The Wild Grapes of the Vineyard

Introduction

e.g. Nearly hit by golf ball

Playing golf at Whaleback with friends I hear a bunch of yells behind me, including ‘fore’, when I look around a ball is rocketing straight at my head. Diving to the ground the ball just misses me

Early on in ministry it was popular to say that preaching needed to be positive

Often, I was seen to be too ‘negative’

While the Gospel, Bible & Christianity are largely posotive it is impossible to see it all entirely positive

Large part of the beginning of Isaiah is ‘negative’ or harsh

Sometimes it can feel like we’re just getting beat over the head but that’s not God’s intention at all

Elaborating on the song of the vineyard, Isaiah tells us about why the vineyard must be destroyed

What has made these grapes stinking and worthless?

We are given 6 ‘woes’ and 4 ‘therefores’

READ Isaiah 5:8-30.

These woes are like my friends yelling ‘fore’ on the golf course

It is a warning of imminent danger

It is a final call that if nothing is done immediately judgment is on it’s way

That is, these woes are a threat of judgment but also a lament, a cry of grief

Prophets use woes, John the Baptist spoke of woes and so did Jesus

They are warnings calling us to flee

So, it’s not just God yelling like an angry old man ‘get off my grass’

He’s calling us out of danger

‘God’s woes are better than the devil’s welcomes’ - Spurgeon

It will be very easy to identify these sins in our own society

Flagrant, open acceptance of sinful ways, numbing of spiritual life through pursuit of pleasure, calling evil good, etc.

I could easily preach a series of sermons from here just on the way our world exhibits the exact same attitudes

A more accurate way of undestanding this is to consider it withing the context of Christianity

We’re talking about people who profess to belong to God

We don’t have to imagine it because we see these traits evident within Christianity from the early Church even until now

So, let’s examine for a moment what has made these grapes stinking and rotten

What is it that proves these people who claim to be God’s don’t love Him or even know Him?

Be Warned

Be Warned that Greed brings Loss (Isa. 5:8-17)

Your Greed isn’t Satisfied

Accumulate Wealth (Isa. 5:8-10)

Talking about the accumulation of wealth, particularly at others expense

They were buying up land of others to create estates

Pushing people out of their inherited lands

This is part of what God means when he talks about justice (Isa. 5:7)

Good example of this is Ahab & Jezebel taking Naboth’s vineyard (1 Kings 21)

Problem isn’t being wealthy - God isn’t against wealth

Problem was their attitude towards wealth - many problems

Personal wealth was more important than the good of others

Personal wealth was more important than godliness

They had forgotten what their wealth and land meant and whose it was

Leviticus 25:23–24“23 ‘The land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is Mine; for you are strangers and sojourners with Me. 24 And in all the land of your possession you shall grant redemption of the land.”

The land wasn’t theirs to do with as they pleased, it was God’s and He had gifted to them to be used for their good and His glory

That’s why inheritance, Jubilee and redemption were such important themes

For us, the principle is no different, wealth, possesions, land, etc. are not ours do with as we please

James 1:17“17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.”

Reason we give at church is an expression of thanks for the good gifts that God has given us

Reason we are generous with our possessions and minister with them is because we are stewards of God’s riches

1 Timothy 6:17“17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.”

Self-indulgent (Isa. 5:11-12)

5:11 is about indulgence, affluence and results of that

5:12 is about the parties, feasting, hedonism

They live for pleasure and numb themselves to godliness

Strong drink is easily applicable to any other addicting and numbing influence in our life

Inflamed doesn’t speak as much about the result as it does the purpose

They drank so they wouldn’t see God’s work or hear His words

When God is no longer our delight we numb ourselves and are left without spiritual perception

From the early church we have struggled with these same issues

1 Cor. 11 tells of a church where the rich oppressed the poor of the church and where acts of worship became feasts of selfishness and ungodliness

“God is more interested in purity than prosperity” - S. Lewis Johnson

Sermon on Isaiah 5 - The Vineyard of Jehovah, or the Problem of Lawlessness

Hell’s Appetite isn’t Satisfied (Isa. 5:13-17)

You will be left empty

Isa 5:10, 13 The land hungry end up being hungry

Isa. 5:13 Those who got drunk on wine will be thirsty

In Corinth people became sick and even died

Pursuit of anything other than God will leave you empty

Just like in the song of the vineyard, the judgment isn’t passive but active

Judgment is an act of God - no-one gets away with rejecting God

Death will be filled

After all of their consumption they will be consumed

Hell, sheol, place of the dead will engulf all who oppose God

Everything you pursued, all your gain and fame, all your possessions & wealth swallowed up in death

As great as your appetite was for wickedness hell’s appetite is greater

Be Warned that Rottenness brings Ruin (Isa. 5:18-24)

Morality is Reversed

Sin openly (Isa. 5:18-19)

Cords of vanity - may suggest those ‘small’ things, those sins that are almost unseen

White lies, lust, etc.

Sin as a cart rope - the visible, heavy, bind sins that bind us to our great burden

There is no respect or fear of God left in them

Outwardly defy His commands and even justify their wickedness as goodness

It is outright arrogance, taunting God

“Come on God, we dare you do do something”

Again, we see these same things in the church from very early

1 Cor. 5 rebukes Corinth for knowingly allowing sin in the church so heinous even the pagans were disgusted

Call evil good (Isa. 5:20-23)

How quickly and easily we can justify our actions of sin and wickedness

To reframe things in a way that reverse truth and lie

We justify evil by calling it love or convincing ourselves of it’s necessity, or blaming others for its existence in our life

We make God’s grace cheap but using it to allow our lusts of the flesh

Light/dark may suggest how we do this in public, in church, in society

Bitter/sweet may suggest more personal, how we reverse morality in our own lives

5:21 - self-conceited and deceived with our own perceived goodness and wisdom

Not only reversed God’s morality, we are convinced that our morality is right and God is wrong

5:22 - takes us back to our motives at the beginning

Life will become death (Isa. 5:24)

Everything we think brings life will only lead to death

Source of life (root) is rotten & so the fruit of life (blossom) wastes away and nothing good is left behind

Why? Because we rejected God’s law and despised His word

All this while they claimed to be God’s chosen nation, the children of Abraham

Be Warned that Arrogance brings Anger (Isa. 5:25-30)

Those Consumed with Themselves

Who have rejected God to worship themselves

Will be Consumed by God’s Anger

Holiness of God has been offended and must be satisfied

God isn’t interested in people claiming His name for their own profit

God is concerned about people who truly know Him and live for Him

Those who understand who the Holy One is and in that understanding are also able to call Him My Well-beloved

Be Faithful

This destruction and judgment would come upon Israel through Assyria & Babylon

It is also still to come in it’s fullest form in the future

As we’ve noted, the purpose of both of those judgments wasn’t to destroy but to bring to repentance

As we see with the church at Corinth God still judges to bring people to repentance

It’s clear the overwhelming state of Israel & Judah is wickedness

But in the midst of that wickedness and even caught in the middle of the judgment are people who can truly say they love and follow God

People like Isaiah

How frustrating, confusing, troubling and perhaps angering it must be to have to live in this place

It reminds me of Asaph in Ps. 73 - his anguish as he watched the wicked prosper all around while the righteous struggle

How are the true people of God supposed to live faithfully in a world that is clearly rejecting God

Not only our society refuses to live by God’s ways but even those that claim the name Christian no longer believe God’s Word

From Asaph’s experience and others may I suggest 3 ways God’s people can live for God and not lose hope

Be Connected to God’s People

Asaph says his perspective began to change when he went back to the Temple to worship with God’s people

There’s many reasons this would help him

Surrounded by images, illustrations and examples of God’s salvation

Surrounded by people that sought God, forgiveness and righteousness

Surrounded by words of God in song and Scripture that are true and uplifting even if the others around him don’t follow

There is a reason the writer of Hebrews calls us to not forsake assembling with God’s people

Hebrews 10:24–25“24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Isolation increases our sense of despair (e.g. Elijah)

We need the communion of God’s people because we can stir up one another, exhort, strengthen and encourage one another, to come alongside

This isn’t a casual acquaintence relationship but growing, deep, abiding relationships

This is why we gather on Wednesday and in other groups, it is why we ask for prayer and pray for each other

Be Trusting God’s Goodness

Just like Judah in Isaiah 5 and like Asaph’s time in Ps. 73 wicked people are going to prosper around us

Sometimes its going to be hard to live for God & sometimes to live for God means you’ll be oppressed but the unjust

Like Abraham we must believe that the ‘judge of all the earth will do right’

Trust that Jesus meant it when He said that if He takes care of the lillies and the birds He will take care of us

That if we seek God He will supply all of our needs

Be Drawing Near to God

Psalm 73:28 “28 But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God, That I may declare all Your works.”

Seek God and with our whole heart pursue to live in His ways

Believe that no matter what people do around me I am convinced that what is good for me is to draw near to God

Keeping the vineyard theme, I need to abide in the vine

Conclusion

The song of the vineyard is a warning to all of us

You can’t oppose God, reject His ways and expect to get away with it

You can’t claim to be one of God’s people and not follow His words

It is a warning - as you sit here now some may be under the coming judgment of God

If you are living in opposition to God, If God isn’t your Well-beloved

Judgment is coming

Judgment can be escaped, you can find freedom, truth & satisfaction

Comes by believing that you are the sinner the Bible says you are

Believing that Jesus death was to pay your debt

Accepting His payment on your behalf, seeking forgiveness and turning your life to follow Him

Believers, you may feel overwhelmed by what surrounds you but don’t lose hope

Bind yourself to God’s people

Trust the goodness of God in His promises

No matter what anyone around is doing draw near to God