
you.
Why are you always painting?
I would like to know.
So he looked up and he said, Because
mom, when I grow older I want to
be a great artist so that God will
ask me to help him to paint his
rainbows and sunsets.
Now of course she had to explain to
him God didn't want him to do just
that but there was so much God did
want him to do in his life and
how he wanted him to glorify him and
bear forth fruit to the praise of his
name.
He digged a winepress as the instrument to
make and then this farmer so that he
might preserve the fruit that in the end
his heart would be gladdened in the middle
of the vineyard he built a tower.
It was a high tower and this was
of course for defense against his foes.
Now he had enemies.
Probably some of the neighbors were enemies.
Don't know what kind of a district he
lived in.
Maybe there would be wild animals that he
would have to keep out and a high
tower was a defense against all his foes.
He could see them coming and he could
stop them from the high tower.
Now God has done that in his vineyard.
He's given to us all all the defense
we need against all our enemies so that
he might be glorified in us.
That the wine might be preserved.
A high tower, the psalmist puts it this
way the Lord is my high tower himself.
And again the name of the Lord is
a strong tower the righteous runneth into it
and is safe.
We are safe in the Lord himself.
The arm of flesh will fail you.
You dare not trust your own.
This was for victory and defense against all
their foes.
The high tower in the middle of the
vineyard and Christ himself by his indwelling spirit
is our victory.
You know in Romans chapter 6 and verse
4 the apostle by the Spirit says so
walk in newness of life.
And this life is of course a new
life.
It says newness of life.
It isn't the old life patched up but
superseded by another one.
It's not the old life refined but replaced
by another one.
It's a new life.
It's the life of the risen Son of
God by his spirit in us.
And we're supposed to walk by that life.
And that life is a wonderful life.
It's not only a new life because it
is but it's holy because he's the holy
one.
And it's fruitful because he's the true vine.
And it's a victorious life if you're walking
in newness of life because he is the
victorious Christ.
The point is you see it isn't so
much that God will give you some help
when your foes confront you and you are
struggling against them.
I don't think God's going to help you
struggle in the energy of the flesh against
any of your foes.
Why should he help you in your old
nature struggling when he finished with you and
your old nature and all that you could
do two thousand years ago when in his
reckoning he crucified you with Christ?
What he gives you is a new life
which is a marvellous almighty life.
It's the victorious life of the Son of
God.
And day by day by faith we enter
into another's victory because it is the victorious
Christ by his Spirit who is the life
of the believer.
Imagine my son Ian or our son Ian
I've got my wife here tonight Imagine our
son Ian when he was a boy very
interested in football English soccer I mean of
course and well he was he was captain
of the school in football and in some
of the other sports as well.
He wanted to be a minister of sport
in the British government but instead he's a
preacher of the gospel and a teacher of
the truth so we're satisfied.
However he was very interested in English soccer
now imagine I say imagine him supporting the
local town team you know week by week
every Saturday afternoon going down to the field
and watching them play and say hooray hooray
we scored another goal and that sort of
thing and then one day the team is
playing away about 35 miles away in another
town and they go by coach you see
not greyhound an English coach and they go
by coach and of course the coach is
not too roomy and Ian can't go but
of course he's there when they come back
and even before they stop he was on
the corner waiting for them and as soon
as they turn the corner to slow up
he shouts through the window he said how
did he get on and they said we've
won we've won and he runs down the
road and he gets there before the coach
does and he runs through the house and
he runs through the village and he tells
everybody we've won he said we've won we've
won he hasn't even been there but their
victory is his victory that's the only way
to get spiritual triumph day by day is
to enter into another's victory by faith Christ
is the victorious Christ Satan will never stand
against Jesus anymore forever his victory proved by
his resurrection in his death proved by his
resurrection is eternal perpetual and everlasting and if
the victorious Christ is your life then that
is your victory day by day we read
of some in a coming day in the
book of Revelation is the prophecy they are
going to overcome Satan and all their foes
how?
by the blood of the Lamb their victory
then is going to be through his victory
two thousand years ago it was the blood
of the Lamb the life of Jesus poured
out which was a glorious triumph over all
his foes and incidentally over all your foes
Jesus the victorious Christ is your life he
built a high tower for defense against all
his foes and the Lord himself my victorious
Christ is my high tower he has already
the victory game we are not on the
winning side we are on the side that's
won and it all happened at Calvary somebody
said to Sam in central Africa we hear
you have been converted Sam he said yes
praise the Lord and we hear that you
are satisfied Sam he said yes praise the
Lord and we hear Sam that you now
have the victory over the devil where is
it?
very theologically correct he said where is it?
not exactly that it isn't that I have
the victory over the devil but I have
the victor of the devil living in my
heart that's it and the Lord himself is
our high tower he is our personal victory
because we enter into his triumph at the
cross day by day just like the children
of Israel I think you have gone forever
on this subject if you wanted to because
the word is full of it because this
is the way of blessing and victory you
know some of us are so much struggling
in the energy of the flesh and never
getting there and forgetting about his eternal triumph
on the cross you know when the children
of Israel went forward in their journeys day
by day Moses got them all together and
they had a little morning prayer together you
know like Mr. Willie gets you together here
and we have a little morning prayer together
the beginning of the day well this is
what Moses did with the children of Israel
you know but his prayer was much shorter
than than ours here this was his prayer
he said arise O Lord and let thine
enemies be scattered and them that hate thee
flee before thee Amen and you know what
happened God arose and every day overcame their
enemies for them and every day they entered
into his victory it was the Lord's victory
arise O Lord let thine enemies be scattered
and day by day they entered into his
victory by the way the end of the
day this is just for your interest the
end of the day they had another prayer
and it was shorter than the morning prayer
they gathered together around the Ark of the
Covenant and they rested in the Lord's presence
and Moses' evening prayer was this Lord return
unto the many thousands of Israel Amen and
on the way to the land of rest
they found not only his victory day by
day but his rest on the way to
the land of rest in the Lord himself
the Lord himself is our high tower the
righteous runneth into it and is safe this
is your only victory the victory of the
cross for your present need and then of
course this man he went into a far
country this farmer this householder went into a
far country and God has done that in
his vineyard in relation to his vineyard you
see he wanted to prove them so he
must give them liberty that's what God gave
you liberty for you have a free will
you can do what you like but remember
in giving you a free will God is
proving you and testing you because he's not
only given you a free will he has
given you his instructions and you know what
his will for you is and when this
man went into a far country he left
his instructions now he said to his men
I want fruit they knew what his will
was now God has done that in his
vineyard and these men unfortunately they turned their
liberty into license and it's so easy to
do a thing like that God has left
us his instructions the savior has gone away
to the glory and he still says I
am the vine and you are the branches
and I want some fruit from you that's
why I prune you so that you might
bring forth more fruit and he gives us
liberty and sometimes we turn our liberty into
license the late Dr. Dixon of London had
a great London preacher had a father I
think he was or grandfather in one of
these southern states here during the time of
the emancipation and he had quite a number
of slaves he was very good to his
slaves he looked after them very well and
I think they liked him too and when
the bill was signed by the president he
got them all into his great hall in
his home and he says now I can
keep slaves no longer the great president has
signed the bill of the emancipation and you
are all free do what you like, go
where you will and he himself went to
the door and opened the door for them
so they got their bits and pieces together
their bags and their baggage and they were
seen after a little while that's two or
two and a half hours walking up the
street up the lane single file with baggages
on their head and under their arms and
in their hand and they were struggling up
the road and they were all free now
didn't seem to know what they were going
to do and where they were going anyway
after a little while after two miles they
turned right into a wood and then they
stopped at a clearing and they put their
trunks and baggages down and they sat on
the trunks of fallen trees and they had
a conference together they said where are we
going?
don't know what we're going to do?
don't know we've got liberty, yes isn't it
wonderful, yes but we loved our master we
liked serving our master we don't know what
we're going to do now why can't we
what can we do?
well we can't be slaves anymore they said
no, but perhaps he'll let us serve him
of our own volition that's an idea they
said so they put their cases on their
heads and under their arms and in their
hands marched down the road again single file
and the first one up the head the
spokesman for the party knocked at the big
front door and there were no slaves to
open the door so poor Mr. Dixon had
to open it himself and there he saw
this cure he said what on earth do
you want?
well they said we've come back we know
that we've been set free and we cannot
be your slaves by law but can we
please be your slaves by choice and so
they've got liberty but they didn't use it
for themselves they used it for their master
and they were saying I loved, I loved
my master I will not go out free
you know the story in the Old Testament
and now within all the year was brought
to the door post and this was so
many outward signs an outward sign that the
man was not turning his liberty into license
but loved his master and out of a
free will of his own volition was willing
to serve him all his days now God
has done that in his country gone into
his vineyard gone into a far country given
us liberty but unfortunately we've turned it into
license and we've pleased ourselves that's why the
call in our Christian meetings is very often
for a surrender will a absolutely surrender will
to the will of Christ that we might
serve him acceptably reverently and fruitfully and with
godly fear now this farmer sent from the
far country his servants to get the fruit
from his vineyard and God has done that
in his vineyard he sent more that preacher
of righteousness and Moses that meek man on
earth but that great leader he sent Elijah
the prophet and Elisha and Jeremiah who broke
his heart over the city of Jerusalem because
of the backsliding condition of God's people and
he sent Amos to the people of the
north and they said Amos shut up and
go home and so they treated God's servants
badly just like this farmer's servants were treated
badly from time to time and God sent
John the Baptist and they cut off his
head and then God had a unique son
that's the meaning of the word only begotten
the real word is as in the American
Revised Standard Version unique son he had one
son his only, his well beloved dearly loved
son he said I will send my sons
and surely they will reverence my son but
when they saw the son coming they said
this is the heir this is the son
of the owner the property is going to
him let us kill him and seize the
property ourselves and they caught him and slew
him and cast him out and that's what
they did in God's vineyard and they came
to a place called Calvary and there they
crucified him there the place where our Lord
was crucified outside the city wall there the
place a place of darkness where might the
sun of darkness hide in
the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus and so
did you and so did I because he
was wounded for your transgressions bruised for your
iniquities the punishment that you might have peace
was laid upon him by his stripes therefore
you can be healed and there they crucified
him the punishment our Lord endured when he
was nailed to that rugged Roman cross for
our redemption to bring us back to God
and him the person who was crucified and
put to shame declares to us Jehovah's name
and love because this was his only beloved
his unique and dear son whom he gave
for our sakes to bring him us back
to him so last of all God hath
in these last times and last of all
spoken unto us by his son this is
God's last word to mankind in his son
the Lord Jesus last of all he sent
the son came from the glory sent by
the Father to do his will five times
in Christ's high priestly prayer in John 17
he says thou hast sent me and to
me these are the most wonderful words in
Scripture it was the good pleasure of the
Lord to bruise him not that God was
happier to slay his son but it was
the perfect will of Jehovah to put his
son to grieve because he so he thus
gave his only begotten son last of all
he sent his and after the refusal of
the farmer's son he didn't send anybody else
he brought he came with judgment there's only
one thing following the rejection of the Lord
Jesus and that is the judgment of God
because the Lord Jesus is the salvation of
God for mankind you see the Lord Jesus
said to Zacchaeus today is salvation come to
thy house today I must abide at thy
house here is God's salvation for you and
me if you have Christ you have God's
salvation and after refusing the finger the son
they accepted the judgment now the great point
in tonight's message is this we're just coming
to it now and I shan't be long
and it'll be all over the great point
I think is one of the most important
things we have to learn in our conferences
in our Christian life in all our ministry
and meditation over the word follow me closely
now if you haven't had a blessing in
these three months or more I pray you
tonight listen and get a blessing from the
word of God at this particular point they
never brought their master any fruit and from
them he never received the wine to gladden
his heart in God's vineyard it's been always
the same all through the years we've all
failed we've all come short of God's glory
we were made for his praise and we
haven't praised him we are created for his
glory and we haven't glorified him we were
put here in God's vineyard to bring forth
fruit and we brought forth sour fruit sour
grapes to set the teeth on edge and
this is the history of mankind all down
the ages we've all failed all have failed
and left to ourselves now the story is
still one of complete and absolute failure because
flesh is flesh you can never get the
spirit from the flesh you may sublimate the
flesh as much as you will it will
never yield spirit nor the fruits of the
spirit only the spirit of Jesus can bring
forth the fruits of the spirit and this
is why he is the true vine and
we are the branches and we being joined
to him can have his life flowing through
us to the praise and glory of his
holy name these men failed and all down
the ages the story has been the same
wild vines sour grapes no pleasure to God
then suddenly suddenly there's some pleasure comes suddenly
God is pleased we heard about it this
morning on the top of the mountain we
heard about it we heard the voice of
the Lord God saying this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased is
it true?
is it true?
is there at last amongst the men of
earth someone who is bringing glory to God
and pleasure to his heart and fruit to
his praise and wine to gladden his heart
yes the heavens opened three times and the
Father speaks glowingly and gloriously about his son
and the pleasure he has in his dearly
beloved and that is why if we are
going to glorify Jesus in our lives it
must be by the life of Jesus through
our lives he is the true vine the
flesh is a wild vine only the true
vine is fruitful unto God and the true
vine is always fruitful unto God this is
why we must be joined to Jesus grafted
in to the Saviour completing Christ in union
with our Lord in a very real practical
experiential way and then the life of the
true vine which is always fruitful unto God
shall flow through us to the praise of
God's name the Father said in him I
am well pleased and he is the young
now haven't we seen that all through the
week in one way or another didn't the
Lord Jesus say last night was it, it
is I the not afraid I'm the one
you need I'm the answer to your problems
I am the overcomer I am the miraculous
Saviour if you'll only take me in and
let me in control the miracle will be
done the Lord Jesus is the answer you
never can by yourself flesh is flesh and
spirit is spirit and if it's the spirit
of Jesus then the fruit unto God well
now for the branch to be grafted into
the stalk into the tree I understand that
both have to be cut sliced at an
angle with a sharp knife both have to
be cut and then they are placed together
on the cut and they are bound together
with some kind of raffia and some kind
of muddy substance which keeps out the air
so that the sap of the tree the
life of the tree can flow now through
the branch and then when my friend in
Eversham, Worcestershire which is the fruit growing district
of Britain where one of the two special
areas there's another area in Kent when this
brother from the Eversham assembly was showing me
around his fruit farm and describing to me
how they did the grafting he said we
did this one yesterday see that now he
said after a while this will be grown
you'll see this branch here growing by the
life it's got from this tree not by
its own life and this is, look over
there he says there's one there with some
leaves on it and those leaves have come
from the tree to which it was grafted
you see that one further over there there's
some fruit on that one and it's not
from the branch it's from the tree because
the branch was grafted in and was abiding
in the tree and so there's fruit and
this of course is the only way you
and I must be joined to Jesus we
must be grafted in we must abide in
Christ now of course to really make this
work so that there's growth and life there
is eternal life the divine life the life
of the eternal and fruit unto God I
must be cut and the branch the tree
must be cut if I'm going to bear
fruit the fruit of the life of Jesus
through my life there must be a cut
in my experience there must be a crisis
there must be a cut with the things
of the world with any known sin with
any little bit of self-will personal selfish
desire must be cut right off there must
be in the church of God godly repentance
turning from everything that is known to be
not of Christ there must be a genuine
serious and clean cut before I can know
the life of Christ flowing through me and
not only so the tree has to be
cut but don't worry it's been done his
hands were cut and his brow was cut
with thorns and his feet were pierced and
cut with nail and his side with a
spear so that so that so that you
and I could be grafted in all that
is waiting for now a clean cut with
all that is not of Jesus in my
personal experience so that I might abide in
him completely that his life might flow through
me that I might grow spiritually by his
life that I might bear fruit by the
life of the true vine through me no
man can but by the Holy Ghost the
Holy Ghost is the Holy Spirit of the
true vine the Lord Jesus himself and only
the true vine is fruitful unto God this
is the way of blessing and fruitfulness it
is the Christ way indeed it is the
Christ life not I not I let us
pray let us take a
moment this Friday evening at the end of
this beautiful three months of conference season let
us take a moment to pray and reflect
take the retrospective view now what did God
say to you the first week and then
was it the third or the fourth week
you really had a message from the Lord
think about that in prayer for a moment
perhaps it was the beginning of this week
or the end of last week tonight God
has shown you that the thing that is
hindering the fruit bearing must go self pity
self desire self will selfishness self
love let there be a clean cut oh
God by thy grace I want to cut
it clean now all that is not of
thee and of thy son in my heart
Lord cut it out so that I can
not only be joined to Jesus but that
his life might flow through me that by
the true vine in me and through me
I might bring fruit unto thee now pray
that prayer make the decision in the presence
of the Lord and say not I there
is the cut not I but Christ but
Christ there is the fruit the true vine
hear our many prayers oh Lord in heaven
thy dwelling place reveal the Lord Jesus to
us again and now not only as our
saviour and our Lord but as our present
life and as the one who through us
by his life in us shall bring fruit
unto thy name glory to thee and as
it were wine to gladden thy heart may
the grace of the Lord Jesus thy love
our God the fellowship and the enabling of
the Holy Spirit be with us all tonight
and always until we see his face