For thou shalt eat the fruit,
shalt eat the labor of thine hands. Happy shalt thou be, and
it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful
vine by the sides of thine house. Thy wife shall be a fruitful
vine by the sides of thine house. Now What a pleasant picture of
a good wife, a fruitful and tender vine. A vine is a tender plant. It's not a harsh plant, and it
is a fruitful plant. we're talking about a grapevine
one that produces sweet fruit that grows along the sides of
a house how beautiful the picture is i have so many vines growing
all over my house but i want to tear them down they're not
fruitful they're not worth anything but these vines that he is talking
about are pleasant vines they produce fruit and i thought about
that as i go by my house see the vines going on my trees and
stuff and You know, I'd love to be able to go out there and
just pick grapes off of that. That would make me happy. That'd
just make anybody happy, wouldn't it? Just going outside and there's
a big vine on the side of your house and it's just so fruitful.
You could just pick it off anytime. And that's just pleasant. This
is the picture. This is a picture of a pleasant
wife. It's a fruitful vine. It bears
fruit. It's useful in the home. Well, even so, is a good wife
a pleasant gift of God? A good wife is a pleasant gift
of God. Now, some wives are like thorns. Not so pleasant. Not so pleasant. Nobody would like to go out there
and hug a bunch of thorns. Well, a good wife is a wife that
is desirous, is one that is to be treasured. Some wives are
like thorns and they spread away from the house. Thorns, they
don't just stay in one place. They grow and they spread out
and nobody likes that. A compassionate wife is one that
tends to the home and that is of great benefit. It's a great
benefit to the husband as well as to the children. A wife that
is lazy and unfruitful in the care of her family is not a pleasant
thing. It's not a pleasant thing. Which
one of us has seen that in a wife and yet thought, well, that's
what I want to be? You see a wife that's really
unpleasant to her husband, unpleasant to her children, really doesn't
care about her home. Nobody wants to be like that. No woman would want to be a wife
like that. No husband would want one either.
But notice this wife. This wife is a reward. a reward of the man that feareth
the Lord and walketh in his ways." Look at that. He says, thy wife. The wife of who? He says, whosoever
it is or everyone that feareth the Lord. This is the reward
of a faithful wife. I'm sure that if a man fear the
Lord and reverence the Lord, that his wife would be more inclined
to be a fruitful vine than a thorn. Don't you suppose? If he would
love her like Christ loved the church, that would be a product
of his love and care. But this is not just about a
physical relationship. This is not just about there's
a greater view here than just a man and his wife. There's a
greater view here than just earthly union. This has to do with Christ
and his church. When you read anything in Scripture,
the best thing you can do is run as fast as you can to Christ. Now, no doubt, as I've shown
you, that's a pretty practical thing for us to see. But yet
there's a greater view. There's a more wonderful view.
It is Christ and His bride. Notice it says, Thy wife. This
is the wife of the man. that feareth God and walketh
in his ways." The wife of this one that feareth God and walketh
in his ways is the wife of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the
Bridegroom. That's what John the Baptist
said. John the Baptist says, while the Bridegroom is here,
the friend of the Bridegroom rejoiceth. He is the Bridegroom. He is the husband Jesus is the
man that feareth God and walketh in his ways. He is the perfect
man, the perfect man, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the builder of His church. He is the head of His church.
And His church is a fruitful and tender vine that cleaves
to the side of her husband's house. She is a pleasant thing. Behold that Jesus is the precious
bridegroom because He was chosen of God. He was the elect of God. He was the perfect bridegroom. The only perfect bridegroom,
chosen of the Father. And from eternity, the Lord Jesus
Christ had a bride. The Father, having chosen Him
to be the husband, has also betrothed to Him, promised Him, given Him
a bride. And as he was chosen to be the
bridegroom, and as he has a bride, he also promised to be a faithful
husband. He promised to purchase his bride. He promised to redeem his bride. He promised to satisfy God's
law and justice for her sins. The church of Christ was given
to him by the Father, and the Son willingly, graciously, lovingly
took that bride. We talk about betrothal in our
society, and people get all upset. Well, I want to choose mine.
That usually doesn't work out anyway, but they still want to
do it. But I'll tell you, God doesn't make a mistake. God doesn't
make mistakes. He gave His Son the bride and
His Son loved that bride. Loved that bride. Go over to
Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs chapter 8. And this
is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking who is the wisdom of God. Look
at verse 22. This is Christ speaking and He
said, The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way before
His works of old. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, wherever the earth was. He was set up
to do what? He was set up to be the bridegroom. He was set up to be the mediator. He was set up to be the Savior. Now go over to verse 30. He said,
Then in eternity I was by Him as one brought up with Him, and
I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing
in the inhabitable part of His earth. And my delights were with
the sons of man. See, the Father gave Him a bride
and Jesus Christ was daily God's delight. He was daily God's love. But where was the love of Christ? His love was centered toward
His bride. His love, His delight was in
His bride. And we who are believers in Christ,
we know this, that by nature we are not a fruitful and tender
vine. By nature we have been ruined. By nature in sin we do not deserve
such a husband. We do not deserve such great
love and affection as the eternal love and mercy and grace of Jesus
Christ. We do not deserve this. We were
like Gomer. Gomer was the harlot. Gomer was
the offender. Gomer sinned against her husband. She transgressed. She was a whore. She went out and found her lovers. What was that? That's what we
are by nature. We're idolaters. Spiritual idolatry,
spiritual adultery, is what we by nature are guilty of, sold
under sin. We were estranged from the womb,
speaking lies. We were by nature the children
of wrath. What does that mean? That means
we were haters of God. By nature, we were haters of
God. even as others. Romans 3.23,
for all have sinned and missed the mark of the glory of God.
You've missed it. You and I have missed it. God
demand holiness and we could not even come close to God's
holiness. We've missed the mark completely.
There is none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understandeth. We don't understand these things
of God by nature. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. And it was of this fallen race, it
was of this same lump of humanity that God chose Out of free mercy,
God chose a people for His Son. Not because of any goodness in
them, but only according to the praise of the glory of His grace. Here's the reason. You want to
know why God chose His bride? He did it for Himself. If you
want to find a reason why God would choose such an harlot as
we are by nature, you will only find it in the grace of God.
The only reason. The scripture says in Ephesians
chapter 1, the most blessed thing, we were made accepted in the
Beloved. Accepted! Why? According to the
praise of the glory of His grace, He made us accepted. Jesus, in His earthly ministry,
He tells us, this is the Father's will, that of all that He had
given me, all that He had given Him, He should lose nothing. Jesus Christ was given a bride
and He Himself guaranteed that they would be saved. This is
what we call a surety. That's what that word means,
a surety. It means that he guaranteed,
he swore by himself that he would save his people. He swore by
himself that he would restore his bride and redeem her. Therefore Jesus was sent of the
Father to accomplish all the salvation. of His bride. Jesus was sent of God to be the
blessed man, to be that man that feareth God and walketh in His
ways. Have you feared God as much as
you should have? You reverenced Him as much as
you should have? Do you walk in His ways continually? No man has, not but this one,
Jesus Christ. Believer, you should fear God,
and I know you do. You do walk in His ways because
of this man, Jesus Christ. He was sent of God to fulfill
the will of God. Look at that back in your text.
Blessed is everyone that feareth the Lord and walketh in His ways,
for thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands. What was the
labor of Christ's hands? What was he doing here on this
earth? He came for one reason, to restore
his bride. You imagine Gomer, who went away
from her husband, She had all these things given to her. She
thought it was her lovers giving these things. And now then she
is wasted. She is old. Now she's sold into
the slave pit of sin again. And now then here comes her husband
because no one else will buy her. No one else will love her.
And yet because of his love he comes and he buys her out of
that slave market. That's what Christ came to do.
He came to buy His Beloved. He came to restore. Look at this
in Psalm 69. Psalm 69, and this is the Lord
Jesus Christ crying. on the cross. He said, Save me,
O God, for the waters are coming to my soul. I sink in deep mire
where there's no standing. I am coming to deep waters where
the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying. My throat
is dried. Mine eyes fail while I wait for
my God. They that hate me without a cause
are more than the hairs of mine head. they that would destroy
me being mine enemies wrongfully are mighty then I restored that
which I took not away he restores that's what he came to do is
restore his bride and he did this by the labor of the law
by the labor of the law do you know that we are only going to
be saved through the obedience of the law just not your obedience
to the law. God's law must be honored. God's
law must be satisfied. And Christ came to do what we
could not do for ourselves. He came to obey the law of God
in perfect righteousness. In Isaiah it says the Lord is
well pleased for His righteousness sake. He shall magnify the law
and make it honorable. We could not magnify the law.
We could not make it honorable. What did the law say to you?
Because I know what it says to me. It said, Cursed is everyone
that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law
to do them. Cursed. That's what the law says to us.
We, in our labor, Isaiah said we are a people robbed and spoiled. all of them ensnared in holes
and hid in prisons. They are prey. They are prey and none delivereth
for the spoil. None saith restore. We by nature have sinned. We were ensnared in a pit and
you couldn't get out. I tell you, that's in our culture,
we're always saying, well, if you just will yourself to do
something, you're just determined to do something, you can do it.
You can accomplish anything. I tell you, you can't accomplish
this. You can't accomplish getting out of this hole of sin. You
can't do it. Only a fool believes that he
can obey God and please God. Only a fool believes that. Not
by our obedience. The scripture says, by the deeds
of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Only
Jesus has obeyed the law of God. You know that Christ loved the
law every second of his life. How many times have we known
not to sin, but yet in our hearts have kicked against it? We know. We know it's wrong, but yet we
may even do well and not do what we were thinking. We may have
run from that lie, but we know our hearts were kicking all the
way. Christ never did that. He never had that feeling in
His chest. He always loved to do the will
of God. He obeyed the law and the prophets.
He is the righteous man that feareth God and walks in his
ways. He alone is all the righteousness
of his bride. He is all the righteousness.
of His bride. Jesus said, I came not to destroy
the law, but to fulfill the law. And He said, not one jot or tittle. In other words, He's saying,
not one eye shall not be dotted or a T crossed. He said, I'm
going to fulfill all the law and accept your righteousness,
exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. You shall
in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. How is it that our
righteousness can exceed theirs? Only in His righteousness. He
did it. He obeyed the law. And secondly,
not only obeyed the law, He provided a perfect redemption. I'll tell you what, Hosea could
have bought Gomer a dress, but if he left her in the slave market,
she would have been none the better. He had to buy her out. We were sold under sin. Sin must be paid for. The justice of God demands that
our sin, all of our sin, be righteously and justly punished. to redeem. This is Redeemer Baptist
Church. I go to the store and I tell
them the name of the church. Usually people ask me how to
spell it. So much I'm sure they don't know what it means to redeem
or to have a Redeemer. Redeem means to buy, to purchase, We usually buy things that are
profitable to us, don't we? I'm not gonna buy a computer
that's, you know, 50 years old. It's of no value to me. It's
of no worth to me. But I'll tell you, Christ purchased
us who were of no value. We could add no value to Him.
Yet, He gave the most precious price. The most precious price. We were sold under sin and rebels. Not only were we sold under sin,
we were still spitting at Him who would purchase us. But in His labor of love, He
came into the world to redeem, to buy, to purchase His bride. Our sins deserve eternal vengeance,
and the justice of God must be satisfied. Therefore Christ came
to restore that which He took not away." Did He deserve the ridicule,
the persecution, and that horrible death of the cross? No. He restored what He didn't take
away. In the greatest act of unconditional
love, Jesus Christ bore the guilt of His people as He died on the
rugged cross. He bore our shame. so that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. So that we might be restored
to be the perfect bride of Christ. Jesus satisfied the just, He
was suffered the just for the unjust that He might bring us
to God that He should redeem us from the curse of the law
by being made a curse for us. We by nature were cursed But
he was made a curse by the imputation of God. There's nowhere else
this can be found. You can't find this anywhere
else in an illustration or anything else. Illustrations go only so
far. If you've committed murder and
somebody takes the death penalty for you, they still couldn't
take away your guilt for committing the crime. Jesus actually took
the guilt away from His bride and God put it on Him. so that
he suffered in our stead and died under the justice of God
for our sins. And the scripture says, he shall
see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. You know, God's
not satisfied in our travailing. God is not satisfied in our doing,
in our laboring, in our work. We're really trying to do well. Oh, God's not satisfied with
that. You can try to do well all you
want to. God's not satisfied with our trying to do well. He's
satisfied with Christ. He saw the travail of His soul
and was satisfied. Not your soul, His soul. Therefore
Jesus shall eat of the fruit of his labor. What he did he
will enjoy. His labor will not be fruitless. His labor will be successful.
His labor is successful. He shall be happy and all is
well with his house. Isn't that wonderful? All is
well with his church. His house is settled, established,
built, it's well. Now you who believe, you're like
that vine that clings to His house. I cling to Jesus Christ
who is my beloved husband. who has redeemed me from the
debt of my sin, from the guilt of my sin, and has robed me in
His own special righteousness, in His own perfect righteousness.
Behold the comfort and assurance of His work, that not one of
His sheep will be lost. He bore our sins in His own body
on the tree, and all of our sins have been paid for. Done before
the eyes of God. Complete. It is finished. The
work is accomplished. Therefore, we know this for sure,
that every one Christ died for, He will bring to Himself. The
Spirit of God will come to every one of His brides. And they will be fruitful. They will be fruitful because
He's going to take His righteousness and He will implant that righteousness
into us. By the power of His Holy Spirit,
He comes and gives us a new nature that wasn't there before. He
gives us a new creation. He makes us a new person. Sinner believe on the Son of
God. This is the message that the
Spirit of God uses. And you know what? He still uses
it for me. I still believe on the Son of God who loved me and
gave himself for me. I rest in his perfect work. I
rest in his holy person that he is the mediator, the God-man,
and all who believe you are listen you are his tender and fruitful
wife you are you are because he's
made you so you are we are fruitful because we abide in him Now if
you cut off that vine from its root, it will wither and die. But we are not our own. We abide
in Him. We trust in Him. We believe in
Him. We receive all of our righteousness
from Him. We receive all of our atonement
from Him. We receive all of our salvation.
All of our motivation to love and serve Him comes from Him.
nourishment comes from Him and we abide and cling to Him as
the vine does to the house. It is not our heart to be a faithful... is it not
the heart of every believer to be a faithful bride? Is that
not your heart? Is that what you want? That's
what I want. I don't want anything else. I want to be faithful to
Him. And that's not of me, that's
of Him. Do you not want to cleave to
Him, stay close to Him, or do you desire to run abroad? I don't
want to be anywhere else but near Him. It is Our heart to be near Him
if you belong to Him. I'm going to show you a couple
of things real quickly about how the Lord Jesus Christ feels
about His church. Go over to Song of Solomon. Song
of Solomon chapter 1. If you ever read this book, please
read it only with an eye of of faith looking to Christ and His
church. There's only two people talking in this book and that
is the church and the bridegroom, Jesus Christ and His beloved.
Look at chapter 1. Now this is the bride speaking. She says in verse 5, I am black. I confess, I am black. I am full of sin. Every one of His people confesses
who they are. But they also confess this, I
am black, but comely. You see the two natures there?
This is what happens to everyone who believes. We have two distinct
natures. We have one that is full of sin
and one that is beautiful. Oh, you daughters of Jerusalem,
as the tents of Kadar as the curtains of Solomon, look not
upon me because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me.
My mother's children were angry with me. They made me the keeper
of the vineyards, but mine own vineyard have I not kept. Is that not so? We sure like
to keep others' vineyards, don't we? Well, that person ought to
do this and that, but our own we've not kept. We've sinned. Tell me, O thou whom my soul
loveth, where thou feedest? Where thou makest thy flock to
rest at noon? For why should I be as one that
turneth aside in the flocks of thy companions? In other words,
she's asking her husband, where do you feed your sheep? Where
are your sheep fed? I want to be as one of yours.
I want to be as one of your sheep. Where do you feed? If thou know
not, O thou fairest among women. Is that not the Lord Jesus Christ
speaking? Where is his vine going to cleave
to the side of his house? Where does his sheep feed? In
his church, where his shepherds are, by the sides of the tents. And I'll tell you what I confess,
I don't know much. Matter of fact, I know less than
what I think I know. but notice how tenderly he speaks
if thou knowest not you have questions and you should
you should turn aside and follow where his sheep go you don't
know where to go go where sheep go they go to the food don't
they the sheep run to the shepherd and notice what he says about
his bride he said I have compared thee oh my love to a company
of horses and Pharaoh's chariots. Those were chosen horses, beautiful
and strong. He said, I compare you to someone
who is beautiful and strong and chosen. Thy cheeks are lovely as rows
of jewels. Thy neck with a chain of gold. We will make the borders of gold
with studs of silver. That's his righteousness. That's
his atonement. Who is the we? Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. We. God himself has undertaken
to make his bride beautiful. He's done it. He's done it. Flip over one chapter there,
and I'll show you this. Look at this in verse 10. now the bride says my beloved
spake and said unto me rise up my love my fair one and come
away for lo the winter is past the rain is over and gone the
flowers appear in the earth the time of singing is come, the
voice of the turtle dove is heard in our land. The fig tree put
forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender grape give
a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one,
and come away." Is that not beautiful language of His wooing His bride? He said, the winter's past. Your
sins are gone. I've done it all for you. Come
away with me." What a beautiful voice. I heard
Him say that to me. Have you heard Him say that to
you? I have. He is mine and I am His. I am His tender, fruitful vine. Believer, you are precious in
His eyes. Me? Even me. Even me. May God bless this to
your hearts.