Vitality of the Vine

"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."

John 15:4-5

When my dad taught me to ride a bike my parents gave me for my birthday, a point came when his hand was removed from bike and I was on my own.  It was up to me to keep my balance, steer, and apply the brakes as needed.  This is not the model Jesus gave to His disciples, nor the pattern for any of God's people in scripture.  The people of God have always needed to be dependent upon God for the ability to do all He has said.  The picture Jesus supplied of our relationship with God is the connection between the vine and branches.  The vitality of the vine extends into the branches and that is the only way the branches can be fruitful, and it is our connection with Jesus which gives us life, wisdom, and power to do good.

God told Joshua on the border of the promised land, "Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage."  God met with Gideon in Judges 6:14 which states, "Then the LORD turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?"  Gideon didn't understand:  he protested he was of a poor family and the least in his father's house.  The might of Gideon was not based upon his tribe, monetary wealth, or political pull but was in God who was with Him!  David was not proud to imagine he could fight with lion, bear, or Philistine but his God had given him the victory.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego stood calmly before furious King Nebuchadnezzar and said as the furnace was heated seven times hotter, "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us."  This courage, boldness, and power to overcome comes from God alone in the Old and New Testament.

The Great Commission was often put to me in my youth as something all followers of Jesus needed to do in Matthew 28:19-20:  "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen."  Since verse 19 begins with therefore, why and how shall we go?  Matthew 28:18 makes all the difference:  "And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."  Because Jesus has all authority and is with us we are enabled to do what He says.  The connection between Jesus and doing His work is also seen as Paul wrote in Philippians 2:12-13:  "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; ¹³ for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."  See, we aren't alone!  Even when we are separated from other people, we are able to do good works because God is already at work in us.

Our ability to do what God directs us is not then based on our ability but connectivity with God, that we are walking in humble reliance upon Him.  This is more than availability, for the branch grows out of the vine as an extension of itself.  Even so the resurrected life of Jesus Christ is lived out through us when we die to self, take up our cross daily, and follow our risen LORD.  Paul wrote in Philippians 4:11-13:  "Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content:I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. ¹³ I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  As Paul pointed out, the ability to be content and walk in the Spirit is a learning process.  Our spiritual regeneration is not some sort of magic which compels us to lay down our will and experience perfect peace in all situations.  We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, and continual communion with Him is key.

Wonder of the Gospel

While preparing a sermon this week, I was struck by the wonder of the Gospel.  The Law written on tablets of stone could only condemn and revealed beyond doubt men are sinners deserving of God's judgment.  One shortcoming of the Law was the people who needed to keep it wouldn't, nor could they, as it held forth the standard of God's righteousness.  So according to God's grand design, He used the Law to lead sinners by the hand to Jesus Christ the Saviour who provided atonement with His shed blood.  After three days He rose from the dead like He promised, proving He is able to grant forgiveness and eternal life for all who trust in Him.

The Law was unable to keep thieves from stealing and liars from lying, but Jesus came to change the hearts of people and make new creations through faith in Him.  Even as Jesus was raised from the dead glorified, so tax collectors, harlots, and liars are raised changed to new life through faith in Jesus.  Paul wrote to people who had been duped to thinking it was righteous to attempt to relate to God through Law after being born again in Galatians 6:14-16, "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. ¹⁵ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. ¹⁶ And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God."  Isn't it good news for sinners that Jesus cleanses and makes us new creations?

When He walked the earth, Jesus was surrounded by sinners--people who the religious people wrote off as wicked and beyond redemption.  Yet Jesus called Levi (a tax collector) to be one of His apostles, and He also invited Himself over to the home of Zacchaeus for a meal.  It was unthinkable to the religious rulers Jesus could be viewed as a righteous man for keeping such company!  If He was righteous, surely He would not mix with people known for their greed, theft, and abuse of power.  But Jesus came to this world as a doctor tending to the most ill patients so they might be saved.  On a field of battle the idea is to tend to victims who can be saved, yet Jesus can save all who trust in Him.  Jesus alone can justify us by faith and save sinners the Law could only condemn.

The transforming power of the Gospel is seen in greedy people changing into generous givers, thieves admitting they have stolen and restoring four-fold.  Those who were demon possessed were suddenly in their right mind, people born blind had their sight miraculously restored, and harlots became chaste and devout in their devotion to God.  The power of God through the Gospel is able to fundamentally change a person from within, the very thing the Law or all the willpower a person can muster could never do.  Having been born again God begins to grow in us new desires for what pleases God and conviction of our sin we never noticed before.  This is evidence of what God promised by grace, to write His laws on our regenerated hearts that go beyond what is written in stone.

Pestilence and God's People

Plagues and pestilence are found in the Bible of such great scope and severity the worst we experience can be termed of "biblical proportion."  Though these are acts of God who is to be feared, He is our Deliverer and Saviour.  His proud enemies will be made to cower before Him, yet those who trust in Him are protected like Noah and his family in the ark.  The God who strikes the earth and man is able to heal and restore.  The sons of Korah wrote in Psalm 46:1-3, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. ² Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; ³ though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah"

It is because God is good, gracious, loving, merciful, and faithful we were not consumed long ago by our own pride, greed, selfishness and folly because the wages of sin is death.  God causes the rain to fall on the just and the unjust and is longsuffering towards the worst of the worst.  But we do see many scriptures where God judged His own people because of their sins.  It is true He afflicted the Egyptians and their gods with 10 severe plagues, yet it is the action God took upon His own people for their ultimate salvation.  Even as a surgeon removes necrotic flesh which sickens and places the entire body at risk of death, God judged the children of Israel many times so they might be restored to fellowship with Him.  Like a farmer uses the right implement and force to thresh grain, God metes out corrective judgment wisely.

When Moses received the 10 Commandments from God on Sinai, during that short space of time the high priest Aaron, at the urging of the people, made a molded image they worshiped as the "gods who brought you out of Egypt."  Exodus 32:35 says, "So the LORD plagued the people because of what they did with the calf which Aaron made."  On another occasion the people murmured against God and Moses for his dealings with Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.  Notice how the passage describes how God was involved in the plague for sin and causing it to cease in Numbers 16:47-50:  "Then Aaron took it as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the assembly; and already the plague had begun among the people. So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. ⁴⁸ And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped. ⁴⁹ Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the Korah incident. ⁵⁰ So Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the tabernacle of meeting, for the plague had stopped."  The sin of the people was the cause of this plague, and a righteous God is not at fault for dealing justly--though unrighteous men stand foolishly in judgment of Him.

There was another time when the Hebrews entered into sexual sin and idolatry with the women of Moab.  Numbers 25 describes in detail the command of the death penalty for those who sinned, and how the plague which claimed 24,000 people ceased when Phinehas zealously obeyed God in executing judgment.  Still another plague occurred after David numbered the people of Israel without receiving the census tax (Exodus 30:12).  King David was given the choice of three years of famine, three months of being defeated by their enemies, or three days of pestilence.  1 Chronicles 21:13-15 reads, "And David said to Gad, "I am in great distress. Please let me fall into the hand of the LORD, for His mercies are very great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man." ¹⁴ So the LORD sent a plague upon Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell. ¹⁵ And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the LORD looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, "It is enough; now restrain your hand." And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite."  The severity and swiftness of these plagues make the current pandemic small in comparison.

What is so comforting about our great God is His great love, grace, and compassion in judgment.  He could have destroyed the nation without remedy, but He looked upon His suffering people and said, "It is enough."  He went further than determining the measure of judgment but was able to stop it.  He said to the angel, "Now restrain your hand."  God is able to stop deadly plagues and pestilence dead in its tracks.  This is the comfort and consolation available today to followers of Jesus Christ, for we know He is on the throne and supreme in power.  We are wise given the current situation to do everything in our power to practically prevent the spread of illness and protect the vulnerable, yet without God we cannot do anything.  Doctors who treat the sick are able to become sick themselves and this reveals the vulnerability of all people to a microscopic organism.  There is much we cannot know, but what we can know is God according to His grace has the power to heal bodies, save souls, and say "It is enough."  Then restoration can begin.

The Men of Jericho

In our family reading last night I was struck by the mention of men from Jericho rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, tucked neatly in Nehemiah 3:1-2:  "Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel. ² Next to Eliashib the men of Jericho built. And next to them Zaccur the son of Imri built."  The books of Ezra and Nehemiah confirm 345 men of Jericho returned to Jerusalem 70 years after the Babylonian captivity.  The fact they worked alongside the high priest on the walls of Jerusalem--and that they were reckoned to have an inheritance among the children of Israel--is an amazing demonstration of God's grace considering the history of that accursed city.

Jericho was the first stronghold defeated in the conquest of Canaan by the LORD at the hand of Joshua.  The city and all in it were accursed by God, save the harlot Rehab and her household who feared the LORD who were saved alive.  On a side note, Rehab ultimately converted to Judaism and married a man of Judah.  All the gold, silver, and precious things were brought into the treasury of the LORD, but everything else was to be destroyed and burned with fire.  Because Jericho was accursed by God Joshua also uttered a curse over the burning ruin in Joshua 6:26:  "Then Joshua charged them at that time, saying, "Cursed be the man before the LORD who rises up and builds this city Jericho; he shall lay its foundation with his firstborn, and with his youngest he shall set up its gates."

About 500 years later this curse came into effect according to 1 Kings 16:34:  "In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation with Abiram his firstborn, and with his youngest son Segub he set up its gates, according to the word of the LORD, which He had spoken through Joshua the son of Nun."  In 2 Kings before his departure the prophet Elijah visited Jericho where there was a school for prophets of God.  This should be no surprise, for even in the darkest places in this world the light of the LORD shines bright.  There is no heart too darkened by sin and wickedness which cannot be redeemed, no human soul incapable of being reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

Elisha the prophet carried along after Elijah's departure and was approached by Jewish men who resided in Jericho.  2 Kings 2:19-22 says, "Then the men of the city said to Elisha, "Please notice, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord sees; but the water is bad, and the ground barren." ²⁰ And he said, "Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it." So they brought it to him. ²¹ Then he went out to the source of the water, and cast in the salt there, and said, "Thus says the LORD: 'I have healed this water; from it there shall be no more death or barrenness.' " ²² So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elisha which he spoke."  By the power of God Elisha miraculously healed the source of the waters of Jericho with salt--which naturally would always have the opposite effect!  True to God's Word, the waters of Jericho have remained pure to this day.  When I visited Israel in 2005 I was treated with a tangible reminder of God's faithfulness by "Jericho" spring water.

Think of it:  from the accursed city Jericho God saved the harlot Rehab who is included in the lineage of Jesus Christ; after Jericho was rebuilt the bad water and barren soil were healed by the Word of the LORD; God brought men of Jericho out of captivity in Babylon to rebuild the holy city of Jerusalem!  It is a demonstration of God's grace and faithfulness that we can identify with personally because this is what Jesus has done for all who believe in Him.  We were accursed by our sin, yet we have been spared the wrath of God by grace through faith in Jesus.  We were barren and unfruitful, and God has redeemed and reconciled us to Himself, making us fruitful by the Living Water of the Holy Spirit.  He has purified and cleansed us from within, now the pure source of our lives.  By Jesus' stripes we are healed now and forever!  God has chosen us as His inheritance, and His is ours.

The scene of the men of Jericho building reminds me how we are God's chosen materials to construct His habitation in 1 Peter 2:4-5:  "Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, ⁵ you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."  Jesus is our great High Priest and we are enabled to take His yoke upon us.  We are the accursed once afar off but have been brought near as Ephesians 2:19-22 says:  "Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit."  Praise the LORD!