But if you try, you find that there will be no fruit, no Christlikeness, no manifestation of that beautiful character which arrests the attention of others. You cannot tell him when to answer your prayers. The religious leaders of the day knew that Jesus was speaking of them. Many people in Jesus day had a small personal vineyard on their own small plot of land that they worked for themselves. As work became more industrialized, Pope Leo XIII advocated for just working conditions, the rights of workers to bargain collectively and form unions, and to earn a living wage all of which our church still supports today. New Heart English Bible For we are God's fellow workers. There is an activity which is to be done, and a passivity which is to be acknowledged -- an active voice and a passive voice. Is that what we really want? God has blessed me tremendously and so thankful for His grace and the people He has put in my life and His work in and around me. And our Lord is indicating that the very purpose of the vine is to produce such fruit. All through this account his emphasis is upon the fruit. Without both of those, fruitlessness is the result. It is a solid education about the grace of God and his generosity toward humanity. The other aspect was that the Jews figured they were Gods people and were the only ones that had the right to heaven. We do not have to work at it. God graciously gives according to His will, as He so chooses. Many church people take issue with this. And from that we saw that obedience grows out of love. We pray in his name, Amen. He is really praying in his own name, and God will not hear our prayers when we approach Him in that way. If we focus on the rewards of working in Gods vineyard, we miss the pleasure of serving the Master. He is the vine, we are the branches. There is a great need for Gods people today to get a worldwide missionary vision because we can be very local and parochial in our concept of the Lords work. As you venture out on that basis you expect him to support you and to carry you through. I am always amazed to find people who read this as though the fruit were others won to Christ. He was with the Lord -- spent three and a half years with him. The last point is that we are the laborers in the Masters vineyard. They mistakenly believe that they have earned whatever they have. You can check out his work here. Let all that be present in the heart, and the face will light up with joy! Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Then God the Father sent His only Son. A friend of mine passed through Palo Alto this week on his way to Colorado to participate in a very unusual ranch. Did you ever see a bunch of grapes struggling to hang onto the vine, trying to grow larger? See how many times the Landowner went out to appoint workers - verses 1, 3, 5, 6. And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing idle, and said to them, Why have you been standing here idle all day? They said to him, Because no one hired us. He said to them, You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right you will receive., So when evening had come, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, Call the laborers and give them their wages, beginning with the last to the first. And when those came who were hired about the eleventh hour, they each received a denarius. Music City Construction Careers in Nashville is one such bridge-building program. This parable is about the masters generosity His grace. In verse three, the householder went out about the third hour into the marketplace and found others standing idly by. WebMatthew Chapter 20. The life which is in the vine produces fruit which Paul describes in Galatians5 as: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control. As leaders, they should have been leading the people to Him. The land was Gods planting (Psalm 80), Gods vineyard (Isaiah 5). How discontented we are (Hebrews 13:5)! The third question is, "Do you love Jesus?". You can be flat on your back in bed, sick, but manifesting a Christ-like spirit, and you are glorifying God by that experience. You see, Peter asked Jesus what the disciples would receive because they had left everything to follow Him. We might ask that, too, if it were us. Let me tell you why they are the way they are." We must think about what is important eternally. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. (LogOut/ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. This is what our Lord has in view. Here is the process in which the branch is cut off, and then it withers -- grows dry and dull and dead. I will send my beloved son. He is the boss in charge. (Isaiah 5:7 RSV). Even though Israel is Gods chosen people, He opened the door for salvation to everyone. (4) Still others at the eleventh hour (verse 6) - twenty-first century witnesses? This gift is for everyone. We Christians are God's great vineyard. She holds a masters degree in theology.). Your whole family had done it; it had been a family characteristic. This is the work of the Father. Thankfully, there are prophets in our midst who cry out in defense of and solidarity with workers. Web8 This is to my Fathers glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. This is what it means to abide in him. And when they had received it, they complained against the landowner, saying, These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day. But he answered one of them and said, Friend, I am doing you no wrong. In that unique way which was his, our Lord took what lay at hand and made it unfold spiritual truth. On some, Lord, you see sucker shoots which need to be pruned away. (John 15:4-5 RSV). There is also the other side -- "Let me abide in you." 2023 Words of Life Ministries - an independent evangelical Registered Charitable Trust (no.269381) Cookie Policy | Privacy Policy Website by: TEKOA Creative, Study 1 THE FARMER, THE SEED, AND THE SOILS, Study 2 THE PHARISEE AND THE TAX COLLECTOR. We do not have to agonize and struggle to produce these qualities or characteristics; they are brought about naturally by the vine. But where love is responded to, it grows deeper and richer and truer, and eventually becomes a glorious experience. If indeed this is the location, they then took their way down across the Tyropoeon Valley, which separated the Temple from the rest of the city, around the wall skirting the Temple area, down into the Kidron Valley, across the brook, and then up the slope of the Mount of Olives to the garden. Christians should work diligently to glorify the Lord and bring others to Christ, and because of the genuineness of our hearts will we obtain rewards in We trade the Giver for His gifts. There is a pruning time, a pruning season. But it must be preceded by that vital phrase, "Love God." Jesus tells us in Verse3: "You are already made clean [pruned] by the word which I have spoken to you." Christianity.com is a member of the Salem Web Network of sites including: Copyright 2023, Christianity.com. (4) Murmurings (verse 11). I have been the superintendent of the Sunday school for twenty-five years, and an elder in the church for twenty years; and yet God does not answer my prayer and I cannot understand it. Isaiah tells us what that represents in Verse 7: For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry! Leaders of the church need to stand strong and have boldness and never deviate from the truth. "Abide in me, and I in you," and you will be fruitful -- without realizing it -- manifesting the characteristics of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, the quality of life which is like Jesus. Every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." But there was no life in him. Do you love God for Who He is, or do you love Him for the benefits He gives you? God sent prophets to Israel to tell them to get right with God, but they were ignored, beaten, and/or killed. For those who have accepted Christ and may at times cry foul when life seems unfair, remember that the truly desirable thing is to be called by the Master and work with all our might not for the reward but out of love for the Master. I love the saying, "Joy is the flag which flies over the castle of the heart when the King is in residence." What is that? I suspect not! So you can do what you please when you love God. (2) Others at the third hour (verse 3) - the first and second century Christians? (2) In other continents the need is vast - where the darkness of heathenism, superstition and ignorance abound. The fact that the labourers are in a vineyard suggest the Eucharist, with the clergy as the workers providing the super-substantial bread and wine of salvation. Look up Psalm 126:6; Matthew 25:21; 1 Corinthians 4:2. It was then that the Landowner said, You also go (verse 7). Can you explain it to me?, Dr. Torrey said it was easy to explain. Should we not focus on the other four groups of workers? If we did, then it would not be grace. He does not show favoritism. Secondly, there is the demonstration of discipleship, Verse8: "By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples." A certain man planted a vineyard, leased it to vinedressers, and went into a far country for a long time. Certain individuals, when they comprehend the gospel, want to go to work quickly by reaching unsaved individuals. In order to appease the union workers, the government recognized Labor Day. But that was not the end of it; there was to be more as they went on. He said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. The steward, perhaps, represents Jesus Christ, to whom has been committed all judgment. We are to abide in him (that is active, something we do), and we are to let him abide in us (that is passive, something we allow him to do). I have been a member of the Presbyterian Church for thirty years, and have tried to be a consistent one all the time. And there are conversions after conversions throughout the remainder of the week -- because of young people who manifest by their lives that they are Jesus' disciples. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.. Because the field is so great, the variety of workers needed is also great. He may have been eager to make sure people had work. The whole earth is the Lords, but other nations did not enjoy their lands as the planting of the Lord . Here is the case our Lord mentioned earlier when he said, of one aspect of the Father's work, "every branch of mine that bears no fruit, he takes away." You see, you can make choices but you cannot fulfill them. Unite Here Local 11 in Los Angeles works tirelessly to support its members, hospitality workers who have suffered due to the pandemic closing their places of employment. In Luke 10:2, Jesus was conveying 35 groups of two each to go out to others, the multitudes. And do not compare yourself to others. because they are going to have to work sometimes from seven in the morning until ten or eleven at night. What Is the Meaning of Psalm 91 and Why Is it Popular? 5"I am the vine; you are the branches. And he tells them about the three questions he asked: Do you love work? Thus, the parable is not about us, but about Him. He will compensate us as indicated by our devotion to do the work that he has called us to do. On the other hand, he says, "He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." Second, "and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." 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