Psalm 80 Harvest Festival

Chartridge Mission Church

#Harvest #Psalm80 #Festival #Sermon #Celebration #Thanksgiving #Bible #Teaching #Christian #Christianity #Jesus #PaulDuffett #QaintonBaptistChapel #ChartridgeMissionChurch #Chesham  Paul Duffett from Quainton Baptist Chapel, equipped with a psalm, song, and sermon, celebrates our Harvest Festival at the historic Chartridge Mission Church. With a vast percentage of our online audience viewing from outside the UK, we invite you to join us wherever you are within the four corners of God's earth for this blessed praise and worship event.   Paul Duffett YouTube Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLeLtfVhcCUFtBdTkf0eCfaUsEYhpTMzAD  Chartridge Mission Church, a beacon of faith, was founded in 1844 and remains in the village of Chartridge, just outside Chesham, in the picturesque Chiltern Hills of Buckinghamshire, England, UK.  We are a warm and welcoming fellowship and would be delighted to have you visit us in person. Join us for our Sunday service at 6 pm, followed by refreshments.   Our Church is fully accessible, with wheelchair ramps and an accessible toilet, ensuring everyone can participate in our services.     Chartridge Mission Church, Chapel Lane, Chartridge, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, HP5 2TH  The village Church with an international audience.  Support our work at Chartridge Mission Church:  Donations via Stewardship.org.uk:    https://www.stewardship.org.uk/partners/20005300    Please make cheques payable to Chartridge Mission Church and send them to the address above, for the attention of Pastor Barry Kempson.   Recorded on Sunday, 20th September 2026.     Join us for our Sunday service at 6 pm.  www.Chartridge.UK   The Friendliest Fellowship.

Transcript

00:00We come now, Lord, to give you our humble, thankful hearts.

00:09All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above.

00:17Then thank the Lord, oh, thank the Lord for all his love.

00:28Well, we do rejoice tonight, don't we?

00:31We've come to give thanks for harvest.

00:34We've come to worship the Lord and bringing him, as it were, an offering of the fruit.

00:42Yes, of our lips we've just been singing, haven't we?

00:44That's something of a harvest when we're talking about fruit.

00:47And we'll think more about these things in a few moments.

00:50But I want to actually lead you in the reading of God's word.

00:53John's Gospel, chapter 15, starting at verse 1 and reading down to verse 14.

01:00This is Jesus speaking.

01:03I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman.

01:10Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away.

01:15And every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

01:24Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.

01:28Abide in me, and I in you.

01:33As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine,

01:37No more can ye except ye abide in me.

01:42I am the vine, ye are the branches.

01:48He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit,

01:54For without me you can do nothing.

01:57If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered,

02:02And men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

02:08If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you,

02:11Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

02:16Herein is my father glorified, that ye bear much fruit,

02:22So that ye be my disciples.

02:27As the father hath loved me, so have I loved you.

02:31Continue ye in my love.

02:33If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love,

02:37Even as I have kept my father's commandments and abide in his love.

02:41These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you,

02:47And that your joy might be full.

02:50This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

02:58Greater love hath no man than this,

03:01That a man lay down his life for his friends.

03:05Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

03:12Well, may the Lord seal the truth of his holy word in our hearts tonight,

03:17As we ponder these things.

03:19Well, it's a privilege to come and speak at this special harvest celebration,

03:23And I trust that the message tonight, and particularly the scriptures,

03:28Will indeed be building up, as it were, on that theme of harvest.

03:34And in the prayer, it's all about abundance, and sort of overflowing.

03:40Hallelujah.

03:41That's what God's about, isn't it?

03:43Yeah.

03:44He's in the business, if you put it in those terms, of bringing fullness.

03:50The fullness of the Godhead bodily dwelleth in my Lord,

03:54And we are complete in him.

03:56Hallelujah.

03:58Right, I'd like tonight to actually take a scripture, which we haven't read,

04:04But I'd like to read it now.

04:05It's Psalm 80, if you'd like to follow,

04:07Because it's going to be something of a Bible study tonight,

04:10Centred around that psalm.

04:12Psalm number 80.

04:15And please God, we'll break it up into suitable sections, as it were.

04:20And from then on, we'll pick out salient sort of features, as it were,

04:27And see what we can learn from this psalm.

04:30What is the Lord telling us through this special psalm?

04:33And I believe that it's centred very much about salvation.

04:38Because the bottom line, if you like, is indeed that the harvest, as it were,

04:44The richness is indeed bearing fruit.

04:48In fact, we read it, didn't we, my father, that you bear much fruit.

04:52In other words, bearing fruit for the Lord.

04:54Hallelujah.

04:55And for his benefit and for his glory and delight.

05:02And part of that fruit, of course, we'll see later on,

05:05One is to do with the way in which we conduct ourselves.

05:07The Holy Spirit, as it were, working through us and manifesting the fruit of the Spirit.

05:14That's one, as it were, aspect of it.

05:16And also, we'll see, perhaps a little bit, also about the harvest, as it were,

05:22In terms of saving of souls.

05:24That's another part of the harvest, as it were, isn't it?

05:27Anyway, let's look at this Psalm 80.

05:30And please, if you're able to follow in the scriptures with me,

05:33It'll be good, because I'll be referring back to it.

05:36I'm going to read it right the way through, 19 verses now.

05:40This is a psalm of Asaph,

05:43To the chief musician,

05:45Upon the, now,

05:48Shoshanim,

05:49Id,

05:50Duth.

05:53Not sure I've pronounced that correctly,

05:55But anyway, let's take the scriptures now.

05:57Give ear, O shepherd of Israel,

06:01Thou that leadest Joseph like a flock,

06:05Thou that dwellest between the cherubim,

06:08Shine forth

06:10Before Ephraim

06:12And Benjamin

06:13And Manasseh

06:15Stir up thy strength

06:17And come and save us.

06:20Turn us again, O God,

06:22And cause thy face to shine,

06:25And we shall be saved.

06:29O Lord God of hosts,

06:31How long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

06:35Thou feedest them with the bread of tears,

06:39Thou givest them tears to drink in great measure,

06:43Thou makest us a strife amongst our neighbours,

06:47And our enemies laugh among themselves.

06:51Turn us again, O Lord of hosts,

06:53And cause thy face to shine,

06:56And we shall be saved.

06:59Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt,

07:04Thou hast cast out the heathen,

07:06And planted it.

07:08Thou preparest room before it,

07:10And it's caused it to take deep root,

07:13And it filled the land,

07:15And the hills were covered with the shadow of it,

07:20And the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.

07:24She sent out her boughs unto the sea,

07:27And her branches unto the river.

07:31Why hast thou then broken down her hedges,

07:34So that they all which pass by the way do pluck her?

07:39The boar out of the wood doth waste it,

07:42And the wild beast of the field doth devour it.

07:46Return, we beseech thee,

07:48O God of hosts,

07:49Look down from heaven,

07:51And behold and visit this vine,

07:54And the vineyard which thy right hand hath planted,

07:59And the branch that thou makest strong for thyself.

08:03It is burned with fire,

08:06It is cut down,

08:08They perish at the rebuke of thy countenance.

08:12Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand,

08:15Upon the son of the man who thou makest strong for thyself.

08:18So will we not go back from thee?

08:22Quicken us,

08:23And we will call upon thy name.

08:26Turn us again,

08:28O Lord God of hosts,

08:30Cause thy face to shine,

08:33And we shall be saved.

08:38Well may the Lord indeed bring that hallelujah forth from us,

08:42Because we're rejoicing at the salvation of the Lord,

08:45And it's very much to do with this.

08:46I'd like to break this up into three parts,

08:49This psalm.

08:52First is one to seven,

08:54And then going on from eight to sixteen,

08:57And finally in this psalm,

09:00We'll be going then from verse seventeen to nineteen.

09:05So the first part then,

09:07We're looking at the plea for salvation.

09:11Did you notice there?

09:12The plea for salvation.

09:16There's a recognition for the shepherd of Israel.

09:21Did you notice that?

09:23The protector.

09:25And there's an appeal made to him to save.

09:29In verse three there,

09:30Turn us again and cause thy face to shine,

09:33And we shall be saved.

09:38If only there was an understanding amongst people in general,

09:44To understand that their need of salvation.

09:48This psalmist did.

09:50He realised that,

09:52Yes, he was perhaps representing his people here,

09:54But there was a need for salvation.

09:57Turn us again,

10:05And why is it they're in such a predicament?

10:08Well, you find here that God's anger is stirred up in verse four.

10:13O Lord God of hosts,

10:14How long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy people?

10:18You can see there that the psalmist is recognising that God is upset.

10:24He's angry and he's rising up against his people here.

10:31His anger is rising up here against the prayer of his people.

10:36And indeed, it's not just bad enough between the people and the Lord,

10:43But also between the people and people here.

10:46This aspect of community strife.

10:49And we know that civil unrest and that sort of thing does sort of enlarge and soon gets out of

10:55hand, doesn't it?

10:56If we're not careful.

10:57Here we have it in verse six here.

11:00Thou makest us a strife unto our neighbours and our enemies.

11:05Laugh among themselves.

11:07We can see here the way in which all this is being amplified.

11:12Once God's anger is kindled and somehow inflames and affects all sorts of people in different ways.

11:24As far as people are concerned, it can have unintended consequences.

11:29Not the Lord himself, because he knows the end from the beginning.

11:32And he knows what he intends, etc, etc.

11:34But to the people here who are the object of God's wrath, then we can see, you know, how it

11:42spreads around the community here.

11:45And so there is this plea in verse three, isn't there?

11:48And we have it again.

11:50Turn us again, O Lord, and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

11:56Shine.

11:57Interesting concept here.

12:00Cause thy face to shine.

12:03Shine beaming, as it were.

12:06A sign of joy or pleasure or approval, possibly.

12:11And ultimately, of course, here is salvation.

12:16Perhaps there's this aspect, it doesn't come out here, but possibly sort of pity or compassion being manifested in some

12:25way.

12:25Cause thy face to shine.

12:27The psalmist recognised the vital need and the action to petition God.

12:35And he does so three times, actually, in verse three that we've just read, and verse seven.

12:40Let me read it out here.

12:41And in verse 19.

12:43The evidence of earnest pleading in addressing the Almighty God becoming more intense each time.

12:50Let me read it here.

12:51Verse three.

12:53Turn us again, O God.

12:55Notice who he's addressing it.

12:56O God, cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

13:00Then going on to verse seven.

13:03Turn us again, O God of hosts.

13:06Who's he addressing now?

13:07This is enlarging, isn't it?

13:09He's opening up, as it were, to whom he's making his plea.

13:14Before it was, O God.

13:15Now it's, O God of hosts.

13:18And cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

13:21Same sort of aspect coming out here in the very last verse of the psalm.

13:26Turn us again, O God, Lord God of hosts.

13:30Again, do you notice there the ultimate enlargement?

13:34Going from O God to, what was it?

13:38O God of hosts.

13:39And now it's O Lord God of hosts.

13:43Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts.

13:45Cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved.

13:50Hallelujah.

13:51Wonderful sort of enlargement there.

13:53Perhaps even, how can I put it?

13:58Even that plea gets more intense, as it were, as he realises.

14:02You know, please.

14:03And he's bringing, as it were, the full sort of title of whom he's addressing there out in a measured

14:12way before the Lord.

14:13Hallelujah.

14:14Cause thy face to shine.

14:16There is something in this aspect of shine, isn't there?

14:182 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 6 says,

14:21For God, who commanded light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of

14:30the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

14:36There we have, of course, the association of the face and shining, beaming.

14:41Hallelujah.

14:44Numbers chapter 6.

14:46The Lord make his face, is a well-known Aaronic blessing here.

14:50Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee.

14:55Again, this aspect of seeking the approval of God, isn't it?

14:59And Matthew 17, indeed, this is an account when our Lord himself was transfigured before those disciples, and he was

15:08transfigured before them, and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

15:18So that's something, then, in these first few verses, and as I say, it does carry on to that last

15:23section there, but just to highlight this aspect of pleading with the Lord for salvation, the plea of salvation, bound

15:33up, as it were, in this aspect of may God's face shine, as it were.

15:39So, a line of a hymn, thy kind, but searching glance can scan the very depths that shame would hide.

15:48And that's so, isn't it?

15:49When God searches the heart, he uses, as it were, his, metaphorically, his beaming face, as it were, to shine

15:58into those dark crevices and light up round those dark corners there.

16:03Hallelujah, hallelujah, the plea for salvation, oh, that there would be a general understanding that everybody needs salvation, just as

16:12this psalmist recognised there.

16:15And so we have, from verse 8 here, the second aspect of the preparation for salvation.

16:25So, if we go to verse 8, we'll see there clearly that the Hebrews are indeed the vine.

16:32Did you notice that?

16:33Where the psalmist says, thou, speaking to God, thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt.

16:41Thou hast cast out the heathen and planted it.

16:44Here we have, then, the vine being brought out of Egypt, the Hebrews.

16:49We know that God brought them out of Egypt and he cleared out the Canaanites, didn't he?

16:55And he planted them.

16:56I'm tempted to go to that verse in Jeremiah, where it says that the Lord assuredly planted them with his

17:06whole heart and with his whole soul in the land.

17:10Hallelujah.

17:11And that's something to be reckoned with there, isn't it?

17:14And I believe that this planting of the vine in Canaan is something which anticipates the true vine that we

17:23were reading about in John's Gospel, chapter 15.

17:27Of course, even our Lord Jesus Christ himself being the true vine.

17:32And so, as the psalmist carries on in this section here, recounting the bloom and the blessing.

17:40Yet now, in verse 12, what is it?

17:43Why hast thou broken down her hedges, so that all which pass by do pluck her?

17:50In other words, that protection for that vineyard, and hence the protection for the vine, which we read earlier, flourished

18:01about the boughs spreading out and the branches and so forth.

18:04Really abundance there.

18:06And again, a wonderful picture of the sort of thing that we were talking about with harvest.

18:09And yet, the Lord had broken down the hedges and they'd become a source of derision then amongst the neighbours

18:20there.

18:21If we went to Psalm 90, we'd see it there.

18:24So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

18:30Return, O Lord, how long?

18:32And let it repent me concerning thy servants.

18:35O satisfy us early with thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.

18:42There is this recognition, and if the Lord turns away from one, then one's done for, as it were.

18:51Quite right, isn't it?

18:52And OK, if you're a believer and you're out of fellowship, then it seems as if the Lord is far

18:57away.

18:58In fact, it's probably us who's turned away from him, isn't it, in that particular case.

19:02Let me read then about this devastation.

19:04Verse 14 and 15.

19:06Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts.

19:09Look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine.

19:16Visit this vine.

19:18Hallelujah.

19:20And verse 15.

19:21And the vineyard, which thy right hand hath planted, and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

19:29In other words, the Lord had nurtured it, but for some reason, in the process, as it were, of doing

19:37away with it,

19:38taking its protection away, its hedges, and it's becoming devastated.

19:43And so there is then, even in this preparation for salvation,

19:47there's a recognition of who is bringing about this state of affairs.

19:51In verse 12.

19:53Why hast thou then broken down the hedges?

19:58It's the Lord's doing.

20:00And indeed, if we went to, and we won't tonight, but if you went to Deuteronomy chapter 28,

20:06you would see, indeed, that long chapter there, and it's mostly about the curses.

20:13It starts off with the blessing.

20:16The Lord says to his people, if you do this, then I will do such and such.

20:21In other words, there'll be this protection, and there'll be blooming and blossoming and rich harvests and so forth,

20:27your full bread baskets, et cetera, et cetera.

20:29But, and then it goes on for the rest of the chapter, and it's most of the chapter,

20:33that if you don't obey me, then there'll be these sort of cycles of discipline.

20:40And so, I believe that this is the sort of thing that is being talked about in this chapter here.

20:46And the psalmist is recognising then that it's the Lord who's bringing about this state of affairs.

20:52And this is also this recognition of him, the Lord God Almighty,

20:57who's the only one who's able to deal with the situation.

21:01In other words, he's appealing to the one who can actually do something about it.

21:06I wonder if you've ever had been wrong-changed in the supermarket.

21:11Okay, you go back to the one who wrong-changed you, and you see that they're busy with someone else,

21:15et cetera.

21:16Okay, you think, well, I won't.

21:17No, you go to the manager, someone who could actually do something about it.

21:21And hopefully, they put the thing right for you.

21:25But this is what happens now, that the psalmist, he is now going to the one,

21:32the only one who's able to deal with the situation, verse 14 here.

21:36Return, we beseech thee, O God of hosts, look down from heaven and behold, and visit this vine.

21:44Hallelujah.

21:46And the Lord does do something about it, doesn't he?

21:49Hallelujah.

21:50So there is an application then for all of us.

21:52We must also recognise our vital need of salvation.

21:58Isaiah 53.

21:59All we like sheep have gone astray.

22:01We have turned every one to his own way.

22:05Again, the recognition there of turning away from the Lord.

22:09We're doing our own thing, as it were.

22:11And Acts chapter 4.

22:13Neither is there salvation in any other.

22:16For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

22:24And that imperative there is vital, isn't it?

22:27It's not an option or a take it or leave it or, you know, I'll think about it.

22:32No, must be saved.

22:34We must be saved.

22:36And we either obey the Lord or we don't.

22:40Oh, may the Lord help us in these things.

22:42So there's a warning also in Thessalonians 1 Thessalonians 5.

22:46For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with

22:54child, and they shall not escape.

22:58I suspect some of you saw that pictures of that terrible deluge that came down that valley in Nepal, a

23:07Tibet area, two or three weeks ago now, I suppose it would be.

23:11But utterly devastating, didn't it?

23:14No one had a chance, did they?

23:16And I just fear that there's things coming upon this earth where no one will escape.

23:21But you need to be right with God.

23:23Yes, even those who were caught up in that deluge and didn't escape with their life, if they were the

23:29Lord somehow, spiritually, the spirit carries on.

23:33Of course, we know that.

23:35And indeed, I believe that the believer in that situation would be saved, even though their body might be destroyed

23:43by that incredible flood and the devastation there.

23:47So we have then, we've been looking then at the plea for salvation and the preparation for salvation.

23:54And now we have the presence of salvation from verse 17 to the end.

24:03We find here that God has made the branch.

24:06This is in verse 15.

24:07Did you see that?

24:09The vineyard which thy right hand hath planted and the branch that thou madest strong for thyself.

24:17And also the Son of Man comes into it in verse 17.

24:22Let thy right hand be upon the man of thy right hand upon the Son of Man, who thou madest

24:29strong for thyself.

24:30Now, both have reference biblically to the Lord Jesus.

24:36Isaiah 11.

24:38And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of

24:43his roots.

24:45And we believe that to be very much the Lord Jesus himself, the branch.

24:50Hallelujah.

24:51Out of the stem of Jesse.

24:54And then in Matthew 9, we have this, but that you may know that the Son of Man hath power

25:02on earth to forgive sins.

25:04Then he says to the sick of the palsy, arise, take up thy bed and go unto thine house.

25:10There you have it, a reference then to the Lord addressing himself or calling himself the Son of Man.

25:18And we have it here, didn't we, in verse 17 here of this psalm.

25:23So we have confidence then in God.

25:27And that confidence is through God's right hand man.

25:34That's, of course, in verse 17, the Lord Jesus, we believe.

25:39And also this aspect of the Son of Man as well being referenced.

25:48Matthew 26 says,

26:04So we have those two reverendants, the branch, we've said, and also the Son of Man.

26:09Somehow Jesus is in this psalm here, isn't he?

26:12Hallelujah.

26:13So we've got something of a takeaway here of the Lord Jesus himself as representing the shepherd of Israel.

26:22You remember David, again, he addressed, didn't he?

26:26The Lord is my shepherd.

26:28He was quite sort of open about that.

26:30Hallelujah.

26:31And confident there.

26:32The Lord is my shepherd.

26:34And indeed, Jesus is the good shepherd, isn't he?

26:37And here we had the verse one then, the shepherd of Israel.

26:41And also, Jesus is the man of God's right hand.

26:45We saw that just earlier on in those scriptures.

26:47And we know that a right hand man is someone who's useful and recognised as someone who is worthy of

26:56putting responsibility onto, as it were,

27:00and showing themselves, they're road tested, if I can put it in those terms, a right hand man.

27:05As far as the Lord Jesus is concerned, of course, he is God's right hand man.

27:09He sat at the right hand of God.

27:11Praise his name.

27:13And thirdly, of course, Jesus is the express image of God the Father manifesting God's shining face.

27:20We were thinking about the shining face just earlier on, weren't we?

27:24So, there we have it in this psalm then.

27:26We've got the plea of salvation, or the plea for salvation, I should say.

27:32We've got the preparation for salvation.

27:36And we've got the presence of salvation in the form, of course, of our Lord Jesus himself.

27:43Hallelujah.

27:44I'd like to just, our last section here, which is what we were reading in John's Gospel, chapter 15,

27:54is, I'd like to take it now as the final section that's being our sort of study,

27:59following on from this psalm, where we had those three sections.

28:03The fourth section is the produce of salvation.

28:07The produce.

28:08And, of course, harvest is very much to do with produce, isn't it?

28:12So, here we have the produce of salvation.

28:15And we did read, in fact, that chapter earlier on, and you're probably familiar with it anyway.

28:20But Jesus is the true vine, and we, as believers, as the Lord's followers, we are the branches.

28:29And did you notice in our reading that the expert husbandman, even Jehovah himself, is looking after his vine,

28:38he's tending his vine, just as we read about him bringing that vine out of Egypt.

28:45Here we have the Lord God Almighty tending this vine.

28:51His son, indeed, is the true vine.

28:54And, indeed, we just said about us being the branches.

28:58And did you notice, in looking after his vine, he gets rid of all the dead wood.

29:02In verse 2, again, you're welcome to follow it in John's Gospel, chapter 15.

29:07In verse 2, he gets rid of the dead wood.

29:11And this is burned in verse 6.

29:14And, again, I can only conjecture that these branches, which somehow are not benefiting from their attachment to the main

29:21vine,

29:21maybe they become broken or damaged, or there's a blockage in the free flow of sap or minerals to bring

29:29increase,

29:30meaning that what was once cultivated and correct is now doing its own thing, gone wild, as it were.

29:37The husbandman does the same thing to the old, odd, twiggy bits.

29:44In fact, anything that impedes a good crop, this pruning, of course, can be painful.

29:54In Hebrews 12, it says,

30:09And so the object of the vine is to bear fruit.

30:14That came out in verse 2 of that chapter 15 here.

30:20The purging of it, that it may bring forth more fruit.

30:25It's interesting here, because you'll see some sort of correlation between what we were talking about,

30:34the psalm with the increasing sort of reference, as it were, to the calling out the psalmist and how he

30:43addressed God.

30:45It's sort of increasing over those three times.

30:47And we find it here as well.

30:51So what we have then in verse 2, just to emphasise this,

30:57is that the branch, that it beareth fruit, and the purging, that it beareth more fruit.

31:04So we have fruit, and then we have more fruit.

31:08And then what we find is that the ultimate abundance is manifested in much fruit, in verses 5 and 8.

31:25And the vine, ye are the branches, he that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth

31:31much fruit.

31:32For without me you can do nothing, for without me you can do nothing.

31:34And then in verse 8, herein is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit, so shall you be my

31:42disciples.

31:42Can you see the progression there?

31:44And again, it might be a painful process, the pruning, or the getting rid of the dead wood and so

31:50forth, but it's there, isn't it?

31:52That it might bring forth abundance, hallelujah, much fruit.

31:55And so we have that there.

31:58And so the Lord emphasises that this is only possible while the branches are firmly attached to the main vine.

32:07In fact, the connection is so descriptive, it means living or dwelling in Jesus, abiding in God's abode, as it

32:19were.

32:20John 15, verse 4.

32:22Abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the

32:28vine.

32:29No more can ye except ye abide in me.

32:33Can you see there's a tremendous sort of emphasis on this aspect of abiding?

32:40Also, we can rightly understand that this relationship includes Jesus living in me.

32:47Jesus acknowledged his relationship as being integrated with his Father.

32:52And we find that, of course, in John 17, that lovely intercession prayer there.

32:57Verse 21.

32:58And they, that they, and again, Jesus is talking about his disciples, that they all may be one as thou,

33:05Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world may

33:10believe that thou hast sent me.

33:13So, am I working for the Lord?

33:17Am I doing it for the Lord?

33:19Or perhaps more's the point, is the Lord working through me?

33:26I gave a tale the other Sunday at Quainton about a boss that I used to work for who considered

33:35himself a respectable man.

33:40Probably one of the local masons, but he was, he wasn't a pillar in the church, inside the church, but

33:48he was a flying buttress.

33:50In other words, he was supporting the church from the outside.

33:56And that, unfortunately, is something that does happen, isn't it?

34:00That people want that air of respectability, and there is that visual sort of stance, as it were, that they're

34:10supporting the church from the outside.

34:13They're doing good, as it were.

34:15Virtue signalling, or whatever you want to call it.

34:18Well, the Lord knows those who are his.

34:21So, certainly, the sap mentioned earlier, or more accurately, the presence of God's Holy Spirit, fuels the ability to produce

34:31fruit.

34:33Galatians 5.

34:34But the fruit of the Spirit, and we've talked about this before, it's a ninefold fruit here,

34:39is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance.

34:52Against such there is no law.

34:54And I believe that the grapes represent the fruit of the Spirit.

34:59But, as I say, there is that thought in regards to saving of souls.

35:03Proverbs 11.

35:04The fruit of the writers is the tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise.

35:11This thought, of course, about winning souls is perpetuated when our Lord was talking to his disciples in Luke 10.

35:20He says,

35:35So, the fruit here, then, is in the form of ears of corn grain.

35:39But the same process is used to achieve the end result of flour, as is used to produce wine from

35:50the grape.

35:51And that process involves crushing.

35:55As we abide in Christ, the true vine, and bring forth fruit, we must understand that this is not for

36:03our own aggrandisement, or ego,

36:06which, of course, we should not have anyway, but for the Master's use.

36:11The final stage, then, of the grape is wine.

36:16And much can be said about wine in the Bible, the typology and the spiritual understanding, but it's not for

36:23our study tonight.

36:24But suffice to say, it's interesting, the first recorded miracle involved the fruit of the vine.

36:33And his last recorded drink of wine was at the Last Supper.

36:38And shortly after, he told his disciples, Mark 14,

36:42Verily, verily, I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine until that day

36:47that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.

36:50So as we close, then, by taking in the future, for the unregenerate described here as the vine of the

36:58earth.

36:59Yes, there is a vine of the earth.

37:00Did you know that?

37:01It's in Revelation chapter 14.

37:03It's not the true vine, the vine of the earth.

37:07And for them, the wrath of God is manifested.

37:09In verse 19.

37:11And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it

37:17into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

37:21So that's something fearsome.

37:22It's something that is coming.

37:24We know it's coming.

37:25It's written in God's word.

37:27And we can take that and understand that it's something to be avoided here.

37:31The vine of the earth.

37:33Are you of the vine of the earth or are you of the true vine?

37:39Something to ponder.

37:40But for those at peace with God, here's the future.

37:44Micah 4.

37:46But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree and none shall make them afraid.

37:52And the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken it.

37:55This aspect of rest under the vine.

37:59Yes.

38:00Lovely picture of tranquility there.

38:03But apart from the physical fruit, which I believe that it does refer to that, but also it's that spiritual

38:08application under the vine.

38:10In other words, under the kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true vine, under the true vine,

38:19as it were, the kingship of Christ, who's reigning from Jerusalem, Zion.

38:24Hallelujah.

38:26So, are we the branches firmly grounded in the true vine?

38:33And if we are, are we producing fruit, indeed much fruit, for the kingdom of God?

38:39May the Lord bless those few thoughts to our souls tonight.

38:44Amen.

38:45Amen.

38:45We plough the fields and scatter the good seed of the land.

38:54But it is set and watered by God's almighty hand.

39:03He sends the snow in winter, the warm to swell the grain.

39:11The breezes and the sunshine and soft, refreshing rain.

39:20All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above.

39:29Then thank the Lord, oh, thank the Lord, for all His love.

39:39He only is the maker of all things near and far.

39:48He paints the wayside flower, He lights through the evening star.

39:57The wind and waves obey Him, By then the birds are fed.

40:05Much more to us, His children, He gives our daily bread.

40:15All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above.

40:23Then thank the Lord, oh, thank the Lord, for all His love.

40:33We thank the Lord, oh, Father, for all things right and good.

40:42The sea time and the harvest, our life, our health, our food.

40:50Accept the gifts we offer, for all your love impart.

41:00We come now, Lord, to give you our humble, thankful hearts.

41:09All good gifts around us, all good gifts around us are sent from heaven above.

41:18Then thank the Lord, oh, thank the Lord, for all His love.

41:27La, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.

41:29All good gifts around us are sent from heaven above.

41:30The sea time and other, podcasting, what we Bonус hablamos means of heaven,

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended