The church of God is compared to a vineyard in the Bible. “My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And He fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and He looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.” Isaiah 5:1-2
Who can we blame if the church is producing wild grapes and not the fruit that God is expecting? Whose fault is it if some members in the church will be lost in the end? Can we blame God for not doing enough for our salvation?
In the following verses, Isaiah continues, “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt Me and My vineyard. What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that is should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?” Isaiah 5:2-3
God loves His people; He gave His Son to come and die for them. He has given the Holy Spirit to them to lead them, to strengthen them and to comfort them. He has sent His angels to help and to protect them, and He also listens to their prayers and answers them.
Yet with all this help, they produced wild grapes. Instead of the fruit of the Spirit, they produced selfishness, pride, covetousness, jealousy, and love of the world.
Jesus spoke of the same condition. “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 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? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bears fruit, well: and if not, then cut it down.” Luke 13:6-9
On another occasion Jesus looked for fruit on a tree and found none. “Now in the morning as He returned into the city, He hungered. And when He saw a fig tree in the way, He came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away.” Matthew 21:18-19
The tree looked good with plenty of leaves on it, but it benefitted no one because it had no fruit on it. The connection to God was broken. The Holy Spirit left the person and spiritually he withered away, never to bear fruit anymore. He looked like a good Christian but for the lack of fruit, he was cut down. He did not hurt anyone, he did not steal or lie, he followed all church ceremonies, but he did nothing good for others.
The rich young man came to Jesus and asked, “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” Matthew 19:16. He did not ask what sin or bad thing he must stop doing, because he had kept all the commandments from his youth up.
There are many unfruitful trees in the Lord’s garden which will be eventually cut down.
Jesus made it clear to us what salvation and eternal life depends on. “I was an hungered, and ye gave Me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave Me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took Me in: Naked, and ye clothed Me: I was sick, and ye visited Me: I was in prison, and ye came unto Me.” Matthew 25:35-36
Because they did all these good things, the Lord said, “Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34
There was a rich man, chief among the publicans, named Zacchaeus, who met Jesus and talked with Him. “Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house.” Luke 19:9. What did he do to prove that now salvation had come to him? “And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.” Luke 19:8
He became a fruitful tree in the Lord’s vineyard. Jesus did not have to ask him to help the poor; the Holy Spirit did the prompting and he obeyed.
God is patient with us. He does everything possible to save us from selfishness and covetousness. If all His doings fail and there is no good fruit, finally He has to give up on us. Then the Holy Spirit leaves us, and we fall into spiritual darkness and confusion. The truth that we loved before now suddenly makes no sense to us.
Before we can start bearing good fruit we must learn to hate sin. A person who loves sin can only produce wild grapes, and God can do nothing for him. But as we learn to hate sin, the love for purity and holiness will be aroused and we start hungering and thirsting for righteousness; then the good fruits will be produced, and we will remain in the vineyard of the Lord forever.
To those who love the world, religion is a heavy burden; they do not enjoy it. But to all who love God, the world is a burden to them, and they do not enjoy it, but rather turn away from it.
Solomon sought happiness in worldly things and was disappointed. He said, “Then I looked on all the works that my hand had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 2:11
Jesus said the same, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:26
Satan offers beautiful things of the world to the people, but they are only a mirage. They look good, like the tree of knowledge did to Eve, but in the end they bring along misery and death.
Like a fisherman who has caught a fish, he will not use lures on it anymore but leaves it to die. The same with Satan – he does not waste his time anymore on those who are lost, but leaves them to their misery, and goes after souls who are struggling for victory over sin.
Paul writes, “The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentence.” Romans 2:4. When we see His goodness and love towards us, we begin to love Him and to obey Him. But often the goodness of God leads people to carelessness and disobedience, trusting that God is gracious and forgives always, and does not punish them for their sins.
Another deception of Satan’s is to tell people to obey God later. He is always ready to accept us when we decide to serve Him. But God’s goodness has a limit. After patiently waiting for the good fruit from a tree, He finally gives the order to cut it down if it does not produce good fruit.
Jesus beheld the city of Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, and wept. He saw the Roman armies coming and destroying the city and killing the people 39 years later. He tried to prevent this disaster, but could not. The Jewish people became martyrs of sin. They chose death for themselves.
There is nothing in this world that is dear to God except His vineyard. He bestows His supreme regard on it. He is constantly cultivating it, planting new trees into it and cutting down old dead trees.
Sister White saw a vision of two crowns – one heavenly, the crown of life – and the other an earthly crown, riches and honour of this world. “A vast multitude were rushing forward to obtain the earthly crown, trampling upon each other. Some tried to obtain both, but the feeble effort toward the heavenly crown was not sufficient to obtain it, while they eagerly were reaching toward the earthly crown, the earthly treasure.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 349
We do not know how many times the Lord has said about each one of us, “Let it alone one more year.” Suddenly it may be the last year for us, and then the limit of mercy has been reached. May the Lord help us to produce good grapes, good works, and then the Lord will be pleased with us. AMEN.
Timo Martin