I invite your attention back
to the Song of Solomon. The Song of Solomon. I have no
idea how much longer I may or may not be here. I really don't
know. This may be the last one, but then again it may not. The
Song of Solomon. Now, you can certainly read along
if you have your Bible there before you, but whether you read
along or not, listen to these words. Listen to what it said. Song of Solomon chapter 1 and
verse 6. Look not upon me. Think about
that for a moment. Look not upon me. In a day and
age in which even amidst that which is called Christianity,
most all emphasis is upon man. Almost all emphasis is upon the
fallen sons and daughters of Adam. and they want men and women
to concentrate on themselves. The believer says, look not upon
me because I am black, because the son hath looked upon me. My mother's children were angry
with me. Think about that. The believer
here is not casting aspersion. The believer here is acknowledging
their union to all of humanity as a fallen creation. You see
it? My mother's children were angry
with me. They made me the keeper of the
vineyards, but my own vineyard have I not kept. Do you sense this morning in
hearing that red? Or as you read it along with
me, do you sense the believer's struggle? Do you see that there? Do you sense the believer's struggle?
Do you sense this sense of weight that the believer feels upon
them? Every true believer, and listen,
I want to emphasize certain words here. Every true believer still,
still, acknowledges their own depravity. Every true believer,
they all remember the demands of self-righteous legal bondage. And every true believer, they
all bemoan their own sinful lack when it comes to responsibility. Now, I did not say accountability.
All men are accountable whether they like accountability or not.
But every true believer still bemoans their own sinful lack
of responsibility before God. Now let's read it again in that
light. Every true believer still acknowledges
their own depravity. Do not look upon me. I'm nothing
to look at. I'm nothing to hang your hopes
upon. I have nothing within me that's
good before God, whereby we are forced by truth and reality to
say with the prophet Isaiah that even our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags in God's sight. That is, the best that I can
offer is a filthy rag in God's sight. Every true believer still
acknowledges their own depravity. Look not upon me. You see it? But they all remember
the self-righteous and legal bondage that was demanded of
them in years gone by. Look at it. My mother's children
were angry with me. They made me. Notice the past
tense? They made me not to keep. Now
let's note that. Doesn't say they made me to keep
the vineyards. No, they made me the keeper of
the vineyards. But as I said, every true believer
still bemoans their own self-righteous lack when it comes to responsibility
before God. But my own vineyard have I not
kept. My title for this morning's message
is this, who keeps the vineyards? It probably took me four times
to rewrite this message before I finally got it to where I felt
like that's what I really wanted to say. I started off with legal
bondage. Oh boy, that's really a happy
message. But that's not really what this passage is about. It's certainly mentioned here.
We remember the legal bondage. And when someone tries to put
us under that bondage today, we again feel that weight and
that trouble. But think about it. Who keeps
the vineyards? You, today, sinner. Now if you're not a sinner, If
you're watching this TV program and you're not a sinner, these
words are not for you. Now someone will say, but the
Bible teaches us that all men are sinners. That is exactly
right. But you go ask all men if they
are sinners. They will deny that most vehemently. The question is not simply, does
the Bible teach we are all sinners? I'm asking you this, has God
through the Bible, through the scripture, and through your own
experience, has God taught you that you are a sinner? That's
what I want to know. You sinner, have you ever kept
any vineyard? Have you? If you think you've
kept a vineyard, then I'm not talking to you. I have no message
of good news if you think you've ever kept any vineyard whatsoever. See the title again. Who keeps
the vineyards? The answer is not given us here
in this verse. But the answer as to who has
not kept the vineyards is certainly in this verse. My mother's children
didn't make me the keeper of the vineyard because they were
happy with me. My mother's children were angry
with me, angry with me. Do you see it? They made me the
keeper of the vineyards. Not they made me to keep the
vineyards. No, they made me, they put all the responsibility
on me. Free will works religion, never
produces for man what it espouses to man. You hear what I said? Free will works religion. I don't care if it's called Christian.
I don't care if it's called Roman Catholicism. I don't care if
it's called Islam. All free will works religion.
I don't care if it's called Buddhism. I don't care if it's called Shintoism.
It doesn't matter what it is. All free will works religion
never produces for man what it espouses to man. Those who demand
God's law be kept. Now let's just zero it down now.
Let's talk about God's law, because right now I'm not worried about
any other religion's law. Let's talk about God's law. Those
who demand God's law be kept. Notice when I say kept, men separate God's law by terms. They call it the moral law. They
often call it, or the ceremonial law, or they call it the sacrificial
law. They usually all leave out the
civil and civic aspects of that law. But let us remember, God's
law is one unified whole. You cannot separate it into,
there's a moral part, and then there's a civic part, and there's
a ceremonial part, and there's a sacrificial part, because the
civic parts of the law, God's law, that which issued down from
Sinai, the civic parts of God's law is just as moral as what
men call the moral parts of the law. As a matter of fact, they
are the outflowing of the first 10 commandments. but even the
ceremonial law and the sacrificial law were still moral in all of
their character. James says if you offend in one
point, he wasn't talking about the sacrificial as opposed to
the ceremonial, civic, or moral. He wasn't talking about the civic
as opposed to the moral or ceremonial or sacrificial. He says if you
offend in one point, you're guilty of all. Paul puts it this way when it
comes to the law. He that continueth not in all
things which are written in the book of the law to do them is
what? Cursed. Cursed. And yet even amongst
some who profess free reigning grace, they try to separate God's
holy law into little bite-sized manageable pieces. Now do they
not? Now someone says you shouldn't
be so hard upon men. I ain't hard upon men. This book's
hard. Don't look at me. I am black. The sun has darkened me. Mac,
it's out of my control. My condition is out of my control. Your condition by nature is out
of your control. Some deny what we call original
sin, that in Adam's fall, many were made sinners. That's what
the book says. That's exactly what it means.
But let me tell you something, I can't even manage my part of
it. I can't even manage my part of
it. You, sinner, You, sinner, have you ever kept any vineyard? Be honest now. Be true to your
own soul now. Be true to the Word of God now.
Have you ever kept any vineyard in your life? Think about it. Those who demand
God's law be kept. And if you're going to demand
God's law be kept, you've got to demand it all be kept. Don't
try to pick and choose. God never gave you or I that
right. Those who demand God's law be
kept, they never do it themselves, but they demand it of you. And
that's exactly what Paul said back in the book of Galatians. Listen to what he says. This
is God's holy word. Galatians chapter six and verse
13. Well, let me look at verse 12
for the context. As many as desire to make a fair
show in the what? The flesh. Because that's what
the law deals with, our flesh. what we are by nature. That which
is flesh is flesh. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh. The law deals with the flesh. As many as desire
to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised. Why? Only lest they should suffer
persecution for the cross of Christ. But here's the statement
of it. For neither they themselves who are circumcised. Look at
it! Now you can be circumcised, but
you can't what? keep the law. Amen. That's right.
Do you see it? Amen. For neither they themselves
who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have
you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. That's right. In other words,
it's like this. Boy, those people better be glad I set them straight. There you go. That's right. They better be glad I gave them
a vineyard to keep. There you go. So again I say,
those who demand God's law be kept, they never do it themselves,
but they demand it of you that they may boast over you. God's
law is, note that one word, is holy and just and good. And those who truly believe Christ,
I'm talking about even believe Christ, they still acknowledge
not the law used to be holy, just, and good. Not that certain
parts of the law used to be holy, just, and good. They still acknowledge
that the law is holy, just, and good. And, and they also acknowledge
that the law is holy, just, and good. It still is a glorious
condemnation of death. God's law was never intended
to give life or sustain life. The law is to me, the law is
to every truly spiritually awakened sinner. The law is an indictment. The law is an arrest warrant. The law is bondage, and it's
a glorious bondage. It's a glorious bondage. You
see, until God Almighty opens your heart, mind, and soul to
what you truly are in light of His law, you will never know
what believers know. Look not upon me, because I am
black, because the Son hath looked upon me. My mother's children
were angry with me. They made me the keeper of the
vineyards, but my own vineyard I have not kept. When a man or a woman begins
to brag to you about their starting to keep any part of God's law,
they don't know God's law. Amen. That's exactly right. You can't cry out with sincerity
and truth that God's law is holy, just, and good, and then deny
that it is a glorious condemnation of death. That's right. Exactly. Every time I read God's law for
God's law, do you know what I see in me? Death. Death. Death. Thou shalt. You know what I find out? I don't. God's law says thou shalt not. You know what I find in myself?
I do. Read Romans 7. The Apostle Paul
felt that same way. You know why? Because he was
a true believer. He was a true Shulamite. He was
one of God's people. Yes, sir. Again, the law is to
me. The law is to every awakened
sinner. It's an indictment. It's an arrest
warrant. It is bondage. Don't ever deny
bondage and its reality. You remember that account where
our Lord was talking to some Jews? He said, if you know the
truth, the truth shall make you free. They said, how are you
going to say we will be made free? We're Abraham's children. We've never been in bondage to
any man. Now think about it. Think about it. Somebody said,
well, they just misunderstood what he's talking about. Oh,
they misunderstood it all right, because they had no ability to
comprehend what he was talking about. And he went on to say
that in John 8, 43. You read it for yourself. Why do you not
understand my words or my speech? I'm sorry. Why do you not understand
my speech? Even because you cannot hear
my word. You don't really get it. You don't have eyes to see.
You don't have ears to hear. You don't have a heart to perceive.
Think about it. He says, the truth shall make
you free. And then they lie about the very
freedom they claim they had. He was talking about spiritual
liberty, spiritual liberation, if you want to put it that way.
They could only think in the lines of the flesh. Well, we've
never been in bondage to anyone. They were under Roman boot at
the time. They had been in Babylon, their
forefathers had been in Babylon for 70 years. Now why is it they
went there when Christ was talking about something else? Because
they can't understand the truth of God. A person that commits sin is
the slave of sin, Christ said. Christ said it, didn't he? You
ever committed a sin? Even one. Even one you are the
slave of sin And I'll tell you what he says if you don't know
the truth And the truth will make you free then he said goes
on to say if the Sun therefore if the Sun Therefore shall make
you free you shall be free indeed Think about it, some delight
in putting other people in bondage. Look at Matthew. These are our
Lord's words, Matthew chapter 23. Boy, I hope I'm right on
that passage, Joe. Boy, that's frustrating when
you miss one. Matthew chapter 23, look at what
it says. Then spake Jesus to the multitudes
and to his disciples, saying, the scribes and the Pharisees
sit in Moses' seat. All therefore whatsoever they
bid you observe, that observe and do, but do you not after
their works? For they say, and do not. Now look, now look, here's the
point that he's getting at. For they bind heavy burdens and
grieve us to be born and lay them on men's shoulders. But,
now here's the problem, but they themselves will not move them
with one of their fingers. They want you to be in bondage
just for bondage's sake. I pray God that you've seen your
bondage under his law. It's a very difficult, weighty
place to be, but it's an act of God in free reigning grace
when he shows you what you really are in light of his law. Paul
calls it in Romans chapter eight, the spirit of bondage. But thank God he hasn't given
us the spirit of bondage again to fear, but we've been given
the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Papa, my father. Look, look, but all their works. Why do men do that? Why do they
lay these heavy burdens on men? Why do men try to tell believers
that you're under the law in some way, some way. In some manner,
yes, it may be a limited manner, but you're under God's law in
some manner. Look, but all their works they do for it to be seen
of men. Men will say this, I don't believe you have to keep the
law to be justified before God, but you gotta be able to keep
at least the moral law to be able to have fellowship with
one another. If I find fellowship with God through Jesus Christ,
why do I need fellowship with you through something else? Exactly. There you go. If I'm accepted
of God the Father in God the Son, why do I need God's holy
law be kept by me? It was kept by who? Him. But all their works they do to
be seen of men, for they make broad their phylacteries. Don't
they still do that today in a manner? You ever seen these pastors going
into the hospitals? They'll be carrying a Bible, there's probably
some of them twice as big as this one I got right here. And
usually in every room, usually in every room you can find by
the Gideons, a Bible put in one of those drawers. Why? Because they want people to see
me with my Bible. They make broad their phylacteries. What else do they, verse seven,
and greetings in the marketplace, and they love to be called what?
Rabbi. Well, you've heard him today,
old Dr. So-and-so. Don't they love that? Oh, they love this
one. What is it? I've done forgot
it. What is it? Reverend So-and-so. The great Reverend Pastor Brother
So-and-so. That's a mouthful of titles. Why do men do that? To be seen
of men. And you read it go through all
the Christ's our Lord taught this they have their reward Somebody
comes up and pats me on the back because I want to be called Reverend
Joe. That's all I ever get out of it That's all you'll ever
get out of that. So again, don't ever deny bondage. Mm-hmm. Don't ever deny bondage
You're foolish if you do Some delight in putting others under
bondage. If you speak to a man about bondage, speak to him about
the way of deliverance. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
The law's good if it's used lawfully. And what's the law for? For sinners,
for disobedient, for manslayers, for murderers, for adulterers,
for whoremongers, for drunks, for thieves. Welcome to this
church. Now, that law shows me how bad
I am in my flesh. My only place of deliverance
is Jesus Christ the Lord. Think about it. Consider, and
Joe preached upon this a few Sundays ago, it was actually
on June the 11th, 1936. 2017, this year. Hopefully it will
be on the TV before this one ever airs on the TV. If you haven't
heard that one, go get that message. June the 11th, 2017. Joe preached
about the Gadarene demoniac. You remember that message? Good
message. Think about this. Fetters and chains did not restrain
him from evil. Fetters and chains did not constrain
him to good. There you have both sides of
it. The fetters and chains did not restrain him from evil. The
fetters and chains could not constrain him to good. The more
they bound him, the wilder he got. Right? That's what that
whole passage teaches. What was the only hope for that
man? More fetters? No, they finally went to chains. He broke those, running around
naked like a wild man in the tombs. What was the only answer
for his deliverance? Christ only. Made him to sit,
to be clothed, and to be in his right mind. And guess who he
was sitting in front of? Guess who he was clothed in front
of? And guess who he was in his right
mind in front of? Jesus Christ, that's Jesus Christ. The deliverer was the one he
found, then found himself before, Joe, seated, clothed in his right
mind. And it was, now think about it,
it wasn't because he asked Jesus for anything, Jesus came to the
coast of the gathering. As soon as he hit the shore,
this man came running to worship him, even while he was full of
devils, Joe. This man, Jesus, knew there was
a man of the Gadarenes that he had to deliver. His very presence
started the whole thing to fall into place. Did it not? His very
presence upon the shores started the whole thing to fall into
place. Who keeps the vineyards? Who
keeps the vineyards? Well, what vineyards? The vineyards
of divine law. All divine law, mosaic. Who keeps
that? Christ did. Amen. Christ did. Who keeps the vineyards of divine
natural law? Do you do that? Do you hold this
world in store? No. Huh? Who keeps the vineyards
of natural, divine natural law? Christ does. Amen. Who keeps
the vineyards of divine, divinely ordained governmental law? Do you do that? Do the politicians
do that? No, our sovereign Lord does. Who keeps the vineyards of societal
law to where we don't break down like wild beasts of the forest
and destroy one another at will? Who keeps that, you and I? No,
He does. He does. Who keeps the vineyard
of ecclesiastical law? Why is it that we're not at one
another's throats constantly? Think about this book and all
the rules that are in it. How is it in the world that we can
get along at all? Because we all like to pick and choose certain
parts we like. And Mac, if I like the other
parts different than the parts you like, we gonna be at one
another's throat constantly. Who keeps all of that in order?
Us? The pastor? The deacons? The
people? No, Christ does. Christ does. Who keeps the vineyards of divine
justice? Does man keep the vineyards of
divine justice? We put forth puny attempts. But look at our penal system.
It's so fraught with inconsistencies. Yeah, you can have somebody murder
someone in cold blood. And sometimes they will get less
time in prison than someone that's caught with a little pack of
dope in their pocket. Even marijuana, and now they're
legalizing that. Think about it. Have we, have
mankind, have we ever kept the laws of divine justice? Moose Parks used these phrases
and I like them. I'm going to start using them
a little more now. Have you ever kept the divine law of preceptive
acts? That is doing what you should
do and not doing what you ought not do to avoid what you ought
not to do? Have you ever done that? No.
But even more, Have we ever obeyed, have we ever kept the law of
satisfying penal acts? That is, when you have done wrong,
can you truly satisfy God's justice? The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. He's the only man that could die under the weight of sin and
yet be justified in God's sight. Now there's a mystery. Justified,
there's another part of that, justified in the spirit. Everybody
did not look at Jesus Christ and say wow what a holy man Now
did they hmm for 30 years they barely even recognized he existed
Right do you think they're gonna think any more about you? Here's
more important. Do you think you ought to think
any more about you? Look not on me I'm black. The sun has darkened me. My mother's
children, they were angry with me. They made me the keepers
of the vineyards. But my own vineyard, my own vineyard,
my own responsibility, I haven't kept it. I haven't kept it. Christ only has done these things,
folks. Now Paul's gonna summarize it this way. Turn to Colossians.
Now I've got to move quickly through this. I will hit some
of the, what I'm gonna call the high spots. Colossians chapter
two, turn there with me. Colossians chapter two. And Paul
is saying, I'm writing you Colossians, and I've also got the Laodiceans
in mind. Remember them? No wonder he has them in mind. I know we love to boast of how
we're Philippi or this or that. Sometimes I feel all too much
like a Laodicean. I say that with shame. I don't
say that with joy and happiness. I'm writing to you, Colossians
and Laodicea. Look, verse two, that their hearts might be comforted,
be knit together in love unto all riches of the full assurance
of understanding. Don't you want that? To the acknowledgement
of the mystery of God and of the Father and of Christ in whom
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. You want
to find out who God is? Don't look to the law. Hear me? You want to find out who God
is? Look to Jesus Christ. That's exactly right. You want
to find out the glory of God's law? Look to Jesus Christ. He's
the man who kept it. Lock, stock, and barrel. All
his heart, mind, soul, and strength. Look, and this I say, lest any
man should what? Beguile you. with enticing words,
and oh, does not man love to do that? For though I be absent
in the flesh, I get what I need to do is write to you some rules
and you follow these rules. Is that what he says? No. I'm
not around you. But what I'll do, I'll tell you,
if you'll do all of these rules I'm going to give you, everything
will be fine. Is that what he says? No. For though I be absent in
the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding
your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As you
therefore receive Christ Jesus, the Lord. How do we do that?
By grace. Only by grace. So then how do we walk? So walk
ye in him. The same grace that it took to
get me to where I am today is the same grace going to have
to carry me all the rest of the way. You want to look at how
to walk? Look at Abraham. He had no written
law. Did he? Yet he's called a friend
of God. It says he believed God and was
counted him for righteous. He had no law. Sinai was still
just an empty mountain out in the desert. Do you hear what
I'm saying to you? That's not putting down God's
law. That's the truth of God. Look at it. Rooted and built
up, where? In him. and established in the
faith as you've been taught abounding therein without thanksgiving.
Beware lest any men spoil you, take you like a piece of meat
and set you up on the shelf and just let you start to rot. That's
what he's talking about. Beware lest any men spoil you
through philosophy. But we gotta figure this out
now. Now don't figure it out, believe God. Trust Christ, walk
after him. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy, vain deceit, after the traditions of men,
after the rudiments of the world, and what? And not after Christ. Amen. Let me see it. Christ. Somebody says it can't be that
simple. Ask the Gadarene Demontiac. It was that simple. Ask Lazarus
who was dead and rotten. Yes, sir. It was that all it
took was Jesus Christ to show up on the scene, things started
to change. That's right. Now didn't it? And when he said,
Lazarus, come forth. What did he do? He that was dead
walked out of that tomb. And Jesus said, well, the best
place for Lazarus is to stay in them rags because that way
he can't do a lot of things he shouldn't do. No, what did he
say? Loose him and bless God. Now I added that, but it's still
the truth of scripture. Loose him and let him go. Amen. You remember the story
that Bruce Crabtree gave us about that dog in his neighborhood?
That dog was on this big old chain and just constantly, every
time he'd walk by when he's trying to walk, doing his exercise,
that dog would rush to the end of that chain. Bang, bang, growl,
wide open, growl. And one day Bruce said he was
doing his walks and here he come over the little knoll and there's
that dog sitting there unchained right in the middle of the street.
And Bruce said, oh, he's got me now. He said, you know what
that dog did? It walked up and licked me on
the hand. You know the only thing you can
attribute that to, is what Bruce said, his freedom. His freedom. As long as it was bound, just
like that gathering mnemonic, I will not have this on me. But
once they're gone, if the Lord is the one that's delivered you,
now if religion's delivered you, you'll go right back to your
corruption. If religion's what it's all about
to you, you'll turn wholeheartedly to religion. You'll become a
religious maniac. But if Jesus Christ has delivered
you, you will be found seated, clothed, and in your right mind
before Jesus Christ. And he's the one that it matters.
Go on and look at what it says. Him, him, look at it. Him, him,
him, look at it. Verse 17, which are a shadow
of things to come. All that law. But the body is
of what? Christ. Let no man beguile you
of your reward in a voluntary humility. And this is what, they're
volunteered up their humility. God's gonna put your face in
the dust. And even while your face is in that dust, every part
of your face and every part of the dust will just scream out
with pride and malice and deceit. But God will put your face down
there. Look at it, let no man beguile you of your reward in
a voluntary humility, worshiping of angels, intruding into those
things which you have not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly
mind, and not holding the head. What should I hold on to, pastor?
Jesus Christ. Grab him like Jacob did when
he wrestled with that angel and say, I will not let you go till
you bless me. And only God can make you do
that. Only God can make you do that. Now here's the summary
to all of this. Turn to John now, be turning to the book of
John. Who keeps the vineyards? Now look at it. We're getting
close to John chapter 15. Starting to ring a bell, anybody? Who keeps the vineyards? John
chapter 15, one verse. This is Jesus Christ speaking.
I am the vine. The true vine. At best, at best, we're just
branches. Our only place of hope is in
the true vine. Right? You look at what it says here.
I am the true vine. Who keeps the vineyards? And
my father is the husband. There's who keeps the vineyards.
What vineyards? All of them. All of them. You're worried about
what's going on in society? Don't. exactly what he's ordained
in this vineyard is what's happening. God help us to quit our complaining.
That's the way it is. Why? He's the husbandman. God's
the husbandman. Christ is the true vine. You
think he ain't gonna take care of Christ? He's highly exalted
him, Joe, you said it. He set him down as his right
hand. And guess where we're at? In
him. In him, I remember one preacher
said this, what is the sole purpose of a branch? What's its sole
desire of a branch? Especially in light of this,
John 15. I want to abide in the vine. That's where I want to be. I
am nothing without the true vine. I'll just wither up and die without
the true vine. Who's kept the vineyards? It
ain't me. It ain't you. God Almighty bringing all of
this, all of it, every vineyard to fruition according to His
own sovereign purpose and power. Amen. Father, oh God, teach us
these things. Teach us these things. And we
know these things must often be learned by hard experience,
difficult experience. But oh God, even Your grace will
supply us in those things in Christ's name. Amen. Thank you, gentlemen.