WHY GOD’S PEOPLE ARE TOLD TO GO TO THE VINE
Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.” John 15:5
RELATING WITH THE FIG TREE
“Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?” Luke 13:7
Brethren and sisters, ask yourself, how many privileges has God given to you? Do you sometimes not take seriously the free gift of God through Jesus Christ?
“God has given the world an opportunity to learn and to obey His will. He has given them, in His word, the light of truth; He has sent them warning, counsel, and admonition; but few will obey His voice. Like the Jewish nation, the majority, even of professed Christians, pride themselves on their superior advantages, but make no returns to God for these great blessings.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 99
BRETHREN ARE YOU IN THE VINE?
“They profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Titus 1:16
“It is a solemn statement that I make to the church, that not one in twenty whose names are registered upon the church books are prepared to close their earthly history.” –Christian Service p. 41. Why? Because they do not want to make returns to God.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
A LESSON FROM THE JEWISH NATION
“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.” Romans 11:17–21
“The warning was not heeded by the Jewish people. They forgot God, and lost sight of their high privilege as His representatives. The blessings they had received brought no blessing to the world. All their advantages were appropriated for their own glorification. They robbed God of the service He required of them, and they robbed their fellow men of religious guidance and a holy example. Like the inhabitants of the antediluvian world, they followed out every imagination of their evil hearts. Thus they made sacred things appear a farce, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these’ (Jeremiah 7:4), while at the same time they were misrepresenting God’s character, dishonoring His name, and polluting His sanctuary.” –Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 291–292
IN THE LAST DAYS
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 Timothy 3:5
“Those who refuse to be hewed by the prophets and fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole truth, and who are willing to believe that their condition is far better than it really is, will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building.” –Maranatha, p. 254
“God calls for men and women of stability, of firm purpose, who can be relied upon in seasons of danger and trial, who are as firmly rooted and grounded in the truth as the eternal hills, who cannot be swayed to the right or to the left, but who move straight onward and are always found on the right side. There are some, who, in time of religious peril, may almost always be looked for in the ranks of the enemy; if they have any influence, it is on the wrong side. They do not feel under moral obligation to give all their strength to the truth they profess. Such will be rewarded according to their works.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 4, p. 75
“The work of preparation is an individual work. We are not saved in groups. The purity and devotion of one will not offset the want of these qualities in another.” –Maranatha, p. 250. What has the Lord not done for you? When He comes will He find you not bearing fruit?
“What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” Isaiah 5:4. The Lord has given us His word that we might be acquainted with it and that through His word we may reveal the character of God to the world.
May God bless you as you look to Jesus Christ as your leader and fight the good fight of faith in Christ Jesus name. Amen.
Sister Jenifer Akello, Uganda