Mark 12:1

Bring Forth Fruit

I. Parable of the vineyard.

A. Immediately in their minds they would associate this with

Isaiah 5. "For the vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house

of Israel."

1. The parable in Isaiah 5 is the vineyard that had been

given every advantage and benefit, yet it failed to

produce good grapes, only wild grapes.

2. The vineyard was thus to be neglected and trodden down.

B. Here again is the vineyard this time it was let out to

husbandmen while the Lord was in a far country.

1. He sent back His servant that he might reap the fruit

of the vineyard, and they beat him.

2. A second servant was sent and they cast stones at him.

3. And all that were sent were abused by those who had

been left in charge of the vineyard.

4. Last of all He sent His own beloved Son, saying,

"Surely they will reverence Him." But they said this is

the heir, let us destroy Him and the vineyard will be

ours. Jesus asked what will the Lord of the vineyard

do?

5. He will destroy the husbandmen, and give the vineyard

to others.

C. Jesus then quoted from the psalm that the disciples had just

quoted from two days earlier as He made His entry into

Jerusalem on the donkey. Psalm 118, "The stone that the

builders rejected is become the head of the corner."

D. In the parable the vineyard is Israel, the husbandmen are the

religious leaders, and the Lord seeking fruit is God. The

servants are the prophets, and of course the Son is Jesus

Christ.

II. The other husbandmen that the vineyard is to be let out to is His

church.

A. The desire of the Lord is the same, He desires to enjoy the

fruit of the vineyard.

B.

In John 15 where he gives the analogy of the vine and the

branches He said,

JOH 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so

shall ye be my disciples.

JOH 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye

in my love.

JOH 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even

as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his

love.

JOH 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain

in you, and [that] your joy might be full.

JOH 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have

loved you.

JOH 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his

life for his friends.

JOH 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

C.

Quite obvious the fruit that the Lord is seeking is love. The

agapas.

1. Agapas is a word almost coined for the New Testament

to describe a love that is beyond the ordinary.

2. Man exists on three planes, body, soul, and spirit.

He thus loves on three planes. Physical, emotional,

spiritual.

a. The most shallow plane is the physical, thus

the eros or physical love is the most shallow

of all.

b. The emotional plane is deeper thus the phileo

is deeper than the eros.

c. Love on the spiritual plane is the deepest love

of all, this is the love that God has for you

and desires to receive from you.

D. When a new word is coined in a language, it is necessary to

define the word.

1.

There are two places in the New Testament where the

word agape is defined.

a. I Cor.13

1CO 13:4 Charity suffereth long, [and] is kind; charity envieth not;

charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

1CO 13:5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not

easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

1CO 13:6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

1CO 13:7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things

endureth all things.

1CO 13:8 Charity never faileth:

b. Galatians 5

GAL 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,

longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

GAL 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

2.

This is what God was seeking from the nation of

Israel.

3. This is what Jesus is seeking as He has comes to

commune with us today.

E. In the book of Revelation, John sees the vision of Jesus

walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks which

are explained as the seven churches of Asia.

1. As Jesus addresses these churches beginning in chapter

2 He declares to the church of Ephesus, that they had

left their first love. They were commanded to repent

and to go back to their first works, or else He would

remove the candlestick from its place.

2. He had come to the church seeking love, and He found

the works continuing, but the love was gone.

III. Things that stop the flow of love in a congregation.

A. In Galatians 5, Paul contrasts the works of the flesh with the

fruit of the Spirit which is love. These works of the flesh are

contrary to love and stop the flow of love from your life.

1. Adultery, Satan so often lies and declares that this is

true love.

a. The common line is that I don't love my husband

or wife anymore, I don't think I ever really

loved them, our marriage was a mistake from the

beginning.

b. Look at the damage it does not only to your

spouse but your children who interpret it as,

"Daddy or mommy doesn't love us anymore."

Whatever the case may be. And in a real sense,

they are right, if you truly loved them, you

would not put them through such pain, for your

own personal pleasure.

2. Fornication, the line here is often let's make love, it

would be more accurate to declare let's indulge our

lusts.

a. This is love on the animal plane, the eros.

b. It is not a true love at all. If you truly

loved them you would marry them. It is taking

something valuable from someone without

commitment, or giving anything in value in

return.

3. Uncleaness, from the Greek word Akatharsia, the word

catharsis is to cleanse, put the negative prefix a in

the front, and you have uncleaness. This is usually in

a moral sense.

4. Lasciviousness Debauchery, sexual excess, absence of

restraint, insatiable desire for pleasure. Self

centered, not concerned for what it might do to others.

5. Idolatry. That is allowing something else to take the

supreme place in your heart and life other than Jesus

Christ. The first commandment was, "Thou shalt have no

other gods before Me. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God

with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength."

6. Witchcraft (pharmakia) Use of drugs to come to an

altered state of consciousness.

7. Hatred

8. Variance. Strife

9. Emulations which is envy or jealousy.

10. Wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders,

drunkeness, revellings, and such like.

11. These are all contrary to true love, and stop the flow

of true love.

B. These are called the works of the flesh, in contrast to the

fruit.

1. Whenever you get into the flesh, you are in the realm

of works.

a. The Lord is not interested in coming to a

factory with all the clanging and banging, the

whirring of engines, to examine how much

product is coming out.

b. He is wanting to come to His garden to relax

and enjoy the beauty and the fruit.

c. Some churches are like factories, may we always

be a a garden.