[0:00] this morning and find Isaiah 5 and then get with your other hand Proverbs 24. Proverbs 24 will begin in Isaiah. I'll give you a moment to find your place.
[0:21] I'm going to read this beginning of this passage in Isaiah and see the heading in my Bible here calls it a parable of Jehovah's vineyard and it's an analogy to the house of Israel likening them and what God has done with them or attempted to do with them to the analogies of a vineyard and what took place here. So we'll read this and then we'll go to Proverbs 24 and be there for the most the majority of the morning. Isaiah 5 please follow along. Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. He fenced it and gathered out the stones thereof and planted it with the choicest vine and built a tower in the midst of it and also made a wine press therein and he looked that it should bring forth grapes and it brought forth wild grapes. That's not what I was looking for was it?
[1:23] This is a very fruitful hill. Everything is right about this place that God selected for this vineyard. He did everything he should do and probably more. Getting rid of the stones, a fence that took time, that took labor and work, planting it with the choicest vine. But verse 3 says, Now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, metta Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard, what could have been done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes. And now go to, I'll tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof and it shall be eaten up and break down the wall thereof and it shall be trodden down and I will lay it waste. It shall not be pruned nor digged, but there shall come up briars and thorns. And I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah his pleasant plant. And he looked for judgment, but behold oppression, for righteousness, but behold a cry.
[2:29] Now there's the judgment that Israel incurred really upon themselves. They brought it upon themselves instead of bringing forth the grapes, the fruit that God sought to see out of that nation. They brought forth something wild, something worldly, something that was, that God had no interest in, so he destroyed them. Jesus Christ uses a similar analogy in the gospels in a teaching on the kingdom of heaven. And he likens it to a husband bin and to his vineyard and to those things. It's, it's a common thing. We're going to see it back in Proverbs 24 as well.
[3:03] That's where I'd like you to go. Proverbs 24. And now that you have this picture in your mind, we're going to need to borrow a little more imagination this morning because here in this passage, we're going to take a walk.
[3:21] We're going to go out for a walk perhaps in the morning. I don't know if you like to do that or not. I know Rich likes to do that when he's teaching Sunday school. He goes for a walk.
[3:33] That's how he stays fit. Walks about a mile while we're sitting. We're going to go for a walk with King Solomon, with a very, very, very wise man. A man that's very observant. And the things that he observes, he analyzes, he considers them, he thinks upon them, and he gains wisdom from them.
[3:56] And he just doesn't let an opportunity pass by that he can't learn something. And that's what we want to do today. We want to take a walk with Solomon here and, and whatever catches his eye, and when he stops, we're going to stop. And so look at verse number 30.
[4:09] In Proverbs 24, Solomon recalls a trip that he took, and we're taking the trip. I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man, void of understanding, and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. And instead of just continuing on his way, it seems as though this catches Solomon's attention so much that he stops, and he says in verse 32, Then I saw and considered it well. I looked upon it and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man. Verse 34 describes somebody that travels. They just show up unexpected. That's what's going to happen to the slugger that doesn't put the diligent work in.
[5:14] He's going to show up in poverty, and it's just going to happen like that, and his want's going to show up as an armed man, unexpected, unannounced, but there it is. No preparations were made. Now, I'm not going to be discussing the wealth and poverty of a particular man, and the work ethic of this man at all. What I want us to consider, as we in our mind's eye see this field, and we see what Solomon saw in his walk, he sees that there's thorns and nettles just covering the whole thing.
[5:43] We see that the stone wall is broken down, and stones are scattered. Maybe there's small portions of it still standing, just little spots here and there, but just all grown over with thorns in ruin. We see the, there was a form of a wall there, but no longer is it standing, and it's just weeds and high grass, and Solomon, I mean, he's walking his path. He's doing his morning routine, maybe, but this thing just, something's not right about it. It causes him to stop and look at it.
[6:12] Other people just pass on by. Other people don't care about it. That's his problem, whatever. They might, the government of Arte would say, they need to clean that up, and we're going to put an ordinance on them to clean up their yard. Our neighborhood shouldn't look like this, but Solomon stops and sees this guy's vineyard, his field, and he says, this is a man void of understanding. And I believe that just an evidence that what he sees is a remnant of a vineyard, it is, what's called a vineyard and a stone wall, it tells us that one day, somebody put some work into this vineyard. It tells us one day, somebody stacked these stones one by one and built themselves a wall up, and the wall covered the perimeter of this man's vineyard, and whether it was his work or whether it was his father's work, whether he inherited this thing, we don't know. But at one time, the ground was tilled and turned over. At one time, no doubt, there was a groomed and beautiful growing vineyard of vines and fruits bringing forth abundantly from this property. But that's not the case today because something's changed.
[7:24] Something's changed. Somebody stopped taking care of his vineyard. Somebody stopped pulling the weeds and stopped repairing the wall and stopped plowing the ground, and they stopped getting rid of the stones. And the result is there's no crop. The result is it's just overrun, by weeds. It's good for nothing. There's probably trails of animals that have made their way in and out and made their own little burrows into this field, this vineyard. They've gotten in, and now they're making it at home. And if anything would ever come up, any wild, any fruit at all, they'll be quick to attack it and take care of it. And this man has nothing. What we're looking at is ruin. And in verse 32, Solomon said, I saw it, I considered it well, and I received instruction.
[8:11] And this morning, I'd like to receive some instruction just the same. But before we get there, let's, let's, I want to ask a question. Go to, you can keep your place if you want, or just, we'll be back quickly. Go to Proverbs 1. I want to flip you through just a few quick verses in the Proverbs to try to set a little, a stage here for you before we attempt to receive instruction.
[8:34] Because there's some in here that they won't receive instruction. And look at chapter 1 of Proverbs in verse number 5. The Bible says, A wise man will hear, and will increase learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels, to understand a proverb, and the interpretation, the words of the wise in their dark sayings. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but notice the contrast, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. A wise man will hear, but a fool will despise hearing it, will despise the wisdom and the instruction. Now come to chapter 9. And I want to ask this question here for you to answer in your own heart. Do you consider yourself to be a wise person? A wise man, a wise woman? Do you consider yourself to be a wise person? Or would you consider yourself to be a fool?
[9:33] Don't answer it out loud. I don't guess anybody's going to announce if they truly believe themselves to be a fool? But what do you consider yourself? Here's what the Bible has to say about some of this.
[9:45] Verse number 9 of chapter 9 says, Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser. Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. So is that you? Do you consider yourself to be a wise person?
[10:00] Are you hungry and thirsting after righteousness? Do you want to gain in wisdom, and gain in instruction, and increase in learning? Do you want to be taught? Teach a just man, and he will increase.
[10:13] Turn to chapter, look at chapter 14. Proverbs 14. And look at verse 16. Here's a contrast of a wise man and a fool. Do you consider yourself to be a wise man or a wise woman? Verse 16. A wise man feareth and departeth from evil. Well, he's afraid of what it'll do to him.
[10:41] But the fool rageth and is confident. The fool says, that won't affect me. The fool says, I can handle it. The fool says, I know, but I'll do what I want when I want, and when I'm done doing it, I'll quit doing it.
[10:58] But a wise man sees it and says, I don't want any parts in it. I'm staying as far away from it, because that's dangerous. That's scary to me. The wise man feareth and departeth from evil, but the fool rageth and is confident. Do you consider yourself to be wise or a fool? Come to chapter 18.
[11:17] One more verse here to look at. My, we could go through these and pull out a load of scripture of Solomon's thoughts about the wise man and the fool, but just a few quick ones here.
[11:29] 18 and verse 2. A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. The heart of man is known from the scriptures to be deceitful and desperately wicked, but a fool doesn't care about any of that. A fool has no delight in understanding, doesn't want anything to do with it, stops his ears at it, will not receive instruction.
[11:58] Now come back to chapter 24 where we were. Do you consider yourself, even just based on these few, very few verses, to be a wise man or a fool?
[12:11] Well, let's consider this field. Let's consider what Solomon stumbled upon this morning. And let's take a look at it and see if we can't, like he did, receive some instruction.
[12:22] Let's pray together and then we'll get back into the Proverbs. Father, please bless as we study your word. This little story here that was retained in the writings of Solomon.
[12:34] God, may we draw something out of it that can apply to us today. And Lord, may each one here have ears to hear. I pray that each heart would be open to receive the word of God, not to fight it, not to resist it, not to be a fool that would turn a deaf ear to truth.
[12:52] Lord, help us to receive instruction. By your spirit, Lord, enable us to receive the truth this morning, we pray in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen. Amen. Let's learn three things if we could here.
[13:05] Consider a few things. What we're looking at here, I'm going to just make the application quickly. We're not looking at a field. We don't care about grapes. We don't care about thorns. We don't care about stones.
[13:17] What we're looking at here, this man's field is going to picture the man's life. And it's really going to picture the man's heart. What Solomon's helping us to do is we're getting a look into a man's heart when we're looking at this field.
[13:31] And we're making application from a holy book, an application that is for your life. We're not just learning about farming this morning. We want to learn about your life and about your heart.
[13:41] And this guy is called the slothful man, the sluggard. And he's void of understanding. We call him lazy. We call him a bum. But you know what?
[13:53] We don't really know the guy. He might be a funny guy. He might have an attractive personality. He might be good at sports. He might be witty in conversation.
[14:06] He might know some things. But when we look in his heart, when we look at his life, there's some things that are lacking. There's some things that we need to learn from him. This man is, regardless of what talents he may have or possess, he's not living for God.
[14:23] He's wasted or wasting his life. And he's just a ruined life is what he is. And I want to preach that as my message this morning. A ruined life. Life.
[14:34] These thorns and these nettles should be grapes. They should be fruit abundantly growing to the glory of God. But he gave up on it.
[14:45] The wall that was once standing, that sign that one day he was a Christian or that there was some perimeter that was up and was strong and identifiable. It's down.
[14:57] And it's destroyed. Something went wrong. Let's consider that. First thing, let's consider in verse 31. Solomon says this, And lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof.
[15:16] It was all grown over with thorns. You realize you don't really have to do anything for this to happen in your vineyard. You just neglect it. The thorns just have a way of showing up.
[15:28] I don't know any farmer that's planted thorns and nettles. They just show up, don't they? Why, this property right here, the road, the corner there is evidence enough.
[15:42] We put some work into that and planted and ran some irrigation and planted some plants. And lo and behold, guess what we got? Weeds. Every week there's new weeds and more and more.
[15:54] And as I see them driving by, I see them standing up above the flowers. I get out and pull them out. And it never ends. You don't have to do anything.
[16:05] It doesn't take work for the weeds to show up. It's just the nature of what they are. And it's the nature of every field to attract weeds. You understand? I'm talking about your life and your heart this morning.
[16:16] It's the very nature, your sinful nature, to attract things that don't belong in here. It takes work to keep them out. But it's very easy to fall into sin.
[16:28] A farmer that neglects his field will result in weeds 100% of the time. 100%. He's got to do some work to keep it out.
[16:39] I was driving in the county over from where I grew up. And I was coming back actually from a Christian school where I was preaching at their chapel. And it was about an hour and a half drive back to the church and school.
[16:53] And on the way, I recall just on the corner of my peripheral there, I saw a man out in the field. And it was early. It was in the spring. And the ground had been tilled up already.
[17:06] And this man was out there. And I could see he had a hoe in his hand. And he was just working in one of the furrows there. And it just caught my eye. And I just thought, oh, this farmer's out there working in this field.
[17:16] And then I realized there's no tractor anywhere in sight. And I just kept driving and driving and driving. And it felt like it was three miles. But it was probably at least a half a mile.
[17:29] And then I saw a pickup truck, an old pickup sitting out in the middle of the field. And I thought, that farmer is just working his way little by little in that field, putting in a day's work, just cleaning it out, getting the rocks out, getting the weeds out.
[17:44] Because he wants to plant. He wants a harvest. He's putting in some work every day of his life to get this field ready, to keep it ready. As I said, these thorns that we're looking at, these nettles, they're a picture of sin.
[18:01] And it is our nature. It is our nature as being flesh and carnal creatures to just soak in sin, to just receive it, and to allow it to come in and find a home.
[18:13] And if we're not careful, sin overtakes us. If we neglect to deal with it and confess it, if we stop fighting it, we stop resisting it, what we're going to look like is this vineyard right here, ruined.
[18:27] Ruined. 100% of the time. Even when conviction comes by. Even when we decide we're going to serve God, we want to do right. If we don't fight the sin in our life, sin or fruit will never be produced.
[18:43] It'll be ruined. Look with me at Mark chapter 4. You can keep your place again back there in Proverbs. And look at this little parable Christ gives about the sower. And here's one where these seeds fell on some thorny ground.
[19:06] Mark chapter 4. I'm reading verses 18 through 20. And you need to notice there's a big difference between ground that's been prepared and ground that's been neglected.
[19:20] In verse 18, What a big difference.
[19:43] The one's getting choked because the thorns are overtaking it, while the other one that's prepared and good ground has the stones removed and the weeds cleared out is just bringing forth abundant fruit.
[19:57] The first instruction that we're receiving as we take a stop on our walk with Solomon is that if you don't deal with your sin, if you don't deal with your sins, it will ruin you.
[20:11] It will ruin you every time. If you don't confess your sin, if you don't repent of your sin, if you don't plead with God for help, for victory, if you don't take it serious that this is your life, it'll ruin you.
[20:30] Since when has sin ever said, I've had enough. Thanks for the good times. You can go on and serve God now. Since when has sin ever backed off and said, I think you've gotten the fill of it.
[20:44] It doesn't do. It does. Sin never stops. Sin chokes and chokes and grows and grows and overtakes more. We'll never let you live for God. These thorns have covered the face, or have grown over.
[20:59] The nettles have covered the face of this property. This has gotten out of control. But there's a good thing about knowing Jesus Christ as your Savior, is that you have access to Him.
[21:13] You have access to His cleansing blood. The Bible says that the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. And there's Christians that have been saved by the grace of Almighty God, have their name in the Lamb's Book of Life.
[21:31] They drop dead. They'll never spend a second in hell. And their lives have been filled with sin, just covered with sin. But they've humbled themselves and realized their fault and come to Jesus Christ and said, I don't want this to be my life.
[21:49] And the Lord Jesus Christ just says, I can take care of that for you. And He comes in and He helps you clean up, helps you restore the field that was once filled with thorns.
[22:04] A picture of sin that had just destroyed a man, and He can restore it. That's something that only God can do. He can restore you back to a place where you can bring forth fruit unto His glory.
[22:16] I know there's evidence of that in this room. I know there's testimony to that and examples of that in this very room of men and women that have had sin ruin and destroy their life and their heart, only to have God come in and clean house.
[22:31] But that won't happen until you're willing to repent, until you're willing to see the damage that this is doing to you. Let's consider that if you don't deal with your sin, it'll ruin you.
[22:45] Now come back in chapter 24 and verse 31 again. There's something else we saw as we stopped with Solomon. It says in verse 31 that the end of the verse says, And the stone wall thereof was broken down.
[23:00] Now let's let this stone wall be two things to this property as it is to our hearts. It's number one, it's a boundary. It's a boundary. And it's also a barrier.
[23:13] The boundary is the property line. The boundary says this field and this vineyard ends right here. It doesn't go beyond it. It ends right here. It tells the neighbors.
[23:24] It says, this is mine. Whatever's inside belongs to me. Whatever's outside is yours. And if we were at a distant hillside and we could overlook the landscape and this property set somewhere in the middle of that landscape, we could see if this stone wall was built up properly, we'd see exact dimensions of that property.
[23:46] It would stand out. It would be clear. It would be defined. The stone wall is a boundary. The stone wall identifies the vineyard. And it separates the vineyard from everything else.
[24:01] And that's a good thing. That wall is there to separate. It's there to draw a distinction and draw a line. And I know that people are afraid of that word because it's abused in some believing circles of separation.
[24:15] And they go overboard and pump something too heavy upon God's people that, like the Pharisees, they themselves don't even lift a finger to do. But the Christian life is supposed to be a life of separation.
[24:28] It's a separation. It's a separation. It's called sanctification. It's a work of God inside of you changing you from what you were and what you would be if you didn't have the word of God and his spirit changing you, renewing your mind, transforming you into an image of Jesus Christ.
[24:46] The Bible says, wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate and touch not the unclean thing. The Bible says that God sanctified us.
[24:58] What's the verse there in Titus 2? I can't think of how it starts. He said that he might, something to himself. I need to start it to get it right.
[25:10] Wait. I got the ending. I need to start. Who gave himself for our iniquities that it might purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.
[25:23] A peculiar people set apart. Different. He tried to redeem us from all of our iniquities to make us separate and set apart.
[25:34] That stone wall should be there. God's not trying to make you a nun or a monk in a monastery to call yourself separate. But if the world is viewing from a distance, and even up close especially, it ought to be identified where your property line ends.
[25:52] It ought to be visible. It ought to be able to see that you're separate from the other fields. It should be different. And don't be ashamed. And don't be afraid to be different. I think some Christians in here need to get their walls back up.
[26:06] I think you need to get your walls back up to some standards that you held when you were first saved. Or when you first were walking with God. And just over time, just let that rock fall.
[26:16] Let that one fall. Let that part cave in. It's not a big deal. I really don't use that side much anyway. Because you got tired of working at it. You got tired of worrying about it.
[26:27] And what happens when you let the wall fall down? Christians, if you belong to God, if this body is your vessel, then repair that wall. Don't worry about your image.
[26:39] Worry about your wall. Worry about that boundary. But it's also, I said, a barrier. And the boundary talks about a property line. But this barrier talks about protection.
[26:51] That wall was built up there to keep some things out of that vineyard that will destroy the fruit. That will destroy the very purpose of the vineyard. It will hurt the vine. The Bible says without our dogs.
[27:03] And there's all kinds of animals that would love to feast off the fruit of your labor. And make a home in your heart. There's all kinds of unclean things that don't belong inside of these walls.
[27:15] There's all kinds of spirits in this world that desire to ruin your life. There needs to be a wall up. A defense.
[27:26] And if you're going to live for God and if you're going to please God in any way, there's got to be a wall up. Things have got to stay out. The spirit of this world is against God. And it shows up in the form of fun things.
[27:40] It shows up in the form of entertainment. Of social media. Of a fun lifestyle. Of lively music and entertaining excitement. And there's a spirit in that.
[27:53] A spirit of ungodliness. Of uncleanness. And while it comes in with fun and pleasures, it leaves ruin. It leaves thorns.
[28:04] It leaves nettles that choke the work of God. The Bible says, Keep thy heart with all diligence.
[28:16] For out of it are the issues of life. Get your wall back up. If your wall is coming down, get it up. If your heart can be tender to God, get the wall up.
[28:29] Let the Lord Jesus Christ, through His word, build you up. There's like a slew of things I want to say here. But I'm going to move on. That wall is there for a barrier.
[28:42] It's there for a boundary. And let's look at one more thing and consider something else from Proverbs 24. And we were in verse 31. I'll read it again. Lo, it was all grown over with thorns.
[28:54] And nettles had covered the face thereof. And the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well. And I looked upon it and received instruction. Here's one more thing I think Solomon considers.
[29:07] He sees the thorns and the nettles. He sees that the stone wall is broken down. But what he considers is that there's no fruit.
[29:19] I should be looking at fruit. If I'm going down the road and I see another man's vineyard, there's fruit on those vines. But this property has no fruit.
[29:31] And we know why. But that's the whole purpose of the vineyard. That's the whole purpose for all the labor and the work and removing the stones and building the wall.
[29:42] Is to bring forth fruit. That's what we should be looking at instead of a mess. What we're looking at, we'd expect to be on the outside.
[29:55] We'd expect against the wall to be some brush. But not on the inside. And as we consider with Solomon, this man's life, we're looking inside of his heart and we see that there's no fruit.
[30:09] And Christian, the whole purpose of this life is to bring forth fruit unto God. That's why you exist. He saved you and he didn't take you home.
[30:21] He left you here to bring forth fruit and to glorify him. That's why he bought you. That's why he gave you this church. That's why he gave you his word.
[30:33] That's why his spirit is inside of you. The preaching and the teaching of the word of God can help build up a wall around you. So that you can bear fruit for Jesus Christ.
[30:48] Jesus said, herein is my father glorified that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples. But the slothful Christian, the lazy Christian, the careless Christian, the foolish Christian, lets sin in his life, lets the world in his heart, and he looks just like the world around him.
[31:10] There's no difference. There's no protection. And he's ruined life. No fruit. Now turn to Proverbs 20.
[31:21] It's the last verse to go to this morning. Proverbs 20. It's a sobering message this morning, and it needs to be.
[31:38] Because this fool has no fruit, and he's going to regret it one day. If not soon enough, we sang, How long, Lord Jesus, till we shout the glad song?
[31:53] Well, there's going to be some fools that aren't going to be shouting a glad song when that day comes. Look at chapter 20 and verse 4. The Bible says, The sluggard will not plow by reason of cold.
[32:05] Therefore shall he beg and harvest. And notice, have nothing. He'll have nothing. He should have been working. He should have been plowing and planting.
[32:16] He should have been bringing forth fruit. But when the harvest comes, that fool is going to have nothing. He finds a reason not to work. He says, there's hypocrites in the church.
[32:28] He says, it's not all what it cracked up to be. And this is a little more fun for me anyway. This is what I am. He finds a reason not to work and not to labor and not to take care of the life and the heart that he's received from God.
[32:44] And in the end, he's going to beg and have nothing. And he's the fool. He's the one that wouldn't hear. She's the one that wouldn't open her heart to God and fight sin in her life.
[33:00] The harvest represents the rapture. And a lazy Christian won't receive anything in that day. He'll beg, but he'll have nothing.
[33:16] There's no fruit in this vineyard. I wonder this morning, if God looked at your life, would he see fruit? Would he see abundant fruit? Would he see that there's some coming?
[33:27] I can tell it's coming. I can see it starting. I can see the buds there. I can see there's fruit coming. If they stay faithful, if they keep after it, there's fruit coming. If God looks at your life, does he see fruit?
[33:41] Or does he see thorns, nettles, a wall broken down, a mess, just total ruin? I wonder if you have thorns inside your heart and you'd admit it this morning.
[33:54] Are you willing to fight and get rid of them? Do you realize that you can get rid of them today? I didn't say you're just going to live a happily ever after Christian life, but do you realize you can get it right today?
[34:06] You can come back to ground zero and clean that, let Jesus Christ come in with his big plow and just level the thing. He'd love to do it. He loves to turn the dirt up and get good dirt.
[34:19] He loves the smell of that good, clean soil. And he'd be happy to come in and help you clean it out. The Bible says if you confess and forsake your sins, you'll find mercy.
[34:33] And he's got plenty of mercy. Maybe your wall needs to be repaired a little bit this morning. Maybe a lot. Maybe it's falling and you know it's falling. You've let it slide and you've let some things slip in.
[34:47] And you're still in church and you're still showing up and you still have a Bible under your hand. And some people would never know unless it gets further to ruin and we can all stop and consider it well.
[35:01] Maybe your wall needs to be built back up. Maybe some separation needs to be made a little bit clearer because it used to be clear and now you've allowed it to get muddy. Maybe you need to drop some bad habits and fight and pick up some godly ones.
[35:17] The last thought this morning, church, the harvest is coming. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Everyone's going to give account of himself to God.
[35:30] Will there be any fruit? Will there be any reward available and offered to you? Or will you be the one that's in poverty?
[35:41] Will it come as one that traveleth? Just show up when you didn't expect it. I got more time. I'll clean this up and then I'll get busy for God later. Or will it come like that?
[35:52] And you're not prepared. And all you can be is ashamed and full of regret. Again, it's a sobering thought this morning. It's a ruined life that we're looking at.
[36:03] This walk is worth taking. It's worth considering and looking into your own heart and judging. The Bible says that if we judge ourselves, we should not be judged.
[36:14] God won't be after us if we take care of it ourselves. And there might be some cleaning that needs to be done. You know, every spring, before you plant, you get out there and you turn that dirt over.
[36:27] You work it a little bit. And here we have a few days coming up at the end of this week where we have another opportunity to just work it over a little bit. To get the Word of God in us. To clean us up. And to get our minds where it ought to be.
[36:40] Away from just the busyness. Maybe you can make a decision that I'm going to set some things aside for the Word of God. So I can come to church and get some extra. I pray you take that serious.
[36:52] It's like God's going to give me something if I want it. And if I'll show up for it, I'll get it. And it's always a blessing to be in church on a Thursday night. Always. I wonder if you'll care for enough to do that.
[37:06] Now in closing, are we looking at your life? Are we looking at your life this morning? Are we seeing a lot of mess? A lot of sin?
[37:17] Are we seeing a lot of ruin? And no fruit? If that's you this morning, God's calling your name.
[37:28] He's ringing your bell and He's saying, Hey, let's clean this thing up. I saved you. You inherited this as an opportunity to glorify me.
[37:39] Don't waste it. This is a wasted life. And a ruined one at that. If you're here this morning and you know this is you, you know in your heart, absolutely, I'm wasting my life.
[37:53] I can plead with you. I can beg with you. But I can't do much. But at least, is that what you want? Is that what you want?
[38:04] If you say, God, I want to waste my life and just deal with it later. I want to ruin it and let you destroy it. And then I'll just be glad I'm saved.
[38:18] Thankful I made it in. Is that what you want? Because that's what you'll get. Or do you want it to be clean? I remember in my youthful days being a fool and ignoring the instruction and the word of God.
[38:34] And I remember in my heart thinking, I don't want this. I really, I don't want the world. I don't want it to be what I am. Because I had too much truth input in me.
[38:46] And I thought, I knew in my heart, I do want things to be right. I just don't want to fight for it. And I just, I want to enjoy this for a while. That's how I felt.
[38:57] And I regret it. God knows I regret it. But it's just but his mercy that kept me and got me out of that mess.
[39:09] But I know what it's like to just feel like, I know, but. I know I'll regret this, but. I'll do it anyway. I know I shouldn't, but. And let me just challenge you.
[39:21] If that's what you want, that's what you're going to get. You want to ruin your life. If you want to destroy your life with sin, sin will take you and just do its thing. It'll choke every good thing that there is about you.
[39:33] It'll leave scars that you'll never get rid of. It's the nature of it. So is that what you want? If that's what you want, that's what you'll get.
[39:44] I recommend you humble yourself. You come before God and say, God, I know I'm a sinner. I'm calling on your mercy. I'll plead your blood.
[39:55] Cleanse me of my sin. Strengthen me in the inner man. Give me victory. Let me walk with you. And then seek his word and seek a relationship with him.
[40:06] And be willing to surrender your life to him and say, whatever you want me to do, I want to do it for the pleasure of your glory. Let's bow our heads. I'm done.
[40:20] I hope you heard the thoughts this morning. I hope if you're here this morning and you're fooling around in sin. You could be young. You could be young. You could be old.
[40:31] You could have had a fruitful life and walked with Jesus Christ and then just decide to let it slide and let it go. Sin finds its way in. Would you consider your life?
[40:45] Would you consider looking upon your vineyard? If God brings things to mind saying, you're letting this in and I don't want it in here.
[40:57] Will you be willing this morning to confess and forsake it? Would you be willing to repent of that sin that you've allowed in your vineyard? It's supposed to be his vineyard.
[41:09] He bought it. You're bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your body and your spirit, which are God's. Is he worth it to you?
[41:24] To give it over to him? It's your life. It's your choice. It's going to be your regret. Or it could be your rejoicing.
[41:36] Father, please deal with your people, those that needed to hear this this morning. Please deal with hearts. God, don't give rest or peace to your child.
[41:50] I pray you'll speak to them. I pray your Holy Spirit would more than nudge, but would push and work and dig.
[42:01] Lord, don't just speak in their ears. Shout it. Father, I pray that you'd get some fruit from our lives.
[42:12] Lord, we're all prone to sin. Sin gets in so quickly. Lord, help us to clean ourselves up and to take heed this morning that it could be us. Even if we consider ourselves strong and fruitful, it could be us that allow sin to get in.
[42:28] So, Lord, give us the courage and the strength to repent and forsake and to walk with you. We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. And 156 this morning we'll sing.
[42:41] Thank you.