From then on there are still no meetings, but invariably every week there are those guests who come and say, "I want to know more about this." The story includes a master, his vineyard, and some workers. Jesus was teaching things that were contrary to religious tradition. He committed suicide within a few days, and he was burned -- eternally lost. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. The fruit is borne by the branches produced by the vine. 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. God does not need us to do anything for Him He is completely sufficient on His own; however, God desires to employ us to work in His vineyard. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Needless to say, such behavior doesnt impress God at all. Jesus told a couple parables that deals with the heart of those who are called to do Gods work. Many will read this parable and remark about how unfair it was for the last group of workers, those who only worked for about an hour, to receive the same compensation as those who worked all day. That is, "If you do not abide in me, you will be fruitless." Fruitfulness shows that we are in partnership with GOD. But Jesus explains that salvation is for everyone, Jew and Gentile alike. 07/15/2018. Why should it matter when and where God hires these workers, or how much they receive, as long as we are united in Christ and focused on the mission of making disciples? He exercised the power of God by performing miracles. God sent prophets to Israel to tell them to get right with God, but they were ignored, beaten, and/or killed. This is somewhat counter cultural as the world seems fixated on entitlements. The withering process was very short in his case. The denarius represents eternal life. And in the 80th Psalm, the Psalmist says that God "brought a vine out of Egypt" and planted it in a good land, Psalms 80:8). Web20 For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He is responsible to see that the purpose of the vine is fulfilled. Because it is large, many workers are needed. We would be foolish to appeal to God for justice rather than grace, for if we really received justice, we would all be condemned. Aside from the first group of workers who were hired at sun up, the master promises to pay the workers what is right. These workers might have expected to receive a fraction of a days wage, but the master of the vineyard never specifies what he will pay. They wanted the power and prestige and didnt want anyone to take that from them. Fruitfulness gives GOD glory. (LogOut/ (3) people of prayer behind the scenes. However, we are not entitled to anything, especially from God. So it is with the church: we need all the workers we can get to accomplish all that God has called us to do. For the master of the vineyard, there must have been a lot of work to be done for him to hire so many workers so many times during the day. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. I have been praying for a long time for something that I am confident is according to Gods will, but I do not get it. But it is an encouragement for any Christian worker to be reminded that he or she is working in a part of the Lords vast vineyard. That is what joy is -- this sense of our unity with Jesus, the sense of his power, his adequacy, his ability to handle the problems which are thrust upon us. God owns His vineyard. 30 Verses to Reflect on in the Book of Hebrews. Remember that earlier in the passage our Lord had said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments," (John 14:15 RSV). If in relating to others you merely get together and have coffee and talk about the weather, you will find it useless. He decides who does what and who receives what from working in his vineyard. 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. And since they grow right where the branch joins the stem, creating a tight cluster where dirt, leaves, and other debris collect, the pruning is therefore a cleansing process. Pingback: Laborers in Gods Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16) | Good Hope Baptist Church. He built a tower; he protected the vineyard and cared for it, Isaiah 5:2(. They must satisfy him that they love people. Do you want to be recognized as one who follows Jesus? Those are the ones which arise out of our evil nature, our fallen Adamic nature, which produces in us those characteristics which are different than the fruit of the Spirit -- resentment, anger, bitterness, selfishness, egocentricity, love of praise -- these qualities which tend to arise within us so frequently. He asks them only three questions: First, "Do you love work?" Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. The fruit here is not others won to Christ. I believe that this is similar to today. He is really praying in his own name, and God will not hear our prayers when we approach Him in that way. So it is evident from that parable that the fruit which God expects of the vine is moral character, or as we have it in the New Testament, the fruit of the Spirit -- the fruit which the Spirit produces. It is not about us, but about the Master, His vineyard and His harvest that He is reaping. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love." This is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED BY YOU BUILDERS, WHICH HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE. Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.. Certain individuals, when they comprehend the gospel, want to go to work quickly by reaching unsaved individuals. 3 And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, When that happens, there will come these additional benefits: answered prayer, a glorifying of the Father through the demonstration of discipleship, a deepening of the experience of love, and joy made full. Apprenticeship graduate Joseph Kenyiawa, who was resettled through Catholic Charities in Nashville from Sudan 20 years ago, is a pillar of the Sudanese Catholic community. Well then, manifest fruit in your life by abiding in him, and he in you. Just come to Him and place your trust in Jesus Christ. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. Their diversity of thought has a common theme, service to God and neighbor as a reflection of our faith in him and our acceptance of his salvation. This is what Bible study and prayer are all about. He was with the Lord -- spent three and a half years with him. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Then the owner of the vineyard said, What shall I do? (2) Jealousy (verse 10) - the Devils master-stroke among the Lords workers! Your whole family had done it; it had been a family characteristic. For many are called, but few chosen.. When God sent someone to give a message, they would not listen. He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others., And when they heard it they said, Certainly not!, Then He looked at them and said, What then is this that is written: THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE ? It is not activity which glorifies God; it is character, it is what you are, and the way you react to a situation. That is abiding in him. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? What is that fruit? The truth is that the master gave them exactly what they had contracted to receive. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. Judas was a paramount example of this. The Father is the vinedresser. In this illustration, God is the householder, and believers are the workers. Well, that has to do with empowerment, enablement. In verses four-six, the householder went out each time the workers went out, compelling those to come and work in the vineyard. They are not mere mechanical practices which every Christian ought to do in order to stay "in" with the crowd, or to maintain his "membership card," or to get "brownie points" with God! By this he meant to illustrate the wonderful truth that when we are united with Christ we are one with him, we are identified with him. WebGod needs workers for his vineyard. Each worker is personally called and directed where and how to work. How can we work for the Lord until He has directed us? WebMatthew Chapter 20. The fruit, in He adds here the ingredient that when we obey his word, keep his commandments, we will abide in his love. 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. Look up Galatians 6:9. We Christians are God's great vineyard. Does the Pandemic Still Affect Church Attendance? God is glorified when his people manifest fruit, i.e., Christlikeness. We believe they deserved more. God has so much work, and there is room for everyone who is willing. Second, "and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit." It is a matter of human dignity, he said. I suspect not! Change). And if you are truly loving him, you can ask whatever you will. Given the circumstances, we should center around God's benevolence toward us, and be grateful for what we have. But it is an 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 Thus, the parable is not about us, but about Him. The relationship is not merely to be recognized; it is to be acted upon: "Abide in me, and I in you. In this parable the period for service was twelve hours. The third question is, "Do you love Jesus?". On some, Lord, you see sucker shoots which need to be pruned away. Also, there is much work to be done. They continually were seeking ways to quiet Him or destroy Him. I struggled for a while with this word prunes because in the Greek it is really "cleanses." Furthermore, it is added to any new believers as a consolation of the grace of God. Instead there will be a shabby sham, a phony imitation of the real thing, which will drive people away from Christ and will produce nothing but a dull, mechanical religiosity which is piousness without God. You do not even have to do a thing to manifest that. Then the last result of fruitbearing -- the fullness of joy, Verse11, "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." There might be those that were offered the gospel at the third hour, the sixth hour, and the ninth hour yet denied the call. If we do that we are fulfilling this active, necessary decision of the will to obey his Word, to do what he says, and to stay in touch with him. All the signs of the times - religious, political and Jewish - tell us that it is almost the Midnight hour. 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