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Imagine
a beautiful vineyard on a very fertile hill in
the middle of the land of Israel. The sun shines
brightly on it, and the rain gives abundant water.
The soil is just right, and planted in the middle
of this vineyard is one very special vine.
Messiah
Yeshua, at His last Passover Seder, surrounded
by His disciples, eating His last meal with them,
and drinking Israeli wine, gives them this parable:
I am
the true vine - I am the true, real planting
of God. God may have planted the nation of Israel,
which may be compared to a vine, but unfortunately,
all too often the chosen nation produced bitter
grapes. But I am the true vine - I have succeeded
where the nation of Israel failed. And My Father
is the vinedresser. God is My Father, and
I am His obedient Son. We share the same nature
of deity. But He is My superior in position. I
answer to Him, and I obey Him. He is the One who
is in charge of the vineyard.
Now, Not
only am I connected to God, and share His nature,
but I am also connected to human beings, and share
in their nature. I have come from My Father, from
Heaven, to Earth, and I have taken on the nature
of humanity. And now there are human beings who
are connected to Me, like branches are to a grape
vine. There are two kinds of human beings who
are connected to Me - those who are producing
good results, and those who aren’t, and God will
treat each group differently. Every branch
in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away;
and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it
so that it may bear more fruit.
There
are human beings who believe that I am the Messiah
and the Son of God, but they don’t produce anything.
Their character doesn’t improve - they don’t become
more godly, more righteous, more loving, more
generous. They only obey Me half-heartedly. They
won’t put My interests, and extending the Kingdom
of God among humanity, first. They have other
priorities.
God is
not happy with those who believe in Me, but don’t
show any results. What good are they? After all,
what use is a grape branch that won’t bear any
grapes. Get rid of it! Let’s replace it with one
that will! And so, He will remove them. He may
remove whatever influence they have, and they
will lose their influence within the Believing
Community. The Supreme One may allow them to get
sick, and some may even die prematurely.
And, there
is that other kind of human being who believes
that I am the Messiah and the Son of God, and
those are the ones who produce good results. They
are growing in godly character, and love. They
are trying to obey Me more and more. They know
that they are here on Earth to serve God, and
put His interests, His priorities, His Kingdom
first. They understand that they must bring the
Good News about Me to those that God has put them
in contact with, so that they too may be saved
and live forever. They are prepared to tell others
about Me. They look for opportunities to declare
the Truth. They are not embarrassed by Me.
But even
those human beings who are producing good things,
need correction, need redirection, need a little
adjustment from time to time, if they are to grow
true and strong. And so, God will prune them,
like a vinedresser would prune a gangly grapevine,
to insure that it produces maximum results.
God in
His supreme wisdom knows that human nature needs
some discomfort, some unpleasantness, some measure
of pain, to reach it’s maximum potential. So,
from time to time, God will allow trials and difficulties
into the lives of My disciples. He will those
difficult times and situations to redirect their
course, to change their attitudes, to enlarge
their understanding, so that they will be the
most useful person they can possibly be. Expect
these trials, endure them, knowing that God is
in control, is allowing them to happen, will use
them to remove the unhealthy things in your life,
with the result that you who are My truest followers,
will become better and better!
And, another
tool that God will use to enable you to produce
ever better results is My teachings: You are
already clean because of the word which I have
spoken to you. My teachings in specific, but
also the entire Word of God, the Holy Scriptures,
are like cleansing rain which pour from the Heavens
and wash the branches and leaves and grapes on
the vine. So, pay attention to My teachings. Take
them very seriously. Read them, study them during
the week. Meditate on them, and then put them
into practice. They will help you keep clean and
fresh and renewed in a dirty, defiled world.
And, there
are other things that you can do so that you will
produce the best possible results: Abide in
Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither
can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine,
you are the branches; he who abides in Me and
I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from
Me you can do nothing.
It’s simple:
stick close to Me. I know that I will be in Heaven,
at the right hand of My Father, and you won’t
be able to see Me with your physical sight, but
you can see Me with your spiritual eyes. Stick
close to Me by doing those things that will keep
us close - study the Word of God, talk to Me and
My Father, sing, congregate with the other sons
and daughters of God, listen to your spiritual
leaders who teach you the truth; make sure that
you take time to be still and know that the Lord
is God: take long walks, or a bath, or listen
to music, or hike in the woods, or whatever it
is that helps you connect to Me and My Father,
and stay close to Us.
If you
do stay close to Me, then My thoughts, My strength,
My Spirit, My divine energy will flow through
you, and you will produce many many good results.
But if you drift away from Me, and operate in
your own energy, your own power, your own wisdom
and insight, you will produce very few good or
lasting results - if any at all. So stay close
to Me!
If
anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away
as a branch and dries up; and they gather them,
and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
The purpose
of a grape vine is to bear lots of delicious grapes.
Otherwise it is good for nothing, and hinders
the other branches from bearing fruit. It uses
up the strength of the branch. God will get rid
of fruitless believers, dead saints, useless saints,
dead congregations. You may know of someone who
started following the Messiah, but then they lost
their zeal for God, stopped reading the Bible,
rarely prayed, and got caught up with other things.
I know of some who used to be here at Shema. And
where are they today? They are not here. They
are not useful to the Kingdom of God.
And, there
are entire denominations that are in the process
of drying up and withering away, and being destroyed.
That is exactly what is happening to the United
Methodists and the Episcopalians and the liberal
Presbyterians. They used to be close to the Lord,
and spiritually alive, but over the past 200 years
they have detached themselves from the Living
God, and are well along in the process of ruination.
There
are other blessings that come from clinging to
King Messiah: If you abide in Me, and My words
abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will
be done for you. If we stick close to the
One who gives us life, then the spirit and mind
and heart of Yeshua will be flowing through us,
we will want what He wants, and we will find ourselves
praying for the things He wants accomplished,
and our prayers will be answered.
Another
blessing that comes from staying close to the
Son of God is that we can actually add to the
glory of the glorious God! My Father is glorified
by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove
to be My disciples. When we cling to Messiah
Yeshua, we grow in godly character, and love and
obedience; when were grow in knowledge, understanding
that we are here on Earth to serve God, and put
His interests, His priorities, His Kingdom first,
and that we must bring the Good News about Messiah
to those that God has put us in contact with;
when we prepare ourselves to tell others about
Him, and look for opportunities to declare the
Truth, we show that we are in reality that we
are Yeshua’s disciples, and this adds to the reputation,
the honor and the glory of the God of Israel.
So, when you do with your life as a Messianic
Believer can add to God’s honor and glory, or
take away from it. And let me suggest that not
only is it good to add to the honor and glory
of HaShem - but He will not allow you to go unrewarded.
Just
as the Father has loved Me - intensively,
completely, so that I have been protected, so
that I can complete the task assigned to Me, I
have also loved you - intensively, completely,
so that you will be protected, and complete the
task assigned to you; abide in My love - stay
close to My love. Don’t alienate Me. Don’t
ignore Me. How do we do that? He tells us: If
you keep My commandments, you will abide in My
love; just as I have kept My Father's commandments
and abide in His love. I have done My best
to obey My Father and My God. I have put His commandments
above my own pleasures, and certainly above what
has been convenient for Me. I have made knowing
and fulfilling God’s commandments My highest priority.
I have not left my responsibility to know and
study them to the rabbi at the synagogue in Nazareth,
I have made it My responsibility to know them,
so I can do what God expects of Me.
This has
kept me close to God, because obedience to the
righteous and reasonable commands of God keeps
one close the Almighty.
Why, during
out last meal together, have I encouraged you
to stick close to Me? So that you will produce
great results, glorifying God, and be amply rewarded.
Why have
I told you to expect trials and difficulties?
So that you will know that God will use them to
help you reach your maximum potential.
Why have
I encouraged you to learn My teachings? So you
will stay clean in a dirty world.
I’ve promised
you that if you cling to Me, you will know how
to pray; if you obey Me, you and I will have a
close and loving relationship.
These
things give Me joy - not pursuing My career, or
making a lot of money, or living a comfortable
lifestyle, But staying close to My God, learning
from My Father, having Him as My teacher, knowing
His mind, praying according to His will, doing
the things that He has commanded Me to do, enduring
trials, bearing much fruit, this is the source
of My joy. This is what gives me pleasure in this
life. And, these things I have spoken to you
so that My joy - this same joy, this same
source of happiness, may be in you, and that
your joy may be made full.
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Messiah
continues His final instructions to His chosen
men who will take over His work. They are having
their last Passover meal together: In regards
to our relationship to one another, within Messiah’s
Holy Community of Jews and Gentiles, Yeshua has
one supreme demand: This is My commandment,
that you love one another. The one thing we
need to strive for in our relation with each other
is love. People in the world are generally characterized
by indifference, apathy or hostility toward each
other, but we need to be characterized by love
for one another.
But what
is love? People today have all kinds of ideas
of what love is, but all too often it is confused
with romantic feelings and sexual behavior, but
love is not based on romantic feelings or sexual
behavior. Romantic feelings may increase or decrease
over time, but love remains. A man may meet a
woman and during their first date ask her: do
you want to make love? But that kind of uncommitted
sexual relationship is not love. Love can be expressed
through sex, but sex is not love.
It is
not love when a man says he loves a woman, but
it is only to get something from her. When you
are taking from the one you claim to love, you
are seducing, not loving. You see, love is by
its nature giving. Love is always bestowing, imparting,
not selfishly taking.
Some people
confuse love with warm feelings, but warm feelings
alone are not love. Sometimes a parent must discipline
a child, or a wife must disagree with her husband,
or a teacher must correct the student, and there
are no warm feelings, but of course there is still
love.
It wants
to elevate the one who is loved. It wants what
is best for its beloved, and so love must be based
on truth.
Love for
one another is not optional. For us, it is a command
and needs to be one of our very highest priorities.
Messiah
continues: Love one another just as I have
loved you. Greater love has no one than this,
that one lay down his life for his friends. Love
is active. Love is powerful. Love will take the
initiative. Love will take drastic action if necessary
to help its beloved. Love cannot remain inactive
if there is danger to the beloved. Love will climb
the highest mountain, love will dive to the bottom
of the deepest ocean. Love will come down from
Heaven and hang and bleed and die on a cross in
order to help its loved ones.
Love is
giving to the point of being sacrificial, and
in a world mixed with sin and evil, love must
sometimes suffer. But love will be willing to
sacrifice itself for the sake of the beloved.
The greatest manifestation of the love of God
is found in the death of Messiah. God so loved
the world that He gave that which was most precious
in the entire universe, His only Son, as a sacrifice
for sin. Messiah’s sacrifice of Himself is the
supreme demonstration of His love for us. We are
to love each other in the same way that Yeshua
loved us, with that same kind of powerful, active,
taking-the-initiative, self-sacrificial love.
Love is
also friendly, and so Messiah tells us, you
are My friends. Let me ask you a question:
who is your best friend? And, wouldn’t it be especially
nice if we had a good friend in high and influential
place, who could help us if necessary? Wouldn’t
it be cool to have the President of the United
States, or the CEO of GM, Ford or Chrysler, as
your friend? Now, think of it - the eternal Son
of God, the One who made the entire universe,
the King of kings, the Lord of lords, wants to
your friend! But, there is an “if” - if you
do what I command you. If you do what I command
you... Well, that sounds like a great incentive
to do what He has commanded, doesn’t it?
No
longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does
not know what his master is doing; but I have
called you friends, for all things that I have
heard from My Father I have made known to you.
Messiah’s love for us makes Him friendly. He wants
to tells us as much as possible. And, that is
the way you treat a friend. The Son of God wants
to transform us from slaves into friends. He wants
to turn us from those who are ignorant, to those
who are informed about the ways and the plans
of God.
May I
say that some of us can improve in this area of
being friends. It’s not that we don’t have our
own friends, but I’m talking about making friends,
being friends with your religious community. Some
of us go to the synagogue, and as soon as the
service is over they leave, and think that they
have done enough; they have fulfilled their obligations.
But they don’t stay to meet new people, to get
to know others, to welcome others, to make some
friends here.
My friends,
this is not the way we are to be involved in Messiah’s
Holy Community. We are to be friends with one
another. To be friends, you need to stick around,
get involved, do things together, share you mind
and thoughts, like the holy Messiah did with His
disciples. Won’t you consider reaching out more,
making a special effort to get more involved in
the lives of others here in the synagogue? If
you do, others will be blessed, you will be strengthened,
and the whole synagogue will be built up in love.
Messiah
has a love for us that is based on His sovereignty,
based on His choosing of us, not our choosing
of Him: You did not choose Me but I chose you
- I knew you before you knew Me; I was interested
in you before you were interested in Me; My Father
was drawing you to Me before you were ever aware
that you were being drawn to Me.
I and
appointed you (placed you in your position,
your relationship to God and Me), for a specific
purpose - not to make your life more comfortable
or convenient, but that you would go and bear
fruit, and that your fruit would remain. I
have chosen you, and put you in the place you
are in, born to the parents you were born to,
the family you are in, the nation you live in,
the time you live, the job you are in and the
friends you have, so that you will produce good
and lasting results. I have given you everything
you need to grow in godly character, and love.
I want you to obey Me more and more. I want you
to know that you are here on Earth to serve God,
and put His interests, His priorities, His Kingdom
first. Bring the Good News about Me to those that
God has put you in contact with, so that they
too may be saved and live forever. Be prepared
to tell others about Me. Look for opportunities
to declare the Truth. Never be embarrassed by
Me. Be bold, be courageous.
If you
stick close to Me, and these things characterize
your life, then so that whatever you ask of
the Father in My name He may give to you. You
will know My mind, you will understand My will,
and you will know how you are to pray, and what
you should pray for, and God will hear your prayers
and answer them.
And again,
because love is so important, Messiah repeats:
this I command you, that you love one another.
Now, King
Messiah addresses the world’s attitude toward
us, and it is not characterized by love.
If
the world hates you (and it will), you
know that it has hated Me before it hated you.
Understand that the hatred of the world toward
you, has its origin with its hatred of Me. The
world is not indifferent toward Me; the world
actively hates Me, and this hatred is very old,
going back to the beginning. And, since you are
now joined to Me, the world’s animosity is likewise
directed toward you. And you know what? In one
sense that’s a good thing! Because, if you
were of the world - if you were still part
of the fallen, evil, satanic world system, with
its corrupt values, the world would love its
own; but because you are not of the world, but
I chose you out of the world, because of this
the world hates you. I made the choice to
choose you. I chose to remove you from this perverse
and dying world, and transfer you into My good
and eternal world. It was My initiative and my
choosing. I chose to begin transforming you from
within, giving you My Spirit, My values, which
are so very different from the world’s. And because
of that, you will be detested.
Remember
the word that I said to you, earlier this
evening, 'A slave is not greater than his master.'
The master is greater than the slave, and
if they persecuted Me, which they have,
they will also persecute you; the world has
shown its contempt for Me, the righteous Messiah,
the Holy Son of God, One who only did good and
never sinned. If they treated Me this way, with
hatred, contempt, persecution, then obviously
they will treat you the same way or worse; if
they kept My word - which they haven’t,
they will keep yours also - which they won’t.
So, how people understand Me and relate to Me
is the way they will understand and relate to
you. The way the world relates to you will reveal
their true spiritual condition, and where they
really are in relationship with God.
But
all these things - misunderstanding you, mistreating
you, making fun of you, not paying attention to
the truth that you tell them, they will do
to you for My name's sake - because of Me,
and who I am, and simply because you are joined
to Me, and because they do not know the One
who sent Me. The sad reality of the situation
is that the world, even if they are religious,
since most of mankind is deeply religious - including
the Jewish world, the Hindu world, the Moslem
world, with all their prayers and religious ceremonies
and rituals, and most of the rest of the world,
they don’t know the one true and living God, who
is My Father, and the One who sent Me to save
them and bless them and restore them to God and
life. They don’t know God, they don’t know Me,
and so they certainly won’t value or appreciate
you; quite the opposite!
If
I had not come and spoken to them, they would
not have sin - I don’t mean that they would
be sinless - far from it! But they would not be
guilty in the sense of not understanding that
I am the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of the
world. But I have come to Israel and I have spoken
to them the very words of God. I am have things
abundantly clear who I am, by coming from Heaven
to Earth, becoming a human being from the royal
line of King David, showing up in person, proclaiming,
declaring, teaching them unambiguously who I am.
But now they have no excuse for their sin.
They have sufficient knowledge and are fully
responsible for their rejection of Me. And, he
who hates Me hates My Father also. Don’t tell
Me that you love God but dislike Me. I am the
exact representation of the Father’s nature. We
share the same Name and Spirit, character and
essence. I am just like Him.
And, it’s
not just My teaching that makes them guilty and
without excuse: If I had not done among them
the works which no one else did, they would not
have sin; I have done unparalleled miracles.
I have miraculously healed so many of the sick,
including people born blind from birth, and people
who were paralyzed. God has used Me to heal lepers,
and cast out demons, and raise people back to
life who have died. I’ve feed thousands from a
few loaves of bread and a few fish. I’ve walked
on water, calmed the winds and waves and storms.
Most of Israel’s greatest prophets didn’t do anything
like these things, and these miracles should clearly
tell you that I am close to God, since obviously
He is allowing Me to do these great things. But
you have ignored the clear implication of My miracles,
and that doubles your guilt.
But
now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father
as well. Your hatred of Me and also of My
Father, the living God, is done with sufficient
knowledge, and they are responsible.
And, this
shouldn’t come as a complete surprise: But
they have done this to fulfill the word that is
written in their Law, ' They hated Me without
a cause.' If King David was hated and persecuted
for no good reason (see Psalm 35:14), and the
Psalmist who wrote Psalm 69, I have been hated
even more so. There is absolutely no reason for
Israel to have hated me. It’s totally irrational
Now my
friends, in spite of these crystal clear words
of the Adon Olam, the Master of the universe,
and in spite of His many miracles, including His
resurrection from the dead, and the incredible
He has had on the world for 2,000 years, more
than any other human being, there are people today,
even some who are considered Messianic Jewish
leaders, who are teaching that a Jewish person
can be saved apart from confessing their believe,
faith and trust in Yeshua.
I asked
one of these prominent leaders a couple of years
ago, if Jewish people could be saved, even if
they had contempt for Yeshua, and spit when they
heard His name, and he answered, “yes.” Who are
we to believe? That man, or our Supreme Rabbi,
who said, he who hates Me hates My Father also.
Yes, we
will face the hatred of the world. It can’t be
avoided my friends. But greater is He who has
been given to live within us, than the whole world!
When
the Helper comes - My Spirit, who is also
the Spirit of God my Father, He, and He is a He
because he is a Person, with mind and will and
emotion, He will help you, and comfort you and
strengthen you, and empower you, and make you
alive to close, and help you pray, and learn,
whom I will send to you from the Father -
I will send Him because I am have authority over
My Spirit, who is also the Spirit of God, that
is the Spirit of truth - the true Spirit of
God, the Spirit who teaches and promotes only
the truth, who proceeds from the Father -
so here we have the Trinity at work - I, the Son
of God, send the Spirit, who proceeds from God
the Father, He will testify about Me -
He will keep pointing you to Me, and remind you
about Me, and who I am the Savior, the Redeemer,
the Messiah, and what I offer you - salvation,
redemption, being accepted and connected to God,
and you will testify also, because you have
been with Me from the beginning. You will
testify despite the defiance ad hostility of the
world. You will be strong and bold and courageous,
more powerful than the world. The world will not
be able to stop you from speaking and testifying
to the saving truth, and fulfilling the task of
world evangelism that I have appointed you to.
These
things - these warning about the difficulties
you will face, but also the blessings you will
receive to enable you to be more than conquerors,
these things I have spoken to you so that
you may be kept from stumbling. If you really
pay attention to these things, and believe them,
and put them into practice, you don’t need to
stumble. They will keep you from failure.
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