“My Vineyard” Failure. Grace. Judgment.

The Song of the Vineyard Isaiah 5:1-2 The Song of the Vineyard I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes but it yielded only bad fruit.

The Song of the Vineyard Isaiah 5:3-4 The Song of the Vineyard Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?

Our Personal Vineyards Parent: What more could I have done to raise my child in the Christian faith? Marriage/Divorce: What more could I have done to save my marriage? Student: What more could I have done to pass the class? Olympic Athlete: What more could I have done to have improved my time? Business: What more could I have done to prevent my business from failing?

What More Could I Have Done? *VIDEO ON FAMOUS FAILURES “We still may feel like failures when the outcome isn’t what we had planned, though we know we have done absolutely everything in our power to succeed.”

What God says about failure… “What God says about failure is more important than what you personally think or feel about it.” Grace: The Undeserved Gift: My grace is sufficient for you… Remain in Christ, and you will bear fruit… I will never leave you nor forsake you… I will make all things work together for good… Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted… “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”

From Grace to Judgment Isaiah 5 continues… Isaiah 5:5-7, “Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it. The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of His delight. And He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.”

The Song of the Vineyard “The Prophet Isaiah isn’t your typical health and wealth gospel television evangelist. He preached repentance and not many people like to hear about that.” Justice and Righteousness MIA 225x in the NT, 500x in the OT Removal of God’s protection from His people… Example) The Churches in Revelation 2 and 3 Begins with what is good… Church in Ephesus, Pergamum, and Sardis… God’s people are warned God’s church is warned

Repentance and Judgment The Unpopular Jesus: Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15, and Revelation 2:16 Todd Agnew: “My Jesus” VIDEO

God’s Vineyard A Biblical Understanding of: The Church -Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, LORD LORD, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” -Matthew 25:31-33, "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. A Biblical Understanding of: Jesus Righteousness and Justice God calls us to immediate repentance/response

The Last Word Whether your personal Vineyards need rescuing or whether you as a member of Christ’s church need rescuing, cling boldly to Jesus Christ alone… Apart from Christ, there is only the fear of judgment… In Christ, there is hope, mercy and grace for all who repent…