Note: I am in the process of transferring all my sermons to wordmp3.com. This is my first sermon at Providence Church (CREC) in October 5th, 2008.
Isaiah 5:1 Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. 2 He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. 3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? 5 And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. 6 I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. 7 For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!
Introduction:
“Their foot shall slide in due time.” This was the dreadful text in Deuteronomy heard that day when Jonathan Edwards announced the doom of those who “brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit.”[1] Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God seems to be a prevailing theme in the mouth of the prophets. But the anger of God in the Scriptures does not arise out of nothing; it arises in response to the unfaithfulness of His people. Our text this morning in Isaiah 5 reveals the response of an angry God.
It was the Danish poet and author Hans Christian Anderson who once wrote that “Where words fail, music speaks.” Indeed nothing is more memorable than music. We may not know the complexities of Luther’s theology, but we all know the splendor of his Reformation hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God.
When the prophets’ words fail to reach the expected result—which is repentance—God may often use other means to bring about His message. God may make a man marry a prostitute to convey His message; He may lead a man to the middle of a valley filled with dry bones to convey His covenant promises; or He may make a man sing, so that the music may speak to their unrepentant hearts. Continue reading “Sermon: Isaiah 5:1-7, Wild Grapes”