Tales from a Vineyard - Making love in the vineyard — an old song

♪♪ >> This morning I want to share with you what may be... an idea... a concept, a truth... you've never heard before. Or it could be we simply haven't learned about it before. I want to talk to Jesus and then plunge into this with you. So, let's pray. Oh, God, we're not in a hurry. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's how we live six out of the seven days of every week. Hurry, hurry, hurry, hurry. But here we are in Your house. We've been much in worship already. You're on the throne, leaning over and receiving it with such joy. It's our honor. You're still here. Your Word's about to get opened. Dear God, make it clear, please. This is new for us. Don't let us push it away. There must be something here for everyone. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. So, the title of tale number 3 in this little miniseries we're calling "Tales from a Vineyard" -- the title of this one is "Making Love in a Vineyard -- An Old Song." I have one finger. You can see only one finger on my hand right now. That's how many times I have ever dared to quote from this book that we're going to take a look at in worship in church. And the reason is because when you read this book... it's embarrassing. And the speaker has to do a whole lot of editing. "Blank, blank, blackout, blackout, blackout, blackout." They're words you're not supposed to see. Now, it's true when I'm at a wedding, marital sex is a big deal. It's pretty much what everybody thinks about when they go to a wedding. And why shouldn't we? It's this wonderful gift of marriage that God has given, and wrapped up in that gift is marital sex. The big question is, what does marital sex have to do with a vineyard? I want you to open this book and take a look for yourself. It's called Song of Solomon. Your Bible may call it Song of Songs. Doesn't matter. Open your Bible to Song of Solomon. You got to find the psalms, and then it's Proverbs, then it's Ecclesiastes, then it's Song of Solomon. If you didn't bring your own Bible, grab the pew Bible. It's page 455 in the pew Bible. And I need to tell you that this particular edition of the NIV that I have -- every book has a one-sentence summary at the top, so here's the one-sentence summary for Song of Songs. "Song of Songs is a collection of love poems between a lover and his beloved. It beautifully celebrates romantic and physical love." That would be *** love. And because it's a love song, the song has a "she" in it and it has a "he" in it and it has friends in it, in my particular rendition, so everybody is becoming a part of the music. And now your Bible may call "her" "Shulamite." And all "Shulamite" means is "Mrs. Solomon." So, Solomon's the lover, the male lover. Mrs. Solomon -- she's going to become Mrs. Solomon in this book -- she's the female lover, and the friends are their friends, all right? So, she's speaking first. This is verse 6. I'm not going to put this on the screen for you. That way nobody can prove that we actually were here. All right. Song of Solomon 1:6. "Do not stare at me." This is she. She is speaking now. "Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother's sons" -- those would be her brothers -- "were angry with me, and they made me take care of the vineyards." Oh, we're looking for vineyards. Here we go. "They made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I had to neglect." "That's why I'm all tanned and, you know, sunburned. I've been doing their work. I forgot to take care of my own vineyard." He comes along. In verse 9, he says, "Oh, I liken you, my darling, to a mare." Well, back in those days, romance was expressed in different ways. [ Laughter ] You know, "You remind me of a mare." The old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be. That's probably what he was thinking. Not really. You got to read the next line. "I liken you to a mare." That's a female horse, by the way. "I liken you to a mare among Pharaoh's chariot horses." So, you got 100 steeds. Boy, they are ripping and ready to go, and there's one girl in that whole crowd, and she's the beautiful one, and who's going to get her? And he says, "You're my mare." And, by the way, she probably was a daughter of Pharaoh. And then she speaks back. Oh, this is verse 13. "My beloved is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my ***. My beloved is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi." So now we've got vineyards again. This is a love song from a vineyard. Now he speaks. "How beautiful you are, my darling!" This is verse 15. "How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves." Whatever that is. She responds now. This is so important, I want you to see it on the screen. She responds in verse 16, "How handsome you are, my beloved! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant." "Verdant" is just another word for "green." Some of your translations have "green." "Our bed is green." What's she talking about? She's talking about making love in a vineyard. I'm serious -- green, rolling aisles of a vineyard. You say, "Dwight, you're just making that up." No, I'm not. Go to the end of the love song, all right? Chapter 7. This is near the ending of the song. Chapter 7, verse 12. She again is speaking. That's exactly what she's saying. "Our bed is green." Go to chapter 8. One more time, she sings -- this is verse 11 -- she. "Solomon had a vineyard in Baal Hamon; he let out his vineyard," he leased out his vineyard, "to tenants." Each was to bring for its fruit a thousand shekels of silver." Listen, nobody grows a vineyard without -- without praying for fruit. That's the whole point of a vineyard. Nobody has a vineyard just for a beautiful piece of growth. You want fruit. Solomon says, "I'll sell you this fruit for 1,000 pieces of silver." Now she comes on. "But my own vineyard is mine to give." Very interesting, ladies. Keep that in mind, by the way. Your own vineyard is yours to give and not his to take. It's your vineyard. "My own vineyard is mine to give." A love song from a vineyard. What's the big deal? The big deal is vineyards have to produce fruit. If they don't produce fruit, what's the point of a vineyard? And, in fact, some people read this and they say, "Well, is this really just Solomon and his wife?" No, it really is about romantic, *** love, and the whole book is devoted to that, and my friend *** Davidson has written a book this thick on Song of Solomon called "The Flame of Yahweh." It is a big deal, and God says, "Marital sex is a part of my beautiful gift of marriage." Come on. But it's not surprising, maybe, to discover that if you turn five pages over so you're into the Book of Isaiah now -- maybe only three pages -- Isaiah chapter 5 -- the vineyard is also a symbol of God and His people. Watch this. Isaiah 5:1. "I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard." So here's -- The love song's going on. But the vineyard now is the focus of the love song, not the he and the she so much as the vineyard. "I will sing a love song about his vineyard." "My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside." "And he built a wall around it. He dug a winepress in it. He put a tower in front of it." But here comes God -- verse 4. "This is bad news. I planted this vineyard to grow fruit, and I'm getting nothing but thistles and poison. What's the big deal, God? Relax." No, it's a big deal. If you plant a vineyard, you want fruit, right? Yeah. Drop down to verse 7. "The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel." Ah, this is about God and His chosen people. "The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines He delighted in. The big deal is you got to have fruit. That's the deal of vineyards. You have to have fruit. If you have no fruit, adiós. Get rid of that vineyard, right? Now, what's amazing is that Jesus, just four days before they execute Him -- four days -- He takes this love song from Isaiah and the vineyard and He weaves it into a story, into a parable. Take a look at this. Come on. Three short stories in a row. Let's go to Matthew chapter 21. Jesus is thinking about Isaiah 5 when he tells this story just days, hours, before he'll be dead, okay? So, this is Matthew 21. Red letters. My, my. Yep. Matthew 21. Drop down to verse 33. Jesus says, "I want you to listen to another parable. I need you to hear this." "There was a landowner who planted a vineyard." There it is again. "He put a wall around it" -- well, that was in Isaiah 5 -- "he dug a winepress in it" -- that was in Isaiah 5. "and he built a watchtower." That also was in Isaiah 5. Now, notice what Jesus -- he now turns that song, that love song, into a parable. Now, after the owner did all that... Vineyards are all about fruit, and so the servants come, and they say, "Yo, we're here now to pick up our fruit." "Fruit?! This is not your vineyard." And they *** them, killed them, drove them out. Everything that the owner sent -- gone. The owner said, "Okay, okay. I don't know what's going on with the crazy vineyard tenants, but here's what let's do. I'm sending my son. They'll surely respect him, and now I get the fruit I've been living for." This story has Jesus' crucifixion written all over it. Ah! And here comes the son. Drop down to verse 38. "So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard," outside Jerusalem, "and they killed him." Four days later, this comes true. Now Jesus turns to his listeners, who have no idea where he's going with this, and he asks them the punchline question. "Therefore" -- verse 40 -- "when the owner of the vineyard finally shows up, what will he do with those tenants?" What would you do with them? And everybody instinctively, including the Pharisees and Sadducees, just cried out, because every community just loves a good story. They just cried out, verse 41... "Aha!" Jesus said. "You got it." Verse 43. A love song... making love in a vineyard... God's song of the vineyard, Jesus' parable of the vineyard -- I'm telling you what. This may feel a little crass. Is this too materialistic to keep driving for this bottom line? The point is you got to have fruit. You have to have fruit. There is no purpose for a vineyard that does not have fruit. I mean, that's the point. Do you understand that vineyards are big business right now -- agribusiness? It's huge. Who do you suppose -- which nation on Earth -- is the greatest fruit-growing nation, the most grapes in the world? Which nation? China. Unbelievable. China. What's the number there? 9.6 million metric tons a year. Number 2 -- it would be in Europe and starts with an "I." Italy. Of course it would be Italy. Isn't that right? Got the whole Bacchiocchi tribe right there -- that beautiful baptism. Isabella, we're proud of you. Of course Italy is number 2. Number 3 would be France. Number 4, the U.S. of A. Here it is, our homeland. The United States grows and sells 6,206,228 metric tons of grapes a year, and I went online and I found out that in 2017, one metric ton sold for $877.00, just -- pshht! -- $877. So you multiply $877 times the 6.2 million tons, and you come up with a number. This is agribusiness in the United States. Vineyards in the United States produce $5,442,861,956 every year, and that's not saying a word about the businesses that take the grapes, turn them into juice and everything else you can imagine. $5.4 billion. Agribusiness -- come on. Is it a sin to make profits? Are you kidding? I don't even have an M.B.A., but this much I know. I would never invest in a business that's not making a profit. I wouldn't! It is wrong to long for fruit? Are you kidding? That's the whole point of a vineyard. And that's the whole point of these three short stories. You've got to have fruit. If you don't have fruit, something's gone wrong, right? Our own vineyard -- we're calling it God's Vineyard -- 4 miles up the road -- Yesterday I went back to where we shot these videos, and, for me, it was like a hallowed moment because it's still there. The vines are still growing. And I stood around and clipped those children's-story grapes. 88 acres -- that's it. 88 acres of beautiful Southwestern Michigan vineyards, rolling aisles, green and verdant! Are you kidding?! I've been standing in that vineyard aisle with my friends Robin and José several Sabbaths now in a row. We go back to that vineyard... because there's something important we need to get about vineyards. It may be something you've never even thought of in your life before, but you'll never be the same again for hearing it right now. Let's roll that -- Let's roll that video. ♪♪ ♪♪ >> We're coming back one more time to what we're calling God's Vineyard. And, actually, we've saved the best part till last, because what's a vineyard about? I've been reminded by these two professionals, José and Robin, that, of course, the vineyard's all about fruit -- fruit, fruit, fruit, fruit, fruit. So, I want to move to the pruning process. Robin, take us up close. Let's look at one of these branches. >> So, the way you would prune it is you would want to prune it very close to the branch itself... >> Okay. >> ...so the branch will protect it and survive it. >> Yes. >> And you leave two or three buds on it because that becomes the next season's crop. >> But, Robin, when you say, "Branch," you're actually talking about the vine, this knotty, *** stuff. >> The vine. >> The branch eventually becomes a vine... >> Yes. >> ...and then these new shoots, so you have to cut it right down near that old wood... >> That's exactly right. >> ...and then go all winter in the cold... >> Oh, sure. >> ...and be ready to come. >> You bet, even through these cold Michigan winters we have. >> If you didn't prune it, what would happen? >> You wouldn't get fruit. It would eventually wither away, and you'd have to throw it in the fire. >> So, theoretically, what is painful to a vine -- If a vine could cry out, it would be in December, when José and his team are going up and down these rows, cut, cut, cut. So, pruning is painful. >> It is. >> But you can't have growth without it. >> You can't have growth without it. >> Would it be all right if we just pull off one of these clusters? >> Yeah, right here. >> Oh, my, my, my, my. Look at this. It's a work of art. >> It may be a little more sour 'cause they're still four weeks out, but they're still good. >> Mm-hmm. >> They're good. >> These are not seedless. >> No, they're not. >> [ Chuckles ] So, the seeds are just for throwing out? >> Yeah, yeah, yeah. >> That's it? >> That's it. >> A branch has to come from an existing vine. >> Yeah, you're right. Yeah. That is the only way. >> You guys have been real troopers to be out here in the middle of the day, under a beautiful sky in Michigan. But your lives, invested as they are in the growing of fruit, have helped us capture what Jesus is trying to tell us. "Come on, guys. Stay connected to me, and I'll grow the fruit." Branch can't grow the fruit on its own. >> No. >> The vine grows the fruit. And you will be tasty to an entire planet. ♪♪ >> You know, I need to say I am so proud of Gaddiel and Richard and Michael, our media team, who produced this whole thing -- have just done a masterful job. And at the risk of overemphasis -- I've got to say it again -- the whole point of a vineyard is you gotta have fruit. You have to have fruit. In fact, when we come to these familiar words of Jesus in John 15 -- this has kind of been our home base through this little series "Tales from a Vineyard." Go to John 15. When you get to Jesus' words here, do you know seven times in the Greek, He mentions fruit, the Greek word for "fruit"? It's a big deal. Take a look at this. Let's just read this. 24 hours from now, He's dead and buried. He's in a hole in the ground. This is Passover. Full moon. He's walking to Gethsemane with his disciples, but He sees a trellis. He says, "Hey, guys, come, come, come, come. Come over here. Get up close. I want to teach you something." And, boy, what He is teaching is what we have got to learn. All right. John 15:1. "You are already clean," or pruned -- it's the same word -- "because of the word I have spoken to you." Now look. Verse 4. "Remain," or abide, "in me, as I also remain in you." No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain," if you abide, "in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; for apart from me you can do nothing." Now look. "If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch" -- we saw it just a moment ago in the children's story -- "that will be thrown away and it withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned." Drop down to verse 8. Drop down to verse 16. "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit" -- the seventh time that word appears -- "fruit that will last -- and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you." Unbelievable. What's the big deal? What's the big deal of the fruit on the branches? Listen. Listen. People, when they taste the fruit, they don't celebrate the branch. They celebrate the vine. The whole point of the fruit of the branch is to validate the vine. People come from all over the world to Slovenia. Slovenia -- it's a little country in Eastern Europe. Is that -- Oh, we got the picture. Look at this. These guys scrambled between services and found a picture. That's a vineyard. That's between 400 and 500 years of age. It only produces between 30 to 40 kilograms of grapes a year, but they put it into little tiny bottles, and they won't even sell it. They just give it to dignitaries. Why? People are celebrating not the grape, they're celebrating the vine. That vine is what counts. Jesus says, "Listen, this is my commandment -- that you love each other. Come on, come on, come on." The fruit of love demonstrated among us becomes a shining testimony to the world outside of Andrews University and the Pioneer Memorial Church that, "Wow, these people are something else!" In fact, Jesus says... "By this the whole world will know you are my people. When they see the fruit, they're drawn to the vine." That's the whole point. There's a lot of vineyards. You got to have fruit. What kind of fruit? Craig Keener, New Testament scholar -- on the screen, his commentary on John. "In Palestine, the grapes ripen in late summer as the shoots stop growing and the bark changes from green to darker shortly before the vintage," or harvest, "of August or September. Yet John writes figuratively" -- he's not talking about grapes -- "of what sort of fruit does the passage speak?" Keener concludes, "The immediate context suggests" -- jot it down in your study guide. It's in your worship bulletin right now. "It suggests moral fruit." Moral fruit. What are you talking about when you say, 'Moral fruit'?" Paul says, "Excuse me! Excuse me!" "Yes, back of the class. Paul?" Paul says, "How 'bout Galatians 5:22-23?" Put that on the screen, please. "For the fruit of the" what? "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Moral fruit indeed. You see those qualities there, that fruit? When you see any one of those berries, those grapes, in somebody, you are drawn to that person. When you see a kind person, what do you think of? "Man, I wish I could be that kind." When you see a gentle person, when you see a faithful person, a person that has joy and peace, "Man, whatever that girl has, I want that for me!" That's the deal. The Spirit inside of us produces moral fruit. I love the way Jesus puts it right here -- John 15:5. In "Desire of Ages" -- You can't beat this. Oh, you're going to love this. You got it in your study guide. Take it home. "Desire of Ages," on the screen. "The life of Christ in you produces the same fruits as in Him. Living in Christ, adhering to Christ, supported by Christ, drawing nourishment from Christ, you bear fruit after the similitude," or the likeness, "of Christ." That fruit that grows in you is just like Jesus, and when people see that fruit in the business world or in the academic world or in the athletic world, when people see that fruit in the neighborhood world, they say, "What she has, what he has, how did he get that? How does he have that calm under fire... calm and peace under pressure? How does he do that?" Oh, when they see the fruit, they think of the vine. You'll tell them about the vine. A friend of mine named Lucas Jurek dropped by the office the other day. He's from British Columbia. He has four girls, four daughters, and they're all students at Andrews University. Four daughters. They sang for us in first service. Absolutely beautiful. He said, "Hey, Dwight, have you ever seen this quotation?" I hadn't seen it before. Put it on the screen for you. "Acts of the Apostles." "The sap of the vine, ascending from the root, is diffused to the branches" -- that's how it works in a vineyard -- "sustaining growth and producing blossoms that become fruit. So" -- here it comes -- "the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit" -- write that down, please. "The life-giving power of the Holy Spirit" -- He's the divine sap -- "proceeding from the Saviour, pervades the soul, renews my motives and my affections. It even brings my thoughts into conformity to what God's will is for my life," last line, "enabling me and you to bear the precious fruit of holy deeds." Don't let those two words, "holy deeds," blow you away. Come on. Holy deeds are Jesus deeds. They're God deeds. It's the way God lives. It's the way Jesus lived. That's all. The fruit that's in Him, the sap comes into you. Hey, listen, how does that sap come? Through what? Holy Spirit. Through the Holy Spirit. Isn't that right? Why would I not every day be praying for a daily baptism of the Holy Spirit? Why wouldn't I every day say, "God, today just give me that life-giving sap"? "Just come in to me. I want my fruit, the fruit of my words, the fruit of my lifestyle -- I want it to reflect you. Jesus, Your fruit in me, please." Why wouldn't I every day ask for the baptism of the Holy Spirit? But of course we would. Wow. Well, I repeat the law of the vineyard, plain and simple -- you gotta have fruit, which is why verse 2 is there, by the way. We skipped verse 2 all the way through, and, at first, I didn't realize how significant verse 2 is. So, when this series began, I just said, "Oh, you know, come on. It's a little negative. Let's just leave it out." Big mistake, Preacher. You better do more studying. Verse 1 again. I need to observe that this teaching of pruning in order to advance the maturing, deepening life of Christ's followers -- it's the most obvious point in John 15, and guess what. It's the most overlooked point of John 15. [ Chuckles ] We don't like it. You know why? Because nobody likes the word "Ouch." Why don't I like the word "ouch"? Because when I experience "ouch," guess what happens to me. I hurt. And nobody wants to hurt. So, this idea of somebody coming along with those green pruning shears -- ow, ow, ow! Who wants "ouch"? So we just say, "Hey, I don't need that. I got verse 3." Something's going on here. Could this be the one major truth you either have never heard about because nobody preaches about this or... you've known about but just said... "Not for me. Mañana." Well, mañana has come. I'm going to slow down right now. This is the final wrap to this. I need you to hear. I need the Holy Spirit to give you ears to hear what He is saying inside of you, because the profound witness of the New Testament is a running commentary and testimony to the purpose of divine pruning... beginning with the life of our Lord Jesus Himself. Guess what. Prune, prune, prune for Jesus. Hebrews chapter 5 on the screen. Jot this down in your study guide. Verses 7-8. "And He was heard because of His reverent submission." Here it comes now. Write that down. Suffering was intentional in His life for pruning purposes, for training purposes. He had to suffer in order to get it. Oh, my. Some of you -- Listen to me carefully. Some of you are suffering right now. I know your stories. I pray for you by name. You're suffering right now, and you have pleaded with God to please remove this, this painful burden. You have promised God that if He would take this away, you would serve Him all the more gladly. You would be more faithful. You would go anywhere God would send you. Just take this suffering away. "The 'ouch,' the pain, is killing me. Take it away, please." But it feels like you're praying into the wind. Nothing comes back. Just like Jesus, just like Paul, they kept praying into the wind, and it felt like nothing was coming back. Let's go to Paul. Take a look at this. 2 Corinthians chapter 12 on the screen, verses 8-10. "Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take my suffering away from me. But He said to me, "My grace is... sufficient for you." I want you to just stare at that screen for a moment. Please notice that is not past tense and that is not future tense. That is present tense. "I am who I am. I am in your life right now, and My grace right now is sufficient for you. I'm not worried about tomorrow. I'm not worried about yesterday. I am who I am. And My grace, My love" -- you read it "My love" -- "is sufficient for you." For as the Bible says, "When you are afflicted, I'm afflicted." As the Bible promises, "I will never leave you or forsake you. My grace is sufficient for you." When that finally dawned on Paul, he goes on to write... "I delight in my prunings. I delight in my prunings, for when I am weak, something happens to me, and I'm made strong." Isn't that amazing? How come we've never seen this before? How come nobody preaches about suffering anymore? Because we're a septic society, that's why, and we can't stand the thought of having to suffer. We have everything to relieve us of suffering. Paul eventually would exclaim, from prison, by the way, subsequently to this, this line in 2 Corinthians. I'll put it on the screen. This is Philippians 3:10. Ahh. "I want to know Christ divine, and I want to know the power of His resurrection," and we usually stop it right there. We stop reading right there, but he goes on. "And the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, so that I might become like Him in His suffering death." "I want to be like Jesus. Bring the pruning on." That's what he's saying. Unbelie-- In prison. "Ah, come on, Dwight. There's got to be a better way. We don't have to go the way of Jesus. We don't have to go the way of Paul. Have you studied the Bible and found anything else?" I tried. I tried. But you keep running in to this all over the New Testament. Let me put Hebrews chapter 12 on the screen. "Why am I going through this? Isn't there an easier path?" Let's go. Verse 10 -- 10 and 11. "Our fathers" -- that would be our Earthly fathers -- "disciplined us for a little while as they thought best." Remember your dad's belt? You have to be a Baby Boomer or older to remember that. They changed the discipline methods, thanks to Dr. Spock. "Our fathers disciplined us," our Earthly fathers, "for a little while as they thought best; but God discipline--" Ooh! "'God disciplines us for our good'? Are you kidding?! The pain is for our good that we may share in His holiness." What's holiness? "Become like Me. Come on. I want you to be like Me. We're getting there. We're getting there. Don't give up!" Keep reading. Hebrews goes on. "No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful." Tell us. "Later on, however, it produces the fruit." Right in that word, that's the key word. "It produces the fruit of righteousness and peace." Pruning produces fruit. Pain produces fruit. Suffering produces fruit. You and I are always scrambling. "Get me out of this! Get me out of this! Get me out of it now!" And God says, "Shh. Slow down. No, I'm not going to get you out of it, Paul. My grace will be enough for you. My grace is sufficient. I'm staying with you. I'll never leave you. You know I love you, don't you? I do. Then don't ask Me again to take this away. I could have taken it away long ago. Obviously, it's for a reason that you're experiencing this. Just grow with Me. Grow with Me." Wow. Fruit is produced by pain, by pruning, by suffering. It is everywhere. 2 Timothy 3:12 on the screen. "Everyone who wants to live a godly life connected to the Vine, Jesus Christ" -- You want to live a godly life? Yeah, me, too. Be like God. Why not? "Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." [ Chuckles ] Guys, I'm telling you, you can try to get out of this and say, "Well, that's really not in there. It's not in my version." No, it's in your version. It's in your version. Because persecution is pruning. And you know where the source of persecution is? It's not God. God doesn't persecute you. You know where the source is? Jesus once said, in Matthew 13:44, "An enemy has done this." Listen, because you're connected to Jesus as you are, lookit -- you're like this. You and Jesus are just like this. Because you are, you have alerted all the forces of Hell, 'Heavy artillery on him, heavy artillery on her, until... she... lets go of her connection. Keep that fire withering. Get her to let go. Get him to let go." That's the whole deal. Break the connection. Become like a little shriveled-up branch. That's all Satan lives for. "Break him! Break her so that she releases!" Job says, "No, even though He slays me, I will trust Him." You just have to hang on, guys. The devil is going to try every trick in the book to convince you it's not worth it. "This Christ life, it's a bunch of hooey! Look at this! If you are a friend of Jesus, why are you going through this? Explain that me. And I'll stand at the foot of Calvary and say, 'If you're Jesus, why are You going through this?'" Because suffering in this fallen world is God's way to victory, growth, and eternal life. That's it. Calvary is because God said, "There is no other way. Stay with Me." Wow. Jesus comes along in Mark 10:30, and this is incredible. "He promises all who give up all to follow Him" -- fill this in in your study guide -- "you will be rewarded in this life," because Peter said, "Hey, I've given up everything for you." Jesus said, "I got great news for you, Pete. You're going to be rewarded in this life a hundred times as much because of what you've given up, and it will come with persecutions." Write that down. "It will come with persecutions." Why? Snip, snip, snip, snip, snip. Pruning will go on, and the more successful you are, the more the need you have to be pruned, because you know what happens if we get successful? God says, "Hey, hey, hey, yo, yo, yo, yo! Did you think you did all this? Did you think you did all this? Let me remind you, Nebuchadnezzar, I'm going to give you seven years of insanity so that that pride will be driven from your life for good." The more successful you are, the more likely you will be pruned. Count on it. If you have not pruned mu-- If you have not suffered much yet... That's the next line, by the way. Fill it in. If you have not suff-- I've hung around this planet a few times, and here's the point. Just write that down. Take it to the bank and cash it. Because if you've not suffered yet, you've got suffering coming. I'm not trying to scare you. I'm not trying to talk you out of letting go with Jesus. Are you kidding? Thank God for the sunshine you're living in right now. But you better be tight. Just hang on to him. This roller coaster goes over a hump, and then it'll feel like the bottom has fallen out. You can't avoid it. You will suffer. Why has nobody taught us this? Why did I just discover this? It's been here for 2,000 years. You and I will suffer. Why? Snip, snip, snip. Snip, snip, snip. "Desire of Ages" very gently but beautifully comments on John 15:2, and I'm not going to read 15:2 now. I'm going to go straight to "Desire of Ages," because Jesus is saying, "You're going to be pruned." Look at this on the screen. "The pruning will cause pain." Lookit. I'm looking at a bunch of athletes in here -- big, young, tough, you know, sculptured athletes. Every athlete knows this -- no pain... no gain. [ Chuckles ] You cannot have gain unless you have pain. God says, "That's the point. No pain, no gain. You got to have it." "The pruning will cause pain, but it is the Father who applies the knife." God loves you. 1 John 3:1 -- "See how the Father has lavished His love upon you." Your suffering is not an indication that God is not near. Jesus said, "In this life, you will suffer many tribulations, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. Just hold on to Me. Hold on to Me." "He works with no wanton hand or indifferent heart." Now, I put the three little reasons for the pruning. One, "There are branches trailing upon the ground." "Dwight, you're going the wrong way. You're getting hooked up with this world. You are hanging on to the world. That is going to kill you, my friend. You don't understand that. I'm going to have to cut these tendrils. This is going to hurt. Snip, snip!" "Ouch, ouch, ouch!" "That's why I'm setting you free to get the direction going this way again. It's not down, but it's up." That's what she's saying right here. "They are to reach heavenward, and find their support in God." Number two, "The excessive foliage that grows around the cluster of grapes draws away the life current" -- I put here "sap" -- "from the fruit. That all must be pruned off." "It's just because it's divergent. This is really not what your life was made for. You are diverted right now, sir. You are investing yourself in ways that you should not be investing yourself, professionally, personally, socially, whatever. Madame, I'm cutting these off. I'm cutting your ties to this. This foliage is sucking up sap that you need for Me and My fruit." Snap, cut." "Ouch!" And number three. "The gardener prunes away the harmful growth, that the fruit may be richer and more abundant." We must trust the Father, folks. We must trust the Father. He's not taking the suffering away. As long as we're in this veil of tears, we will suffer. It's okay. You'll survive. "God, even though He slays me -- I'm hanging on to Him." Good for you. Good for you, Job. "Even though He slays me." "Trust me," He says. Now, Andrew Murray, the great South African divine of the 19th century, in his book "Abiding in Christ" -- By the way, you just type in in Google "Andrew Murray, 'Abiding in Christ,'" the book, Jerry was just telling me, Wasmer, was just telling me this between services. The book is all over the Internet. You can get a PDF. You can get an electronic copy. You can get the book. You'll be blessed. Andrew Murray, in his book "Abiding in Christ" -- I love the way he puts it. Last quotation on the screen. "Christian, pray for grace to see in every trouble, small or great, the Father's finger pointing to Jesus and saying, "Yo, yo, yo! Got your attention now. Abide in Him!" Abide in Jesus. "A believer may pass through much affliction and yet secure but little blessing from it all." My friends, let's not waste a crisis. Have you just been through a crisis? Don't waste it. Don't waste a crisis. If you just learn nothing from this -- good night -- what's the point? There's no pruning that can -- The pruning's happening, but you're not learning. You're still -- You're still -- You're anxious. You're teary. You're pleading with God. God says, "Listen, girl. "My peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." "You trust me. Just trust Me." And I love this last line. "'Abiding in Christ' is the secret of securing all that the Father meant the pruning to bring us." I'd love to tell you I found a way, folks, where we don't have to suffer. I'm sorry. On the eve of His own brutal slaying, Jesus said, "The Father has pruning shears, and He wants more fruit from your life. He wants more fruit from you. He wants more fruit from you." "Chk!" "Ouch!" Stay by Him. You gotta have fruit. It's the law of the vineyard. "I'll grow that fruit" is the promise of the gardener. "Do you want to have that fruit?" is the question of Jesus, and how should we respond today? I would like to suggest that we pray together a simple prayer on the screen. That's a gutsy prayer. It'll take a little bit of courage to pray it. I just started praying it. But there will be a peace that will steal over you, because you'll know, "No matter what happens to me, I'm in the hollow of his nail-scarred hand. I'm connected to the Vine, and nobody -- nobody -- can cut me free." What's not to like about that offer? "Prune me. Prune me, oh, Father, so that my life... might bring glory... to You. Amen." >> We've been really blessed by the financial support that comes from our viewers, and we've made a conscious decision not to continually appeal to you for that support. The fact is, as everyone in the industry will tell you, we're needing to make constant upgrades to our technology. 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