In this sermon, Pastor Chuck Smith discusses the parable of the vineyard from the Bible. He describes how God, represented as the owner of the vineyard, planted a vineyard on a fruitful hill and expected it to produce good grapes. However, the vineyard, represented by the people of Israel, failed to produce the desired fruit. The owner sent his servants, the prophets, to collect the fruit, but they were mistreated and even killed by the vine dressers, symbolizing the rejection of the prophets by the Israelites. Finally, the owner sent his own son, Jesus, believing that he would be respected, but instead, the vine dressers plotted to kill him. This parable illustrates how God's grace and truth were eventually extended to the Gentiles, as the gospel was taken to another nation.

Welcome to The Word for Today. The Word for Today is a continuous study of the Bible taught by Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California. Pastor Chuck is currently teaching from the Old Testament. And for those of you following along in your Bibles, we'll be continuing today in Isaiah Chapter 5, beginning with verse 1. As we continue with an in-depth message entitled, The Parable of the Vineyard, Part 1. One thing is needful, O my Father, One thing is needful, O my God, That I sit at your feet and pour out my love. This thing is needful, O my God. And now with today's study, here's Pastor Chuck. The Parable of the Vineyard. Now I will sing to my well beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. He fenced it, he gathered out the stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. And he built a tower in the midst of it, and also he made a winepress therein. And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, between me and my vineyard, what could have been done more to my vineyard than I have not done in it. Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes. Now I'll tell you what I'm going to do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it will be eaten up. I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. I will lay it waste, and it shall not be pruned nor dig, but there shall come up briars and thorns. And I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. And then the interpretation of the parable. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant plant. And he looked for judgment, but behold, there was oppression. He looked for righteousness, and there was just a cry because of the injustice. And so God is speaking against the nation of Judah. God planted them in the land that he had promised to their father Abraham. God nourished them there. God blessed them. He did everything for them that he could to establish a strong and powerful nation. In fact, God finally says, tell me, what more could I have done than what I did? I did all that was possible for you. I blessed you. What more could I have done? Why is it that when I was seeking for fruit from the vineyard, that all it brought forth was wild grapes? In Matthew's Gospel chapter 21, Jesus gave also the parable of a vineyard, beginning with verse 33. Jesus said, hear another parable. There was a certain householder, landowner, who planted a vineyard. He hedged it round about, and he dug a winepress in it, he built a tower, and he led it out to husbandmen, and he went to a far country. So, here again, parable of a vineyard. And much the same thing, it was planted and it was prepared, there was the walls to protect it, there were the towers in it, there was the winepress, and the whole idea of vineyard is to bring forth fruit. Pleasant fruit. Delectable fruit. And so here the husbandmen let it out, or the householder, the owner, let it out to the husbandmen, the vine dressers. And when the time of the fruit drew near, that is the time of harvest when he should be collecting the fruit, he sent his servants to the husbandmen that they might receive the fruit of the vineyard. And the husbandmen took his servants, and they beat one, and they killed another, and they stoned another. And so he sent other servants, more than the first time, and they did the same to them. But last of all, he sent unto them his son, saying, They will surely reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and let us seize upon his inheritance. And so they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and they slew him. And when the Lord, therefore, of the vineyard comes, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They said unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and he will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which will render him the fruit in their season. And Jesus said, Have you never read in the Scriptures the stone which the builders rejected? The same has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. Therefore I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. Whosoever shall fall upon this stone shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard this parable, they perceived correctly that he was speaking about them. And so they sought to lay hands on him, but they were fearing the people. In the parable that Jesus gave, the same idea is presented in a little different form. And that is the failure of the nation of Israel to bring forth the desired fruits that God was seeking. And in the parable that Jesus gave, it's very obvious that the husbandmen were the religious leaders, the priesthood that Jesus had placed over the vineyard, who were to take care of it, to nourish it, to till it, to bring forth the fruit. But they failed in their job. When time came to gather fruit, he sent his servants, the various prophets came. Some of the prophets they stoned, others they killed, others they beat. And so God said, I'll send my own son, for he is the householder, the Lord, in this parable. Surely they will reverence him. But instead they plotted to put him to death, which indeed they did. And so Jesus is predicting that God is going to take his grace, his mercy, his truth to another nation, really to the Gentiles. And thus the gospel has come unto us, that God might receive fruit. In the 15th chapter of John, Jesus again uses the parable of the vine and the branches. I am the vine, you're the branches, he said. And every branch in me that bringeth forth fruit, he washes it that it might bring forth more fruit. Now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me and let my word abide in you, that you might bring forth much fruit, and therein is my Father glorified. But the whole idea all the way through what God is looking for is the fruit of righteousness in our lives. You see, my relationship to God and those things that God has done for me, having done so much for me, the purpose of God for doing these things for me is that he might receive fruit from my life. That my life might bear fruit that is pleasing and pleasant unto him, that I might bring forth love to him, praises to him, fellowship with him. God is looking for my life to bring forth fruit that demonstrates really my relationship with him, but also it demonstrates my appreciation to him for all that he has done for me, all of his benefits to me. And so God is looking for fruit in your life, that love which is manifested in joy and peace and long-suffering and patience and gentleness and goodness and meekness and temperance. So here in Isaiah, the parable of the vineyard, and here the idea is that God again did everything for them. He planted them in the land. He defended them. He built a wall around them. Their cities were built. He watched over them. He helped them develop the land. And the whole purpose was that they might be a people who would live in a loving fellowship with God, that he might enjoy the fruit of this relationship with them. But instead of bringing forth real fruit, it was just wild grapes. And so the Lord said, what will I do? What more could I have done? I've done all I can and they just don't bring forth good fruit. There's nothing more I could have done that I didn't do. And so this is what I'm going to do. I'm just going to let them go. If they want to bring forth wild grapes, I'll just let it go wild. I will remove their defenses and just let them be run over by their enemy. I'll not give them any more rain. And thus the nation went into captivity. Now, beginning with verse 8, he pronounces six woes upon Israel. Woe to them that join house to house. It sounds like our subdivisions. That lay field to field till there be no place that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth. Or urbanization is what he is saying. Southern California. Here we are. No place to really get out, you know, among nature. Everything is getting so filled with houses and commercial interests and all. You know, David said, the heavens declare the glory of God and the earth shows his handiwork and day into day they utter their speech and night into night their voice goes forth. In other words, God speaks to man through nature. God communicates to us through nature. But, when the beauty of the earth gets covered with man's work, where you can't really get out and hear the voice of God in nature, you don't see the handiwork of God anymore. You see the handiwork of man, the freeways and the exhaust and the whole thing. It's tragic, really. It's sad because you miss out on so much in the consciousness of God and of His greatness, of His vastness, of His power. That is why it's good for the young people to get away to the summer camp. At least for a week they can be up there in the mountains. Remove from all of this man-made stuff down here and get up there and just actually see the stars at night. They can actually see the blue skies and realize they're still blue. There, God has a chance to speak to them, not only through nature but through His word. It's a tremendous experience for them. They can walk through the forest. They can breathe the clear air and just have a real experience. They're studying the word of God and being made conscious of the glory and the power and the majesty of God in creation. So, God pronounces a woe upon urbanization. In my ears, said the Lord of hosts, of a truth. Many houses shall be desolate. They were building all of these houses in Judah, but God said they're going to be desolate, empty. Even great and fair houses are going to be without inhabitants. Yes, ten acres of vineyard will yield only eight gallons of juice. That's not much for ten acres of ground. And 86 gallons of seed will only yield one bushel of grain. In other words, your harvest will be less than the seed that you planted. Woe unto them, the second woe, who rise up early in the morning. Now, here's where it's dangerous to take a scripture out of context. See, you can prove that a person should sleep in. Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink. A person who, of course, starts drinking in the morning has the true signs of an alcoholic. You know, you get up in the morning and the first thing you look for is the drink. Then 99.9% sure that you're an alcoholic already. That continue till night until the wine inflames them. And the harp, the vial, the tablet, and the pipe, which is a little flute type of instrument, and wine are in their feast. They want the banqueting with the music and so forth. But they regard not the work of the Lord. They look for skillful musicians. They are wanting to be entertained by skillful musicians. They're all enthralled with the talents of men, the handiwork of men. But they do not regard the work of the Lord. Neither do they consider the operation of His hands. They give glory to man, to man's creation, to man's abilities. But they don't really give glory to God, who it is who gave to man these abilities and these capacities. Now, I find certain things in nature extremely fascinating. And one is instincts in animals. The instincts in a golden plover. I find just absolutely fantastic how God can build in to a golden plover a tremendous navigational device. They spend their winters in Hawaii. That's pretty smart. But they do their nesting and mating in the Aleutian Islands. So they, in the springtime, take off from Hawaii and fly 2,000 miles over the ocean to the Aleutian Islands so that they can nest and mate and bear their young. And as the fall season comes, then they take off from the Aleutians and fly back to Hawaii to winter in Hawaii. Now, how in the world they can navigate over 2,000 miles of ocean, how they can fly nonstop, is an amazing thing to me. And how they can find the Hawaiian Islands. And they don't have all of the navigational devices that we have in our modern airlines. And yet they're able to do it. You say, well, they've been there before, so they just know their way back. No, I can't buy that. Because the parents take off for Hawaii two weeks before their little fledglings are able to fly that distance. The parents just take off and leave their kids in the Aleutians. They are smart birds. But not smarter than their kids, because two weeks later their little kids take off and fly to Hawaii, and they've never been there. So somehow God has built into those little bird brains a navigational system that having never been to Hawaii, yet they can take off and fly directly to Hawaii. Now that's just one of those marvels of God's creation. That's the work of God in creation, and it's marvelous. And God skills certain people with innate abilities. I believe that musicians are born, not made. They tried to make a musician out of me. It doesn't work. They're born. They're just people who are born with innate musical abilities. They don't have to just sit down and practice. It's just there. It's something within them. It's a part of the whole complex makeup. And when you hear a person that has that kind of ability pick up a violin and begin to play the violin, you just are enraptured by the music. You think, oh, I want to practice the violin so I can play like that. Well, forget it. It's not going to happen. You're born with that innate ability. Pastor Chuck Smith will return with a few closing comments. But first I'd like to remind you that today's message is available in its unedited form on cassette or CD. Simply write or call and ask for ordering details on tape or CD, number C-3244. Again, that's tape or CD, number C-3244. Well, it's that time of year again. It may seem innocent, but the symbols of Halloween, like black cats, jack-o'-lanterns, and trick-or-treat all have roots in sorcery and Satanism. We would never knowingly get involved with anything related to Satan, but many Christians don't understand what's really behind the pagan holiday. The word for today would like to offer you a presentation hosted by Pastor Chuck Smith called Halloween Trick-or-Treat that traces the pagan origins and history of Halloween. This powerful movie uncovers the mystic rites and ceremonies of Satan and will forever change your opinion of Halloween. Every year as the end of October approaches, we are faced with the dilemma of family and friends pressuring us to participate in the celebration of this pagan holiday. This documentary will definitely challenge you to decide whether or not you'll continue to participate in this tradition. If you'd like more information on Halloween Trick-or-Treat, then simply write or call and ask one of our operators for the ordering details. Again, it's called Halloween Trick-or-Treat. And right now if you place an order, the word for today would like to bless you with Pastor Chuck Smith's pamphlet, How Can a Man Be Born Again? Absolutely free. Instead of just giving candy this year, the pamphlet is the perfect tool for Christians to share the gospel with loved ones and friends. Available in both English and Spanish. Again, it's free when you call right now. To order Halloween Trick-or-Treat for yourself or for a friend, you can call the word for today at 1-800-272-WORD or write to us at P.O. Box 8000, Costa Mesa, California 92628. Once again, that number to call is 1-800-272-9673. And for those of you that would like to visit our website, you can do so at www.twft.com Or if you would like to email us, you can do so at info at twft.com Well coming up next time on the word for today, Pastor Chuck will be continuing his fascinating study through the book of Isaiah. That's coming up next time on the word for today. And now with a few closing comments. Here's Pastor Chuck. So may the Lord watch over your life to fulfill in your life His purposes and His plans. And I pray that by and through the Spirit of God, you will come to an understanding of what God has set you apart for and what God has ordained for you. That work that God has ordained that you should fulfill while you are here on this earth. That work for His kingdom and His glory. And so may your heart be open that the word of the Lord might come to you to guide and to direct you in that place of service where you might find the will and the purpose of God being fulfilled in your life. The Lord be with you. The Lord bless and keep you. In Jesus' name. Amen.