David Parker: Good morning everyone again.
David Parker: The good news is we're going to be looking at God's Word.
David Parker: The bad news is you're stuck with me for another half an hour or so.
David Parker: I want to say it is a delight for me to have another opportunity to open up God's Word with you all.
David Parker: Please forgive me if I sound a little nervous.
David Parker: There is a special lady listening to me preach for the first time and speaking of first.
David Parker: This is also my first sermon as a married man, so sorry I had to.
David Parker: But again, thank you for the words of encouragement to me and my wife, valerie.
David Parker: It has been such a blessing just to receive all of your support, and the Lord has been kind.
David Parker: Marriage has been great and we are looking forward to what the Lord's going to be doing in our lives.
David Parker: There are a couple of ways you can be praying for us.
David Parker: Number one Valerie technically can't stay in the US for more than six months because she doesn't have permanent residency here.
David Parker: So we've been looking at the visa process and figuring out what all that entails, and there is a possibility where we may have to be separated for a period of time while our application is being processed.
David Parker: The ultimate goal is for the both of us to either be able to spend time in Canada for as much as we like or time here in the States for as much as we like.
David Parker: So please pray that the Lord would guide us and give us people that can help us along in this journey.
David Parker: And number two within the last three weeks or so, I've been heavily contemplating what going to seminary would look like.
David Parker: I had the privilege of dropping in on a couple of classes at Reformed Theological Seminary in New York and I had an absolute blast.
David Parker: However, earlier this week, I got an invite to a private audition which could lead to a potential Broadway opportunity.
David Parker: So please pray for me, as I feel torn between two loves, you know, and help me to be open to whatever possibilities that God has in store for my life, whether that's dance, whether that's ministry, whether it's both.
David Parker: Just pray that I would continue to be a good husband to Val and that I would seek the Lord in his providence.
David Parker: Anyway, before we look at our passage today, let's seek the Lord in prayer.
David Parker: O Lord, what a privilege it is that we get to hear you speak through your word, father.
David Parker: We ask that you give us ears to hear and hearts to receive your truth.
David Parker: Sanctify us by your truth.
David Parker: Your word is truth.
David Parker: I pray, heavenly Father, that you would be with me as I minister to your people.
David Parker: Help me to be clear as I preach, and may I not rest in my power, but in the power of your word and the Holy Spirit.
David Parker: In your son's name, I pray, amen.
David Parker: Please turn with me to Isaiah, chapter 5.
David Parker: If you want to look along in the Pew Bible, you can turn to page 603.
David Parker: 603.
David Parker: The theme of today's message is fruit.
David Parker: The Lord Jesus said in Matthew 7, verses 15 to 16, be on your guard against false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravaging wolves.
David Parker: You will recognize them by their fruit.
David Parker: Hear these words from the Apostle Paul, ephesians 5, verses 8 through 11.
David Parker: For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
David Parker: Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness and truth, testing what is pleasing to the Lord.
David Parker: Don't participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.
David Parker: And then we have those also famous words from Galatians 5, 22 and 23.
David Parker: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
David Parker: Fruit is an extremely important part of the Christian life.
David Parker: I dare say it is a necessary part of the Christian life.
David Parker: And obviously I'm not referring to an apple tree or fruit you go pick up at a grocery store, but rather I'm referring to the evidence of God's grace at work in the heart of an individual, to the evidence of God's grace at work in the heart of an individual.
David Parker: I'm referring to the clear manifestations of the Holy Spirit in the life of a person.
David Parker: And when I say manifestations of the Holy Spirit, I'm not referring to spiritual gifts like tongues or prophecies or supernatural healing, but I'm referring to what Paul referred to in the last verse we just read in Galatians the fruit or the evidence or manifestation of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, etc.
David Parker: These are the characteristics of a Christian and these are the characteristics we should all be striving to grow more in as the redeemed people of God.
David Parker: So the question I'd like for us to ponder on today is how do we bear good fruit?
David Parker: How do we bear good fruit?
David Parker: And we're going to answer that question by looking at Isaiah 5.
David Parker: If we want a very short summary of Isaiah chapter 5, here it is Bad fruit.
David Parker: Isaiah chapter 5 is a chapter about Israel's bad fruit.
David Parker: If we want to learn how to bear good fruit, one of the best ways we can learn is by studying bad fruit.
David Parker: Even Paul himself says that the things that took place in Israel's past took place as an example for us.
David Parker: So as we look at Isaiah chapter 5, we are going to consider six things about bad fruit.
David Parker: But before we do that, I'm going to read verses 1 through 7 of chapter 5.
David Parker: I will sing about the one I love, a song about my loved one's vineyard.
David Parker: The one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
David Parker: He broke up the soil, cleared it of stones and planted it with the finest vines.
David Parker: He built a tower in the middle of it and even dug out a winepress there.
David Parker: He expected it to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes.
David Parker: So now, residents of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.
David Parker: What more could I have done for my vineyard than I did?
David Parker: Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes, did it yield worthless grapes?
David Parker: Now I will tell you what I'm about to do to my vineyard.
David Parker: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed.
David Parker: I will tear down its wall and it will be trampled.
David Parker: I will make it a wasteland.
David Parker: It will not be pruned or weeded.
David Parker: Thorns and breers will grow up.
David Parker: I will also give orders to the clouds that rain should not fall on it.
David Parker: For the vineyard of the Lord of armies is the house of Israel and the men of Judah, the plant he delighted in.
David Parker: He expected justice but saw injustice.
David Parker: He expected righteousness but heard cries of despair.
David Parker: The first thing we see in the opening verses of this chapter is a song about bad fruit.
David Parker: Some scholars understand this song to be verses 1 through 7, others verses 1 through 2, but I think for today's message it can be argued that the main lyrics of this song can be found in the first two verses.
David Parker: I want you to notice how this song starts on a rather high note.
David Parker: It's very sweet.
David Parker: Isaiah sings the one I love had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.
David Parker: Consider how the song tells the Lord's vineyard is not in a place, in an environment like a desert, where it couldn't grow or thrive, but rather it's on a fertile hill.
David Parker: And not only that, the verse tells, it's on a very fertile hill.
David Parker: The starting location of this vineyard is healthy.
David Parker: There is plenty of good ground and soil for promising fruit.
David Parker: And if that weren't enough, the song goes on to say that the Lord broke up the soil, cleared it of its stones and planted it with the finest vines.
David Parker: The Lord is pictured here like a hardworking gardener or farmer.
David Parker: You can imagine that his sleeves are rolled up and his hands are dirty and calloused from all the manual labor from his vineyard.
David Parker: If you've ever gardened before, you know good and well gardening is a lot of hard work and it's a lot of patient work.
David Parker: In addition to the manual labor of gardening, the song goes on to say that the Lord built a tower in the middle of it and even dug out a wine press there.
David Parker: The Lord is not just described as one engaged in the toil of gardening, but in the toil of building as well, and this is why I said that the song starts on a high note.
David Parker: It starts with all the good that the Lord has done for his vineyard, but it's when we get to the end of the song that we see that the song is actually very sad.
David Parker: There's no mistaking that the Lord had done more than enough for this vineyard and the only natural desire to have is to want to partake the fruit of his hard labor.
David Parker: But unfortunately, that's not what we see at the end of this song.
David Parker: Instead, we see this he expected his vineyard to yield good grapes, but it yielded worthless grapes.
David Parker: The Lord wanted good fruit, but instead he got bad fruit.
David Parker: One thing we can learn from this song about bad fruit is that bad fruit makes things sad.
David Parker: The whole reason why this song we just read about is sad because it's really about bad fruit.
David Parker: If you were to take a moment to reflect on some of the saddest moments in your life, those moments are not sad because of good fruit.
David Parker: They are sad because of bad fruit.
David Parker: Sad because of bad fruit, either in yourself or in those closest around you.
David Parker: Bad fruit makes things sad, which leads us to our next point the pain of bad fruit.
David Parker: Listen to the Lord expressing his frustration in verses 3 and 4.
David Parker: So now, residents of Jerusalem and men of Judah, please judge between me and my vineyard.
David Parker: What more could I have done for my vineyard than I did?
David Parker: Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes, did it yield worthless grapes?
David Parker: The pain of bad fruit is connected to the moment when one realizes something isn't right, that something isn't adding up properly or that something went drastically wrong, specifically in relationships relationship to God or relationship to one another.
David Parker: And, generally speaking, what makes this pain even more painful is when you can't figure out why something went wrong.
David Parker: And here we see the Lord asking this question of why?
David Parker: Why am I getting bad fruit in return when I have worked and worked for good fruit?
David Parker: If you are a parent, you probably know something about this pain.
David Parker: You work long hours and make sacrifices so that your children can have a better life in the future than you, and yet inevitably you encounter moments where your kids just blatantly disregard your counsel and decide to just do their own thing, which you know in the end won't turn out for their good.
David Parker: One Christmas, when I was about 12 or 13 years old, a family member got me a PlayStation Portable.
David Parker: For those who don't know what that is, it's like a gaming console, and I was the happiest boy alive when I got this thing.
David Parker: But I did have a rule I couldn't leave the house, and so later on that evening I was going to go see my dad and I slipped my PSP into the pocket and my mom had asked before I'd left the house David, did you leave your PSP in your room?
David Parker: And I said, yes, mom, I did.
David Parker: Later on in that evening I met my dad and playing PSP and just having a good time, and then the phone rings.
David Parker: Dad picks up the phone and hands it over to me and it's my mom.
David Parker: My mom wants to know, david, where's your PSP?
David Parker: And eventually she realizes that I had lied to her and I ended up in big trouble.
David Parker: Now, the funny thing, what I remember about that distinctly was not so much the punishment I received, but my mom expressing to me her hurt, and you don't know why she was hurt.
David Parker: She was hurt because I was her son.
David Parker: She was hurt because she raised me not to lie.
David Parker: She was hurt because she would drive me back and forth to gymnastics practice multiple times a week.
David Parker: She would cook for me, provide for me, make sure that a roof was over my head, along with two other siblings.
David Parker: She was hurt because for a moment, she felt as if all of her labor was in vain.
David Parker: Now, no one is a perfect parent, but if an imperfect parent can feel such pain, how much more the Lord, god, who is a perfect parent.
David Parker: The reason why bad fruit is painful is because it does not reflect God's good intentions for us and how we ought to relate to him and to others.
David Parker: When God's good intentions are not reflected in us, there are inevitably consequences.
David Parker: This brings us to our third point the consequences of bad fruit.
David Parker: In verses 5 and 6, we read about what the Lord is going to do to his vineyard in response to it bearing bad fruit.
David Parker: He's going to remove its hedge so that it will be consumed.
David Parker: He will tear down its walls so that it will be trampled.
David Parker: He's going to make it a wasteland.
David Parker: It won't be pruned or weeded.
David Parker: Thorns and breers will grow up in the vineyard and the Lord will give orders to the clouds so that rain should not fall on it.
David Parker: This is judgment language.
David Parker: Not fall on it, this is judgment language.
David Parker: I know for myself personally.
David Parker: Judgment language in scripture is not always the easiest to handle, and I'm sure that there are some of you in this category with me.
David Parker: But here's something we all have to remember when we see judgment mentioned in scripture the judgment of God is never an isolated act.
David Parker: God does not judge just for the sake of it, but rather his judgment is always a response to a denial of his grace and mercy.
David Parker: His judgment is always a response to a denial of his grace and mercy.
David Parker: In this example, the vineyard which represents Israel denies his grace and mercy.
David Parker: The Lord had done all that he possibly could for this vineyard, for his people, to produce good fruit, and instead of good fruit they produce bad fruit and therefore the Lord judges.
David Parker: You can think about how many times Moses stood before Pharaoh, giving him multiple opportunities to turn from his rebellion to let the people of Israel go, but yet Pharaoh denied the grace and mercy of the Lord offered to him by Moses, and then judgment came.
David Parker: We can go back to Genesis and see that scripture doesn't start with God judging humanity for no reason, but rather Genesis starts with all of the good that God has done for humanity.
David Parker: Humanity then denies the good that God has done and therefore we see God responding with judgment.
David Parker: To deny the grace and mercy of the Lord is to sin against him, even as we consider the previous chapters of Isaiah, where we are met with many pronouncements of judgment upon the people of God.
David Parker: God is not judging simply because he's bored or he has a chip on his shoulder.
David Parker: He's judging because in Isaiah 1 and 2, we read that he raised his people and he brought them up, but they have rebelled against him.
David Parker: He's judging them because Isaiah 1, 4 says they have abandoned the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they have turned their backs on him.
David Parker: There are consequences for bad fruit and we see this not only in verses five and six, but we see this on a much larger scale for the people of Israel in verses 25 through 30.
David Parker: Look with me at verses 25 through 30, chapter five, and I'll read this briefly.
David Parker: Therefore, the Lord's anger burned against his people.
David Parker: He raised his hand against them and struck them.
David Parker: The mountains quake and their corpses were like garbage in the streets.
David Parker: And all this, his anger has not turned away and his hand is still raised to strike.
David Parker: He raises a signal flag for the distant nations and whistles for them from the ends of the earth.
David Parker: Look how quickly and swiftly they come.
David Parker: None of them grows weary or stumbles, no one slumbers or sleeps, no belt is loose and no sandal strap broken.
David Parker: Their arrows are sharpened and all their bows strung.
David Parker: Their horses' hooves are like flints and their chariot wheels are like a whirlwind.
David Parker: Their roaring is like a lion.
David Parker: They roar like young lion.
David Parker: They roar like young lions.
David Parker: They growl and seize their prey and carry it off, and no one can rescue it.
David Parker: On that day they will roar over it like the roaring of the sea.
David Parker: When one looks at the land, there will be darkness and distress.
David Parker: Light will be obscured by the clouds.
David Parker: Here is the gist of what we just read.
David Parker: Throughout the history of Israel, there were countless times where the Lord would go before them to fight their enemies, and Israel would have success in all those battles simply due to the fact that the Lord was in their corner.
David Parker: But the consequences now of their sin is this the tables have now turned.
David Parker: The Lord is no longer in Israel's corner, but rather he himself is raising the signal flag for enemy nations to come to bring them into captivity.
David Parker: In short, israel was once able to conquer their enemies, but now it's the Lord who sends their enemies to conquer them.
David Parker: There are consequences for bad fruit.
David Parker: Before I move on, I just want to remind us of what we've covered so far.
David Parker: We looked at number one, a song about bad fruit.
David Parker: We looked at the pain of bad fruit, and then we just considered the consequences of bad fruit, and now we're going to move on to some examples of bad fruit.
David Parker: In this chapter we have six explicit examples of bad fruit.
David Parker: They can be found in verses 8, 11, 18, 20, 21, and 22.
David Parker: We will not cover all of them.
David Parker: We'll look at just three, but I do want to note that every example mentioned is not a mild case of bad fruit.
David Parker: These are not the kind of examples, metaphorically speaking, you can just cut off the moldy part of the fruit and still safe to eat the rest.
David Parker: These examples of bad fruit are the worst kind of examples.
David Parker: The whole fruit in these examples are rancid, spoiled and rotten, and that is why the start of each of these verses, as I mentioned, start with a woe.
David Parker: They start with a cry that is mixed with mournful sorrow and rebuke, and they start this way because there is nothing worse than bad fruit seen in the people of God.
David Parker: So let's look at verse 8.
David Parker: Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field until there is no more room and you alone are left in the land.
David Parker: This is what Matthew Henry has to say about that verse is that they never know when they have enough.
David Parker: How sad is it when those who have been so materially blessed by the Lord are not satisfied, but instead they are so greedy that they are okay with taking advantage of those who have less, just so that they can gain more.
David Parker: This is the kind of bad fruit Isaiah is speaking about in verse 8.
David Parker: Let's look at verses 18 through 19.
David Parker: Woe to those who drag iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes.
David Parker: To those who say let him hurry up and do his work quickly so that we can see it.
David Parker: Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel take place so that we can see it.
David Parker: Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel take place so that we can know it.
David Parker: This example of bad fruit is a picture of individuals who love their sin, individuals who want to pile one sin on top of another and are willing to give all kinds of excuses to drag along their sin in their life.
David Parker: And the worst part about it is that these individuals mock the Lord as if he will not judge their iniquity.
David Parker: Brothers and sisters, hear this Bad fruit is not wrestling with sin, but rather bad fruit is engaging with the same sinful behavior over and over and over again, with absolutely no remorse.
David Parker: Bad fruit essentially says until God judges me, I'm going to keep on sinning.
David Parker: This is the bad fruit we see in the individuals Isaiah is addressing in verses 18 and 19.
David Parker: And lastly, let's look at verse 20.
David Parker: Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
David Parker: While this verse is pretty straightforward, it's important to recognize that Isaiah is not addressing an attitude of indifference To call evil good and good.
David Parker: Evil is something even Paul deals with in Romans 1, verses 29-32.
David Parker: Listen to these words Speaking about the unrighteous.
David Parker: They are filled with all unrighteousness, evil, greed and wickedness.
David Parker: They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit and malice.
David Parker: They are gossips, slanderers, god-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful ventures of evil, disobedient to parents, senseless, untrustworthy, unloving and unmerciful.
David Parker: That's the evil.
David Parker: Although they know God's just sentence that those who practice such things deserve to die, these people know that this is evil.
David Parker: They not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them.
David Parker: That's calling the evil good.
David Parker: It's celebrating what God has called evil as if it is good.
David Parker: Here's somewhat of a sad illustration to help us understand what the verse means when it says woe to those who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
David Parker: Let's say there's a middle school class who has this amazing teacher.
David Parker: Students love him, parents love him.
David Parker: He's patient, he's understanding, he teaches in a way that most benefits the students and he has an amazing track record.
David Parker: There's no denying his good character and work ethic.
David Parker: But one day, sadly, he gets sick and he has to be out for some time.
David Parker: He gets sick and he's out for some time, and so the school has to send a substitute.
David Parker: Now the only thing is that this substitute now has absolutely no teaching experience whatsoever.
David Parker: Substitute now has absolutely no teaching experience whatsoever.
David Parker: This substitute is known for his temper, for his abuse of alcohol and, worse, he has a criminal record for child molestation.
David Parker: Now, when the good teacher is ready to return to the school, the school says we actually don't need you anymore.
David Parker: In fact, we got someone who we think is a better fit for the kids.
David Parker: Now how sick would one mind have to be in order to think in that scenario the second teacher is better than the first, and yet this is the kind of bad fruit that Isaiah is calling out Judah for.
David Parker: And light of those few examples, the only appropriate question for us to ask is the same question the Lord asked in verse 4.
David Parker: Why, when I expected a yield of good grapes, did I yield worthless grapes?
David Parker: How can Israel, the covenant people of God, be guilty of bearing such awful fruit?
David Parker: We can only answer that question by looking to the root of the matter, and this is our second to last point the root of bad fruit.
David Parker: All sin has a beginning.
David Parker: This is especially important to remember when we encounter big sins in our own lives or when we hear about grievous sins in the lives of those around us.
David Parker: Sin does not just happen.
David Parker: For the most part, there was always a progression of some sort.
David Parker: Sometimes that progression moves quicker than others, depending on the situation, but regardless, there is always a beginning to all sin.
David Parker: We've just looked at some awful cases of bad fruit in the people of Israel, and now we're going to consider the root of it.
David Parker: Look with me at verses 11 through 13.
David Parker: Woe to those who rise early in the morning in pursuit of beer, who linger in the evening inflamed by wine.
David Parker: At their feast they have lyre, harp, tambourine, flute and wine.
David Parker: They do not perceive the Lord's actions and they do not seek the work of his hands.
David Parker: Therefore, my people will go into exile because they lack knowledge.
David Parker: Her dignitaries are starving and her masses are parched with thirst.
David Parker: Is God really judging his people simply because they lack knowledge?
David Parker: Is the main root of sin?
David Parker: Ignorance?
David Parker: Short answer no.
David Parker: Proverbs 1.7, we are told that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
David Parker: So when we read that God's people were sent into exile for lack of knowledge, it's not referring to them not having enough information of knowledge.
David Parker: It's not referring to them not having enough information or them not simply knowing any better, but rather they are being sent into exile because they had absolutely no fear of the Lord.
David Parker: They had no regard for who he was and what he had done for them.
David Parker: Paul again touches on something similar in Romans 1.20,.
David Parker: For his invisible attributes, that is, his divine, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what he has made.
David Parker: As a result, people are without excuse.
David Parker: The root of bad fruit is not ignorance.
David Parker: The root of bad fruit is no fear of the Lord.
David Parker: But there is another side to this as well, look with me at verse 24.
David Parker: Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes straw and as dry grass shrivels in the flame, so their roots will become like something rotten and their blossoms will blow away like dust.
David Parker: For they have rejected the instruction of the Lord of armies and they have despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
David Parker: Do you want to know how Adam got the whole human race in trouble?
David Parker: He rejected the instruction of the Lord.
David Parker: It is the rejection of the word of God that is the root of all bad fruit.
David Parker: And this leads us to our final point.
David Parker: We've looked at a song of bad fruit, the pain of bad fruit, the consequences of bad fruit, some examples of bad fruit, and we've just considered the root of bad fruit.
David Parker: And this is why I said at the beginning Isaiah, chapter 5, is all about bad fruit.
David Parker: So now we are going to finally consider the solution to bad fruit.
David Parker: At the start of the message, I had asked the question how do we bear good fruit?
David Parker: We just looked at a chapter that is filled with gloom, sadness and judgment.
David Parker: As Matthias said, israel clearly failed in bearing good fruit.
David Parker: So now, what Is there any hope for us?
David Parker: Because if we evaluate ourselves honestly, in light of who God is, we are quick to discover that our hearts are no different from Israel.
David Parker: We too deserve to be destroyed, just like the vineyard we looked at today.
David Parker: Our only hope of bearing good fruit will not be found in ourselves.
David Parker: If you've been with us since the beginning of this journey through Isaiah, we've seen this pattern of judgment, hope and judgment and hope in these first five chapters.
David Parker: Chapter five doesn't end with hope, and the beginning of chapter six does not leave us with any words of immediate hope either.
David Parker: But, brothers and sisters, please keep this in mind Whether the good promises of God come before judgment or after judgment, his promises still offer us hope.
David Parker: And even though this chapter ends on a sad note, the end of it doesn't give us the final say.
David Parker: We can look back in order so that we can look forward.
David Parker: So let's look at Isaiah, chapter four, looking back, and hear these words of verse two On that day, the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of Israel's survivors, a promise of good fruitfulness to come in spite of coming judgment.
David Parker: And now let's look forward to Isaiah, chapter 11.
David Parker: We'll look at the first two verses, in the first line of verse three.
David Parker: Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, that is, the father of King David, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.
David Parker: The spirit of the Lord will rest on him, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and strength, a spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
David Parker: His delight will be in the fear of the Lord.
David Parker: Here we just read about a person who would come from the family line of Jesse and that this person would bear fruit.
David Parker: And we know that this person will bear good fruit because, as we learned today, the root of bad fruit is no fear of the Lord.
David Parker: And yet we read about this person that his delight will be in the fear of the Lord.
David Parker: Brothers and sisters, I do hope that by now the words from today's scripture reading are ringing in your minds.
David Parker: The one Isaiah speaks of in the verses we just read is no other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
David Parker: The one that Isaiah calls Wonderful Counselor, mighty God, prince of Peace.
David Parker: The one Isaiah likened to a teeny, tiny plant, a root out of dry ground.
David Parker: Isaiah likened to a teeny, tiny plant, a root out of dry ground and from that little root or growing thing would be the one who is the true vine, the one who said that apart from him we cannot do anything If we are going to bear good fruit.
David Parker: We must remember that the root and substance of all good fruit is not going to be found in how well we fear the Lord and follow His word, but rather the root and substance of all good fruit is only going to be found in the one who perfectly feared the Lord and followed His word.
David Parker: It is only going to be found in the one who perfectly feared the Lord and followed his word.
David Parker: It is only going to be found in the one who was tempted in every way and yet without sin.
David Parker: It is only going to be found in the one who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited, but instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, but instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant.
David Parker: We can only bear good fruit by looking to the perfect person in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
David Parker: As we continue to walk with him in this life, I'd like to encourage us to take all the more time to meditate on his love, to meditate on his peace, to meditate on his patience, his kindness, his goodness, his faithfulness, his gentleness and his self-control, and by doing so, we all, with unveiled faces, will be looking, as in a mirror, at the glory of the Lord and we will be transformed into the same image from glory to glory.
David Parker: Amen, let us pray, father.
David Parker: We are so grateful for the Lord Jesus.
David Parker: We are grateful, father, god, that in Him is life, in the spiritual life that we need to bear fruit as your people.
David Parker: Father, help us to always, to always, always, always look to Him for strength and for substance, because in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
David Parker: We thank you, lord Jesus, for your love for us.
David Parker: We ask that you would continue to be on our hearts and our minds for the rest of this week and for the rest of the days that we are here on this earth, until we meet with you, and I pray this all in your name, amen.