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Book: Mark
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Mark 12:1-9 Bring Forth Fruit
I. Parable of the vineyard.
A. Immediately in their minds they would associate this with
Isaiah 5. "For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house
of Israel."
1. The parable in Isaiah 5 is the vineyard that had been
given every advantage and benefit, yet it failed to
produce good grapes, only wild grapes.
2. The vineyard was thus to be neglected and trodden down.
B. Here again is the vineyard this time it was let out to
husbandmen while the Lord was in a far country.
1. He sent back His servant that he might reap the fruit
of the vineyard, and they beat him.
2. A second servant was sent and they cast stones at him.
3. And all that were sent were abused by those who had
been left in charge of the vineyard.
4. Last of all He sent His own beloved Son, saying,
"Surely they will reverence Him." But they said this is
the heir, let us destroy Him and the vineyard will be
ours. Jesus asked what will the Lord of the vineyard
do?
5. He will destroy the husbandmen, and give the vineyard
to others.
C. Jesus then quoted from the psalm that the disciples had just
quoted from two days earlier as He made His entry into
Jerusalem on the donkey. Psalm 118, "The stone that the
builders rejected is become the head of the corner."
D. In the parable the vineyard is Israel, the husbandmen are the
religious leaders, and the Lord seeking fruit is God. The
servants are the prophets, and of course the Son is Jesus
Christ.
II. The other husbandmen that the vineyard is to be let out to is His
church.
A. The desire of the Lord is the same, He desires to enjoy the
fruit of the vineyard.
B. In John 15 where he gives the analogy of the vine and the
branches He said,
JOH 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so
shall ye be my disciples.
JOH 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye
in my love.
JOH 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even
as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his
love.
JOH 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain
in you, and [that] your joy might be full.
JOH 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I
d you.
JOH 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends.
JOH 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
C. Quite obvious the fruit that the Lord is seeking is love. The
agapas.
1. Agapas is a word almost coined for the New Testament
to describe a love that is beyond the ordinary.
2. Man exists on three planes, body, soul, and spirit.
He thus loves on three planes. Physical, emotional,
spiritual.
a. The most shallow plane is the physical, thus
the eros or physical love is the most shallow
of all.
b. The emotional plane is deeper thus the phileo
is deeper than the eros.
c. Love on the spiritual plane is the deepest love
of all, this is the love that God has for you
and desires to receive from you.
D. When a new word is coined in a language, it is necessary to
define the word.
1. There are two places in the New Testament where the
word agape is defined.
a. I Cor.13
1CO 13:4 Charity suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not;
charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
1CO 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not
easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
1CO 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
1CO 13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things
endureth all things.
1CO 13:8 Charity never faileth:
b. Galatians 5
GAL 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
GAL 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
2. This is what God was seeking from the nation of
Israel.
3. This is what Jesus is seeking as He has comes to
commune with us today.
E. In the book of Revelation, John sees the vision of Jesus
walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks which
are explained as the seven churches of Asia.
1. As Jesus addresses these churches beginning in chapter
2 He declares to the church of Ephesus, that they had
left their first love. They were commanded to repent
and to go back to their first works, or else He would
remove the candlestick from its place.
2. He had come to the church seeking love, and He found
the works continuing, but the love was gone.
III. Things that stop the flow of love in a congregation.
A. In Galatians 5, Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the
fruit of the Spirit which is love. These works of the flesh are
contrary to love and stop the flow of love from your life.
1. Adultery, Satan so often lies and declares that this is
true love.
a. The common line is that I don't love my husband
or wife anymore, I don't think I ever really
loved them, our marriage was a mistake from the
beginning.
b. Look at the damage it does not only to your
spouse but your children who interpret it as,
"Daddy or mommy doesn't love us anymore."
Whatever the case may be. And in a real sense,
they are right, if you truly loved them, you
would not put them through such pain, for your
own personal pleasure.
2. Fornication, the line here is often let's make love, it
would be more accurate to declare let's indulge our
lusts.
a. This is love on the animal plane, the eros.
b. It is not a true love at all. If you truly
loved them you would marry them. It is taking
something valuable from someone without
commitment, or giving anything in value in
return.
3. Uncleaness, from the Greek word Akatharsia, the word
catharsis is to cleanse, put the negative prefix a in
the front, and you have uncleaness. This is usually in
a moral sense.
4. Lasciviousness Debauchery, excess, absence of
restraint, insatiable desire for pleasure. Self
centered, not concerned for what it might do to others.
5. Idolatry. That is allowing something else to take the
supreme place in your heart and life other than Jesus
Christ. The first commandment was, "Thou shalt have no
other gods before Me. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength."
6. Witchcraft (pharmakia) Use of drugs to come to an
altered state of consciousness.
7. Hatred
8. Variance. Strife
9. Emulations which is envy or jealousy.
10. Wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders,
drunkeness, revellings, and such like.
11. These are all contrary to true love, and stop the flow
of true love.
B. These are called the works of the flesh, in contrast to the
fruit.
1. Whenever you get into the flesh, you are in the realm
of works.
a. The Lord is not interested in coming to a
factory with all the clanging and banging, the
whirring of engines, to examine how much
product is coming out.
b. He is wanting to come to His garden to relax
and enjoy the beauty and the fruit.
c. Some churches are like factories, may we always
be a a garden.
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