When God Says Your Fruitless | Matthew 21:23-46 | 119

"Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country."

Mat 21:23 When Jesus returned to the Temple and began teaching, the leading priests and elders came up to Him. They demanded, “By what authority are You doing all these things? Who gave You the right?”
Mat 21:24 “I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied.
Mat 21:25 “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human?” They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, He will ask us why we didn’t believe John.
Mat 21:26 But if we say it was merely human, we’ll be mobbed because the people believe John was a prophet.”
Mat 21:27 So they finally replied, “We don’t know.” And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.
Mat 21:28 “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’
Mat 21:29 The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway.
Mat 21:30 Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.
Mat 21:31 “Which of the two obeyed his father?” They replied, “The first.” Then Jesus explained His meaning: “I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do.
Mat 21:32 For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did. And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.
Mat 21:33 “Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country.
Mat 21:34 At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop.
Mat 21:35 But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another.
Mat 21:36 So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.
Mat 21:37 “Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’
Mat 21:38 “But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’
Mat 21:39 So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.
Mat 21:40 “When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”
Mat 21:41 The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.”
Mat 21:42 Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’
Mat 21:43 I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.
Mat 21:44 Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on. “
Mat 21:45 When the leading priests and Pharisees heard this parable, they realized He was telling the story against them—they were the wicked farmers.
Mat 21:46 They wanted to arrest Him, but they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet.

What do I do when God tells me I’m fruitless?

I realize that the passage quoted for this posting is very long, but I couldn’t leave any of it out. All of it deals with one big question; what happens when you become a fruitless Christian?

Because this is such a big subject, and I know it’s big because Jesus deals with it in three different interactions, I decided to focus on one aspect of those interactions… How the Pharisee’s and religious leaders responded to Christ’s accusation that they were fruitless.

1. Jesus doesn’t tell them that their religion or doctrine is wrong. Instead He points out that their practice of that doctrine is fruitless. Let me explain. The Jewish nation had the truth. They understood the scriptures and they knew the law front and back. From a distance they looked like beautiful trees, but understanding the truth and the law does not a fruitful tree make. Real faith – trust – belief in God results in action (fruit).

2. Their fruitlessness was taking from others what God intended everyone to have. They had lost the great commission (sharing salvation) and instead had become thieves of God’s salvation, hording it for themselves and not sharing it with others. They enjoyed the prestige that their outward godliness afforded them. They were politically motivated and it was why Jesus was able to so easily wrap them in a net devised by their own words. They feared what the people would say (politics) and had lost sight of caring about what God said (faith).

3. They responded with murder plots to the call for repentance. When the Pharisees finally realized that Jesus was calling them fruitless; that He was naming them as the wicked farmers, they began to plot ways to arrest Jesus and get Him out of their lives. There was no breaking of their hearts. They avoided the stone and did not allow themselves to be crushed by it so that wonderful “fruit” could flow from their lives. They did not realize that they should desire to be crushed by the stone instead of avoiding the pain.

Heb 12:25  Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!

So, back to the original question. What do I do when God tells me I’m fruitless. The Answer. Respond with repentence.

Heb 3:8  ..don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested Me in the wilderness.

That is the simple answer. I should never think that I am too good or too bad to repent; but instead I should begin to allow myself to be crushed by the stone. If God points out a fault He always provides a way of escape.

1Cor 10:13  The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.

If I find myself being fruitless, I need to allow the rock (Jesus) to crush me. This is always the right answer. Quite possibly the root of the problem was that I was trying to produce my own fruit instead of letting Him produce it through me. Jesus is the Good News, not you, not me.

Mat 24:14  And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.

Dear reader. Repent of your sins, turn to Jesus and allow Him to produce good fruit through you. You can’t do it on your own. You will only become a tree that produces beautiful to behold, but bitter and inedible leaves.

Prayer:

Dear Father in Heaven,

I praise You Lord for what You accomplished on the cross for us. I accept the gift that You offer me; a gift that You earned, that You paid for and that You have the right to give. I thank you so much for being willing to cover me with Your Righteousness. Now Lord, I ask for the promise that if I request it You will fill me with the Holy Spirit. I want the Mind of Christ. I want to be fruitful and nourishing for others. Today I am teaching Sabbath school. Please Lord, teach your people through me. Today I am meeting with one of Your sheep who has heard Your calling. Help me to speak Your words and not mine. I repent of my sins, and they are many, and ask that You will use me today. By faith I know that You will always keep Your promises…what a peace and joy that creates in my life.

Thank You for all that You provide. I ask that You will forgive the sins of my children; cover them in Your Righteousness and bring them safely home. Protect them from the enemy. Protect my family and friends. I ask for your blessing so that I may share it with others. I love You Lord. IN JESUS NAME. AMEN.

111 | Matthew 19:27-30 | We’ve Given Everything to You Jesus

"I assure you that when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon His glorious throne, you who have been My followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."

Mat 19:27 Then Peter said to Him, “We’ve given up everything to follow You. What will we get?”
Mat 19:28 Jesus replied, “I assure you that when the world is made new and the Son of Man sits upon His glorious throne, you who have been My followers will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
Mat 19:29 And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for My sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life.
Mat 19:30 But many who are the greatest now will be least important then, and those who seem least important now will be the greatest then. [NLT]

What does it mean to give everything to Jesus?

This is the “big” question. At this point the disciples are feeling like they have given everything up, careers, family and home; to gain what the Messiah can give them. Remember that at this time it was the common belief that the Messiah would come and overthrow the Roman rule and setup a new Kingdom on this earth. Jesus, in His infinite mercy and wisdom, gives them two things here.

1. Hope in a greater reward because of their sacrifice, and

2. A lesson on what it means to be the greatest and eligible to receive that reward.

Let’s start with Mat 19:28 because it is important to note that Jesus is talking about a future reward “when the world is made new..” This may have thrown the disciples a bit of a curve because they were still thinking of temporal reward. Notice the question in verse 27, “What will we get?”

Often Christians today think that following Jesus is about gaining a monetary increase here on earth. They come to Jesus because they have been told that He will give them wealth and influence. This is the same reason that the rich young man came to Jesus. Many modern Christians today have lost sight of what sacrifice really means. They do not understand that it is only through sacrifice of self and the humbling of the desire (giving that desire up) for wealth and supremacy on this earth that we find our true reward with Jesus in the end. Mega churches of today focus on meeting the needs of their membership and in so doing lead them into viewing a relationship with Jesus as a means of having their earthly material needs fulfilled. Jesus has been turned into the Santa Claus of self fulfillment and not the Savior of souls. This is false teaching and the leaders of these churches are false prophets.

We need a change of heart that makes us desirous of nothing this world has to offer. This is a change of heart that is brought on by knowing, understanding and submitting to Jesus. Notice in verse 29 what Jesus states…

And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for My sake

We need to give up our homes, our wealth and our families to become true born again followers of Jesus? Yikes!

Some may be able to give up their homes, but our children? Why is He making a list of things that are so precious and important to us?

Don’t misunderstand. This is a giving of your complete heart to Jesus allowing Him to live in and through you. Jesus is not stating here that you must give them up literally before you can become his follower; He is only asking for us to give them up in our hearts so that if we are ever required to leave these things behind for HIS SAKE we will be able to do so. This is called conviction. Having a fixed or firm belief in Jesus and His word and promises.

Notice the statement “for My sake,” . Some interpretations use the phrase “for My name’s sake”. Whenever we see the “name” of Jesus mentioned we can interpret it also as “character” of Jesus. In other words, Jesus is saying that if you have His character you are asked to give up everything you hold dear on this earth to follow Him into a future reward that is 100 times greater. It can also mean that as His followers we must give up everything to glorify His name/character. There is one other way to look at this. If we have His character we will WANT to give those things up if they pull us away from doing the Father’s Will.

What does this change of heart look like? 

But many who are the greatest now will be least important then…

We have touched on the answer to this question already by stating that we must give our lives over to Jesus. He defines it for us by stating that the greatest now (on this earth) will be the least (in heaven), and those who are least important here (on this earth) will be the greatest then (in the future). Becoming the least means humbling yourself.

Humbling yourself to who or what?

When we humble ourselves to another person or even to another thing we give ourselves to it. For instance; if I become enamored with video games or movies and movie stars and I spend all of my extra time playing them or learning about them or thinking about them then I have humbled myself to these things. I have given myself over to them.

Giving yourself to a “thing” or “idol”.

I was once addicted to the game World of Warcraft. I had a couple of close friends that were as well. When we got together it was all that we talked about. Those around us, who were not a part of that game, would look at us like we were talking a foreign language, because they didn’t understand the game. I remember family members would  say in irritation; “All you ever do is talk about that stupid game.” It was true. We had given ourselves over to it. We had submitted to it and humbled ourselves to what the game had to offer.

Giving yourself to another person.

We can also give ourselves over to another person. We can become so entrenched in their ideologies their way of thinking their direction that we do everything their way. For instance, there are people who  humble themselves to movie stars. They watch what they do. They listen to what they say. They buy what they tell them to buy. They dress the way they tell them to dress. They seek to change and become like the one that they have given themselves over to and they start to look and sound like the movie star.

Humbling yourself means that you are serving what or who you are humbling yourself to.

Jesus understood this principle 100%. He lived it. He gave Himself over to the Father and completely served Him all the way. He did nothing that was not pleasing to the Father. This is full and complete humbleness; full and complete surrender. Jesus understood also the basic principle that we MUST serve someone. There are two persons in this Universe, powerful forces, who seek for you to humble yourself to them. Jesus said…

Mat 6:24  “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Two masters.

God seeks for you to humble yourself to Him so that He can care for you and love you, and save you. He does it by being the greatest example of humbleness that ever existed. He gently calls to you. He never forces or pushes you against your will.

Satan, on the other hand, seeks to deceive you into following him. He tricks you with pleasure, scares you with fear, manipulates you with want and “need”. He enslaves you with no consideration for your life or your soul. He understands that if he can get you to “worship” or “humble yourself to” anything other than God, he is receiving that worship.

Who will you choose today?

Today is the day of salvation. Humble yourself before God. Give Him the privilege of coming  into your life and let Him start to guide you. Don’t worry. He does not condemn your mistakes. He will lead you into new desires and a new focus; gently. Be a servant of Christ and see how joyous life can be!!

Gal_1:10  For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? or am I striving to please men? if I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ. 

Prayer:

Dear Father in Heaven,

I praise You and I thank You for Your amazing humbleness. Lord, it drives me to my knees. I give You the privilege of coming into my life today. I thank You for what you accomplished on the cross, for me.

Please be with my family and friends. Be with those who are in need and help them to see their need for You. I give myself to You today and I want You to know that if there is anyone that I can work with on Your behalf, please put them in my path and use me.

Thank You for all that You provide. Change my heart. I love You. Amen.