Six Fatal Follies
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· 40 viewsGrace Fellowship in Rusk, Texas Sunday, September 27, 2020 at 10:30 AM
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Six Fatal Follies
Six Fatal Follies
Now let me sing to my Well-beloved A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard: My Well-beloved has a vineyard On a very fruitful hill.
He dug it up and cleared out its stones, And planted it with the choicest vine. He built a tower in its midst, And also made a winepress in it; So He expected it to bring forth good grapes, But it brought forth wild grapes.
“And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it? Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes, Did it bring forth wild grapes?
And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned; And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
I will lay it waste; It shall not be pruned or dug, But there shall come up briers and thorns. I will also command the clouds That they rain no rain on it.”
For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant. He looked for justice, but behold, oppression; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.
God’s Beloved Vineyard
God’s Beloved Vineyard
The LORD calls Israel “My Well-beloved”
The LORD refers to Israel as His vineyard and the men of Judah as His choice plants
You will bring them in and plant them In the mountain of Your inheritance, In the place, O Lord, which You have made For Your own dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Your hands have established.
You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it.
Jesus’ Parable of the Vineyard Owner (Matthew 21:33-44; Mark 12:1-11; Luke 20:9-18; John 15:1-8)
He put His vineyard on a fruitful hill (Jerusalem)
He tilled the ground (drove out the nations)
He planted a choice vine (the men of Judah)
He built a tower in its midst (watchmen vinedressers)
He made a winepress in it (prosperity)
He expected it to bring forth good grapes (holiness, righteousness, fear of the LORD)
He contends: “What more could have been done that I have not done in it?”
The vine had become an alien plant
Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality. How then have you turned before Me Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?
The LORD will judge His vineyard
He will remove His hedge of protection and it shall be burned down by her enemies.
He will break down its wall and it shall be trampled down by her enemies.
He will lay it waste (abandon it)
It shall not be pruned
It shall not be tilled
Briers and thorns will overtake the ground
No rain will be given
Six Fatal Follies
Six Fatal Follies
Coveting Temporal Things
Woe to those who join house to house; They add field to field, Till there is no place Where they may dwell alone in the midst of the land!
They covet fields and take them by violence, Also houses, and seize them. So they oppress a man and his house, A man and his inheritance.
The women of My people you cast out From their pleasant houses; From their children You have taken away My glory forever.
Covetousness is rooted in ingratitude, discontent, covetousness, and greed. It is desiring what is forbidden, what lies outside of the boundaries of God’s allotment.
Judgment:
Their beautiful homes will be uninhabited.
Their lands will be unfruitful.
Pursuing Unbridled Pleasures
Woe to those who rise early in the morning, That they may follow intoxicating drink; Who continue until night, till wine inflames them!
The harp and the strings, The tambourine and flute, And wine are in their feasts; But they do not regard the work of the Lord, Nor consider the operation of His hands.
Judgment:
The people will go into captivity because they have no knowledge (Hosea 4:6)
Their honorable men will be famished.
Their multitudes will dry up with thirst.
Sheol (grave) has enlarged itself to receive them
Their glory, numbers, festivity, and jubilance will descend into it.
Every man will be humbled.
The eyes of the proud will be humbled.
Those who are righteous will be hallowed in righteousness.
Those who belong to the LORD will feed in their pastures.
Marketing Iniquity and Sin
Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, And sin as if with a cart rope;
That say, “Let Him make speed and hasten His work, That we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, That we may know it.”
The imagery is of a person pulling a wagon to the market with cords. This describes someone who markets iniquity and sin to those around them.
People no longer blush about sin.
People openly parade and promote their sin.
They actively seek encourage and even demand others to buy into (adopt) their sin and perversion. (Books, magazines, movies, music, internet, social media, etc.)
who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
These imagine that the LORD is indifferent to their sin because His judgment is delayed. As it was in the days of Noah!
Perverting Morality, Truth, and Experience
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Perversion of God’s moral standards (evil vs. good)
Rejection of God’s absolute truth (darkness vs. light)
Embracing carnal experiences (bitter vs. sweet)
Pride in Human Wisdom
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!
Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil.
There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
These scoff at prophetic warnings
knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts,
and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
Corrupting Justice
Woe to men mighty at drinking wine, Woe to men valiant for mixing intoxicating drink,
Who justify the wicked for a bribe, And take away justice from the righteous man!
Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, And the flame consumes the chaff, So their root will be as rottenness, And their blossom will ascend like dust; Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
Motivated by power, money, and control
They justify the wicked for a bribe
They take away justice from the righteous man
They reject the law of the LORD
They despise the word of the Holy One of Israel
The failure to execute justice leads to the undermining of law and order and the rise of lawlessness, anarchy, mob rule, revenge, vigilante justice, etc.
Lawless people reject authority, law, law enforcement, and justice.
Judgment
Their root will become rotten
The blossom will ascend like dust
RESPONSE TO THE WORD
Our nation has been providentially established by God
Our nation has been exceedingly blessed by God
Our nation is following in the folly of Israel
Now is the time to return to God
Now is the time to repent of our folly
Now is the time to cry out for God to hear, forgive, and heal our land.
The late Paul Harvey, “If not here, then where? If not now, then when? If not you, then who?”