Isaiah 5:4
What more could I have done for My vineyard than I already did for it? Why, when I expected sweet grapes, did it bring forth sour fruit?
Sermons
The Ingratitude of an Unfruitful LifeR. Tuck Isaiah 5:4
A History of the JewsC. J. Ridgeway.Isaiah 5:1-7
Britain Highly Favoured of GodT. Sims, M. A.Isaiah 5:1-7
God's Expectation of FruitN. Rogers.Isaiah 5:1-7
Great OpportunitiesHomilistIsaiah 5:1-7
Hopes Concerning the VineyardA. B. Davidson, LL. D.Isaiah 5:1-7
Human Life in ParableJoseph Parker, D. D.Isaiah 5:1-7
Life Given for CultureJoseph Parker, D. D.Isaiah 5:1-7
Man Under the Culturing Care of HeavenHomilistIsaiah 5:1-7
Privilege and PenaltyW. Clarkson Isaiah 5:1-7
The Parable of the VineyardE. Johnson Isaiah 5:1-7
The Vineyard SongJ. Iron.Isaiah 5:1-7
Truth to be Presented in Varied FormN. Rogers.Isaiah 5:1-7
Unfruitfulness ReprovedW. Reading, M. A.Isaiah 5:1-7
Who was the SpeakerW. Hay Aitken, M. A.Isaiah 5:1-7
Christmas ThoughtsN. Marshall, D. D.Isaiah 5:4-6
Divine DisappointmentW. Hay Aitken, M. A.Isaiah 5:4-6
God and MenA. Roberts, M. A.Isaiah 5:4-6
God Employs Various Means in Dealing with MenW. Hay Aitken, M. A.Isaiah 5:4-6
God's VineyardW. Jones, M. A.Isaiah 5:4-6
Human Responsibility and Divine GraceR. Waddy Moss.Isaiah 5:4-6
National Wickedness in Danger of Provoking National JudgmentsJ. Seed, M. A.Isaiah 5:4-6
Thankfulness for Past Mercies the Way to Obtain Future BlessingsR. South, D. D.Isaiah 5:4-6
The Impenitent InexcusableH. Melvill, B. D.Isaiah 5:4-6
The Lord's VineyardG. J. Cornish, M. A.Isaiah 5:4-6
The Moral Limits of the Divine ResourcesW. Hay Aitken, M. A.Isaiah 5:4-6














The passage connected with this verse is conceived quite in the spirit of our Lord's parables. In a picture taken from familiar scenes of nature, the relations between God and his people are shown. As in the parable spoken by Nathan, a definite judgment is asked. That judgment, whether given audibly or only felt, is made an earnest appeal of God to their own conscience and their own hearts. Three things are set forth prominently in this parable.

I. THE GRACIOUS ATTENTIONS. The picture of a vineyard was especially interesting to Isaiah's audience, because Canaan was a land of vines, which grew freely along the terraced hillsides. The prophet observes that the vineyard of which he speaks had every advantage of situation and soil; it was properly protected, well cleared, planted with vines of the choicest quality, and fitted with everything necessary to the securing of abundant fruitage. Everything was done, according to the description, that good judgment, large ability, and careful consideration could suggest. It was not a nacre vineyard planted for gain; it was a garden of delights; the pleasure as well as the interest of the owner were bound up in it. Such was the land of Canaan, as prepared by God for his people; and such was Israel, as God's vine planted in it. What nation ever was like Israel, in the special choice, and call, and settling, and tending, and pruning, and nourishing, and loving interest of God? The deep feelings of God towards them find very tender expression in the books of the prophets (see Jeremiah 2:2, 21; Hosea 2; Hosea 6:4; Hosea 11, etc.). We may well think that no other nation except England has ever been so favored of God. He has chosen her, fenced her round, "encompassed her with the inviolate sea," enriched her with food growing out of her soil, and with wealth stored in almost inexhaustible heaps beneath it. He has lit, even in her martyrs' fires, a candle of truth which neither the dogmatism of science nor the extravagances of priests, will ever blow out. He has planted her with noble elements of character, given fruitful soil for their growth, watched against evil influences, scat forth right, wise, faithful husbandmen in every age to prune and tend and clear out the stones of obstruction. Surely God rightly looks for fruit - for full, rich, ripe clusters of the "vine of Sorek" hanging on the branches of England. But we may take the description home to ourselves. What gracious attentions have we received! Sometimes, looking over oar lives, it seems to us that if we had been his sole favorites in the world, he could not have been more kind, more constant, more gracious, more unsparing in his dealings with us. We think of the godly families into which we entered as members; of our saintly "forbears;" of the trust of health, and mental power; of the place where we are set, and the successes we have won. Surely we are just a vineyard of delights to our God, and we ought to respond to hint with abundant fruitfulness.

II. THE REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS. "I looked that it should bring forth grapes." He who plants and tends flowers does so expecting to gain beautiful blossoms; and he is cheered all through the long waiting time by the pleasant expectation. He who casts corn-seeds into the ploughed earth buries them with visions of the waving harvest and the loaded barns. He has long patience because of right and reasonable expectations, he who prepares a vineyard waits while the rough branches cover with leaves, and the clusters hang down, growing bigger every day. He too expects the riches and the joy of the ingathering. And God planted those Jews in fertile Canaan, expecting from them the fruitage of a clear witness for him to all the nations around. He looked for fruits of judgment. He looked for righteousness. He expected that they would be a "holy people, zealous of good works." What, then, does God now expect of his English vineyard? What does he expect of us? We may remind of some of the good fruit God expects to find on our tree.

1. He expects us to reach a very high standard of Christian intelligence. Not merely believing what we are told, but finding out for ourselves what, upon reasonable grounds, seems to be true. Able to give good reasons for the hope that is in us, with meekness and fear.

2. He expects an unmistakable witness for himself, and for his truth. There should be no hiding our light under a bushel, life hesitating to confess whose we are, and whom we serve. No acting inconsistently with the Christ-name which we bear.

3. He expects abundant fruit of charitable deeds and devoted labors. The branches on the vine which will most glorify God are those that hang down low enough for men to pick. His law is, "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me."

4. He looks for holy and beautiful character. These are the grapes that ought to grow on Christian trees: "Love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." "If these things be in you and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ;" "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit."

III. THE PAINFUL DISAPPOINTMENT. Nothing but hedgerow dog-roses blossoming on the budded tree. Nothing but sour, useless, wild grapes hanging on the grafted stock. Grapes like crab-apples, or apples of Sodom, good-looking, but tasteless. The Hebrew word, indeed, is a very vigorous one, and expresses even the offensive putrefaction of these grapes. All the loving care, the laboring, and the tending seem to have been in vain. Brought out from idolatry, the Jews sought and served idols. Separated from temptations to moral evils, they became utterly depraved. Fenced in to righteousness, over the wall they went, in the dreadful license of iniquity. Sometimes there was a fair show of leaf, but it was "nothing but leaves." Sometimes there seemed a show of fruit. The heavenly husbandman tried it, and it crushed into foul ashes in the mouth. We may well sympathize with God in his sore disappointment at the result of all his care of his ancient people. Illustrate by the scene of our Lord's weeping over Jerusalem. Does England disappoint God, too? At first it seems as if we could say - Surely not! Think of her spires and lowers dotting every landscape; her hospitals in every town; her thousands of godly homes. But what shall we say of the awful procession of her drunkards; the vision of her drunkards' homes; her outcast children; her overcrowded dwellings, where decency cannot find a place; her gin-palaces; her gaols; her madhouses; her workhouses; her soldiers' barracks, and sailors' tempters; her "city snares and town traps?" Do we disappoint our gracious God? What is the fruitage of our characters, our homes, our places of prayer, our business, our Church life and relations? Must he say, "Wild grapes, only wild grapes; cut it down?" - R.T.

What could have been done more to My vineyard that I have not done in it?
I. In any attempt at the interpretation of the story and the exhibition of its moral and religions uses, its NATIONAL APPLICATION should be considered first. (Ver. 7.)

1. There is a sense in which it may almost be said that Israel was Jehovah's vineyard as no other race or nation has ever been. Selected from an ancient stock which certainly does not seem to have greatly distinguished itself before, it had been preserved and cherished century after century; and in its most marvellous history are to be found the purest revelations of God in antiquity, leading up to the "unspeakable gift" in which men have life. That history proves that the nation had enjoyed every condition of blessedness, every opportunity of fruitfulness and service.

2. The kind of career it chose is sufficiently indicated in this fifth chapter, in the latter part of which the vices seem almost to run riot. But it is even more significant of the state of the nation, that these lurid paragraphs are not perhaps quite an adequate representation. For, threatened with an attack from an alliance of the neighbouring tribes, Ahaz sought the aid of the King of Assyria; and to secure it, he actually consented to govern his country as an Assyrian province. Then followed one of the most dismal periods of Jewish history. The weak king became infatuated with his oppressor, and nothing would satisfy him except the introduction of Assyrian manners and morals and worship into Jerusalem. The example of the court infected the nobles and the priests; and at length, in the beautiful valley of Hinnom, amongst the groves that were kept green by the fountains of Siloah, an altar to Moloch was erected. That was the sort of "wild grape" this choice vine was yielding, — idolatry of the most cruel and savage kind, varied with sensuality and the oppression of the poor.

3. That such a result should disappoint the Owner of the vineyard was only natural; and accordingly this little story represents Him next as trying to find out the cause, or rather, as appearing to the men of Judah to acknowledge what He and they well knew. He sets them up for the moment as judges, and confronts reason and conscience with the question, "What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it?" Everything that could be done and yet leave them free to sin and capable of righteousness had been done.

4. A nation convicted and self-convicted of the most gross offences against God and against morals, offences the entire responsibility of which rests upon itself — what will become of that nation? There are other parts of the Bible, not quite so stern as this, which indicate that further opportunities may be given it, and the final punishment withheld for a time. But it is also true that, in regard of nations as well as of men, the patience of God may be exhausted. We have accordingly, in this song and story, the outline of the history of Judah. God's consideration, first of all, with every kind of gracious help and opportunity, — all wasted through the neglect or wilfulness of the nation itself, until it became fruitless and hopelessly corrupt; and then the fulfilment of the Divine words: "Go to; I will tell you what I will do to My vineyard: I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it." Judah, in its origins and early career, is a sufficient illustration of the preliminary stages: Judah, in its dispersion and miseries, is a standing witness to the certainty with which national calamity overtakes national contempt of God. A nation that ignores its past, and just surrenders itself to sin, is manifestly good for nothing, filling no worthy function, but cumbering the earth.

II. BUT NO NATIONAL INTERPRETATION OF THIS PARABLE SEEMS QUITE SUFFICIENT. The way in which the Bible insists upon the truth that national responsibility does not obliterate but only gathers together and, as it were, organises personal responsibility, has some important bearings upon current modes of speech and thought. There is a disposition sometimes to speak of the conscience of a nation, to imagine that the phrase stands for something that is entirely separate and apart from ourselves, and to regard it as a power outside of a man, to which he may add or from which he may withhold his own influence. At times it has proved a convenient generalisation; but it is well that an exact meaning should be given it. It must denote, not something apart from any man, but either the average personal conscience, or the aggregate of all the consciences; and an average or an aggregate is a figure upon which every unit tells. All morality, indeed, must always be, in its essence and in its appeals, personal, lifting up a nation by lifting up the individuals that constitute it; exposing it to the wrath of God because the individuals expose themselves. The most effective social movements are found to be accordingly those which address themselves in the name of God to individuals, and persuade them one by one to aim more resolutely at the fulfilment of righteousness.

1. If then this passage be taken personally, no one who recalls his past life, and remembers the way in which God has dealt with him, is likely to object to its symbolism. Every one of us has been and is a vineyard of the Lord; and He does for us all that a God can do.

2. What has been the result of it all? Wild grapes in abundance — weakness and bad temper and almost every kind of fault we can show, but little else.

3. The reason of such failure is not far to seek. That God can be blamed for it, is impossible; for there has been no defect of grace or help on His part. Temperament and circumstance might be pleaded, aptitudes we have inherited, and hindrances amidst which we have found ourselves, but for the obvious reply that, whilst these things may involve effort and strain, they never involve defeat. The man who is most embarrassed by his own disposition and surroundings, but for his own fault might be a better man than he is.

4. The consequences of continuing in fruitlessness are shown by the passage to be fatal and hopeless. To waste Divine grace is to run the risk of losing it altogether. That point, however, has not been reached by anyone who retains any aspiration after God, or any desire to be a better man. In Christ there is power for all to shake off every habit of sin, to reverse tendencies to neglect and waste, to evolve in righteousness and peace.

(R. Waddy Moss.)

I. THE DEALINGS OF GOD WITH US.

II. OUR CONDUCT TOWARDS HIM.

(A. Roberts, M. A.)

It may seem irreverent to speak of a Divine disappointment, but this is by no means the only passage of Scripture which in its obvious meaning conveys this idea, Perhaps we may have to leave the explanation of such words till we obtain fuller light in higher worlds upon the great mystery of the relation of Divine foreknowledge to human freedom; but clearly such words are spoken to us after the manner of men, in order that we may the better discern the intensity of desire and the warmth of loving interest with which the God from whom we all proceed seeks to raise us to our true functions and our proper place in His universe, and the sorrow and regret with which He witnesses the failure of His gracious purposes concerning us.

(W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)

1. Perhaps it may occur to you to object, this lamentation and apparent disappointment? Surely, this is a confession of impotence on the part of the Omnipotent. If God be really what we call Him — Almighty — why should He waste words in futile expostulations! Surely, He who makes the vine put forth her tender grapes and prepares the autumn vintage the wide world over, could, if He pleased, by the mere exercise of His superior power, constrain men to bring forth the fruit that He desires to see brought forth. Why did He not increase the pressure of His power on Israel until He had constrained the disobedient nation to become obedient, and had practically forced them to bring forth their fruit? Our answer to this very natural difficulty is simply this — that the suggestion involves a contradiction. This will be sufficiently obvious as soon as we begin to ask, What is the special fruit that God seeks at the hand of man? The proper fruit of humanity, the fruit that God seeks in human character and life, is the reproduction of the Divine nature. God's purpose in man is answered when He sees in man His own moral likeness formed. But now, inasmuch as God is a free agent, it is only by the possession of a similar moral faculty, and of the capacity of exercising it, and only by its exercise in the highest and best manner, that man can ever be conformed into the Divine image; for no two things are more essentially unlike than an automaton and a free agent. Indeed. I think we might venture to say that even a free agent who uses his freedom badly is morally more like God, just because he is free, than the most perfect automaton — perfect, I mean, in every other particular you can name — could ever hope to become, seeing that he is not, and can never hope to be, free. No doubt God could have arranged that man should be a very different being, and bring forth very different fruit; but then in doing so He would have had to abandon the specific purpose emphatically announced when man was just about to be called into existence — "Let us make man in our image, after our own likeness." St. Paul teaches us that the "gifts and calling of God are without repentance," and we see this illustrated all through the natural world. God does not alter the functions of particular organisms, and make them produce something totally distinct from their own proper type. Were He to do so He would be admitting failure and inconsistency. And as in the material so in the spiritual world. Man has been originally designed to occupy a certain unique position there, and to exercise certain definite functions, and to bring forth a particular kind of fruit to the glory of God, and therefore we may be quite sure that God will not transform him into a being of another order altogether, just to make him do and be what he in his free manhood wills not to do or to be.

2. But it might still be urged, Would not God be acting a kinder part if He withdrew this faculty of free will which has caused us so much trouble, and sin and sorrow — if He were so completely to override it by His own superior power, and so control it that it should be able to exercise no appreciable influence incur conduct, but that He Himself should always have His way? To this we answer, God loves man too much to do anything of the kind. Man's capacity of rising to his proper destiny is involved in his possession and exercise of this faculty of volition. Take it away, and we must needs turn our backs forever upon the thought of rising to the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus; for it is by the use of these wills of ours, and by their voluntary subordination, that we are to be trained, and developed, and educated, and fitted for enjoying that wondrous relation to the Son of God which is spoken of as the spiritual Bridal and Union of Christ and His Church. No; man must remain free, or else his own proper fruit can never be brought forth; and hence there is really and actually moral limit to the Divine resources.

3. Bearing in mind, then, these necessary limitations of the Divine resources, let us each face the inquiry, What more would we have God do for us than He has actually done! I do not my that all are equally privileged, and I can believe that some, in answer to such a challenge, might demand the enjoyment of higher privileges such as others possess. But don't you see that, whatever privileges might thus be secured, the necessity for the action of the will would not and could not be evaded! And so long as this were so, what guarantee would you have that your increased privileges might not mean only enhanced condemnation! Others, who occupy the very position of privilege that you might demand, have only turned their privileges into a curse by sinning against them; and who shall say that it would not be the same with you? Nay, is it not even more than probable that it would be so; for does not our Lord Himself teach us that "he that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much: and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much"! Here we have laid down one of the great laws of the moral world.

(W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)

He does not exhaust all the means that He is capable of employing without any inconsistency all at once. Just as He dealt in different ways with Israel of old, sometimes sending a miracle-working prophet like Elijah, and sometimes a man of mighty eloquence such as Isaiah; sometimes raising up a saintly hierarch like Samuel, and sometimes a philosophic moralist like Solomon; sometimes speaking in pestilence, defeat, disaster, and sometimes in prosperity and deliverance, even so He employs first one means and then another in dealing with us. But each of these, when it fails to bring about the end for which it was designed, represents the exhaustion of yet another resource; and when the last which the Holy Ghost can righteously and consistently have recourse to has been exhausted, the soul is lost.

(W. Hay Aitken, M. A.)

I. THE FORM AND MANNER OF THE COMPLAINT. It runs in a pathetic, interrogatory exclamation; which way of expression naturally and amongst men importing in it surprise and a kind of confusion in the thoughts of him who utters it, must needs be grounded upon that which is the foundation of all surprise, which I conceive is reducible to these two heads —

1. The strangeness;

2. The indignity of anything, when it first occurs to our apprehensions.

II. THE COMPLAINT ITSELF; for which there are these things to be considered.

1. The Person complaining, who was God Himself.

2. The persons complained of, which were His peculiar Church and people.

3. The ground of this complaint; which was their unworthy and unsuitable returns made to the dealings of God with them.

4. The issue and consequent of it; which was the confusion and destruction of the persons so graciously dealt with and so justly complained of.

(R. South, D. D.)

With ill men nothing is more common than to accuse Almighty God of partiality and injustice, as if it were in His nature to be austere and cruel, and expect more than can reasonably be done by them in their circumstances. When the earth is unprofitable, and its productions are fit only to be burned in the fire, the fault is neither in the sun nor yet in the clouds, but in those whose business it is to prepare the earth for the influences of the heavens. In like manner, and with equal justice, may God appeal to His people: and this is the purport of the question, "What could have been done more for My vineyard, that I have not none in it?"

1. The vineyard, with all the circumstances relating to it, is thus described by the prophet (vers. 1-4).

2. If Christians should at last fall away, the justice of God may then appeal to them, "What could have been done more for My vineyard, that I have not done in it?"

3. As true religion brings with it the blessing of God upon any nation, and this blessing is the source of inward peace, wisdom, health, plenty, and prosperity; so the decay of Christianity must bring such evils upon us as were brought on the impenitent Jews.

(W. Jones, M. A.)

There is something very affecting, very startling, in the assertion that as much had been done as could be done in order to produce from the ancient Church the "fruits of righteousness." And, if you only ponder the arrangements of the Gospel, you will feel forced to assent to the reproachful truth which is conveyed in the question of the text. There is a wonderful variety in the arguments and appeals which are addressed in Scripture to the thoughtless and obdurate. At one time they are attacked with terrors, at another acted upon by the loving kindness of God, and allured by the free mercies of the Gospel. In our text there is nothing alleged but the greatness of what God has done for us — a greatness such that nothing more can be done, consistently, at least, with that moral accountableness which must regulate the amount of influence which God brings to bear upon man. Of course, if this be so, then, if we are not convinced and renewed under the existing instrumentality, there is nothing that can avert from us utter destruction.

I. This is the first way of vindicating the question of our text — atheism has a far better apology for resisting the evidences of a God which are spread over creation, than worldly-mindedness for manifesting insensibility to redemption through Christ. It is not, we think, too bold a thing to say, that in redeeming us, God exhausted Himself. He gave Himself; what greater gift could remain unbestowed! Therefore it is the fact that nothing more could have been done for the vineyard, which proves the utter ruin which must follow neglect of the proffered salvation. Having shown yourselves too hard to be softened by that into which Deity has thrown all His strength, too proud to be humbled by that which involved the humiliation of God, too grovelling to be attracted by that which unites the human and the Divine, too cold to be warmed by that which burns with all the compassions of that Infinite One, whose very essence is love, — may we not argue that you thus prove to yourselves that there is no possible arrangement by which you could be saved?

II. Consider more in detail what has been done for the vineyard, in order to bring out, in all its reproachfulness, the question before us.

1. As much has been done as could have been done because of the agency through which redemption was effected. The Author of our redemption was none other than the eternal Son of God, who had covenanted from all eternity to become the surety and substitute for the fallen. So far as we have the power of ascertaining, no being but a Divine taking to Himself flesh, could have satisfied justice in the stead of fallen man. But this is precisely the arrangement which has been made on our behalf.

2. As much has been done as could have been done for the "vineyard," regard being had to the completeness and fullness of the work as well as to the greatness of its Author. The sins of the whole race were laid upon Christ; and such was the value which the Divinity gave to the endurances of the humanity, that the whole race might be pardoned if the whole race would put faith in the Mediator as punished in their stead. The scheme of redemption not only provides for our pardon, so that punishment may be avoided; it provides also for our acceptance, so that happiness may be obtained. Not only is there full provision for every want, but there is the Holy Spirit to apply the provision, and make it effectual in the individual case.

3. There is yet one more method of showing that so much has been done for the "vineyard" that there remains nothing more which the Owner can do. In the teachings of the Redeemer we have such clear information as to our living under a retributive government, — a government whose recompenses shall be accurately dealt out in another state of being, — that ignorance can be no man's excuse if he live as though God took no note of human actions. And we reckon that much of what has been done for the "vineyard" consists in the greatness of the reward which the Gospel proposes to righteousness, and the greatness of the punishment which it denounces on impenitence.

(H. Melvill, B. D.)

I. THE ADVANTAGES.

II. THE SINS.

III. THE PUNISHMENT of the elder Church.

(G. J. Cornish, M. A.)

I. The solemnity of the present season calls upon us to commemorate in an especial manner THE MERCIES OF GOD IN THE REDEMPTION OF THE WORLD, the last and most gracious of all His dispensations. The preceding vouchsafements were preparatory to this, which is therefore to be considered as the completion of the others. Wherefore, if those other dispensations had so much grace in them as to warrant the prophet's expostulation in the text and context, the argument will be so much the stronger, and our obligation so much the greater, as the grace in which we stand is more abounding and the advantage of our situation more favourable and auspicious to us. This whole matter will appear in a stronger light to us if we turn our thoughts to those three great periods of religion under one or other of which the Church of God and His Christ hath all along subsisted. In each of these we shall have occasion to reflect upon the merciful care of providence and the shameful negligence and ingratitude of mankind in their returns to it.

1. The patriarchal;

2. The Jewish;

3. The Christian, marked by the personal appearance of Christ, our blessed Mediator, who had all along transacted the great affairs of the Church under the two preceding economies.The two main ends which were here consulted were —

(1)The atonement of past offences.

(2)The prevention of future offences.

II. THE RETURNS WHICH HAVE BEEN MADE to all this tender indulgence of our merciful Father.

(N. Marshall, D. D.)

I. WHAT GOD HATH DONE FOR US AND WHAT RETURNS WE HAVE MADE.

1. In early ages, when we were overrun with heathenism and idolatry, it pleased God to plant the Christian religion among us; a religion every way worthy of the Divine dispensation, and suited to the exigencies of mankind. When this religion had flourished many centuries in its unalloyed purity, in a very dark age it became adulterated with impure doctrines, and quite overgrown with a heap of monstrous absurdities: but it pleased God, by the ministry of His faithful servants, to re-enlighten this land with the beams of truth; to restore Christianity to its original simplicity and sincerity.

2. A thorough disregard to Christianity has prevailed.

II. WHAT WE MAY EXPECT AS THE CONSEQUENCE OF OUR INGRATITUDE AND IMPIETY. Vice, when diffused through a kingdom, must have a fatal influence over the whole community, and at last accomplish the destruction of it. In its universal progress it must be attended with idleness and immoderate expense, the natural parents of poverty. Honest poverty would cast about for honest and unthought of expedients for supporting itself and bettering its condition, but poverty, contracted by the profligate courses of drunkenness, lewdness, and debauchery, takes quite another turn, and preys upon the little industry that is left to the nation, and thereby gives a check to that very industry; for the less secure men grow in their properties the less will they labour to improve them. Hence will it come to pass that among those of higher condition, self-interest will be made the ruling principle. And among the meanest of the people what power can we suppose will the voice of human laws have against the louder calls of poverty, set free from the barrier of conscience, and thereby at liberty to relieve itself by all the methods that wickedness can suggest! In proportion as the hands of the government grow weak will the hearts of its enemies he strengthened, and greater force must still be provided for its support, and the maintenance of that must again fall on the public; and general burdens of that kind, should they ever he felt, would be followed by a general discontent. And this will give a great temptation to our foreign enemies to take the advantage of such fatal opportunities and try to make us no more a nation. In the ordinary course of things then, vice, when it becomes epidemical, is not only the reproach, but bids fair for the ruin of any people. National wickedness never failed, sooner or later, to provoke the Almighty to a national vengeance.

III. THE PROPER MEANS WHEREBY WE MAY HOPE TO AVERT GOD'S DISPLEASURE. (Jeremiah 18:7, 8.) As we make a part of the nation, our sins must make a part of the national guilt; and consequently none of us can think ourselves unconcerned in the important work of a national reformation.

(J. Seed, M. A.)

People
Ephah, Isaiah
Places
Jerusalem, Mount Zion
Topics
Anything, Bad, Best, Bring, Common, Expected, Forth, Grapes, Hoping, Ones, Produce, Vine-garden, Vineyard, Waited, Wherefore, Wild, Worthless, Yet, Yield, Yieldeth, Yielding
Outline
1. Under the parable of a vineyard, God excuses his severe judgment
8. His judgments upon covetousness
11. Upon lasciviousness
13. Upon impiety
20. And upon injustice
26. The executioners of God's judgments

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 5:4

     3254   Holy Spirit, fruit of
     6232   rejection of God, results

Isaiah 5:1-7

     1330   God, the provider
     4458   grape
     4538   vineyard
     7021   church, OT anticipations
     8845   unfruitfulness

Isaiah 5:3-6

     4540   weeds

Library
A Prophet's Woes
'Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may he placed alone in the midst of the earth! 9. In mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall he desolate, even great and fair, without inhabitant. 10. Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah. 11. Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Holy Song from Happy Saints
"Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved."--Isaiah 5:1. IT was a prophet who wrote this, a prophet inspired of God. An ordinary believer might suffice to sing, but he counts it no stoop for a prophet, and no waste of his important time, to occupy himself with song. There is no engagement under heaven that is more exalting than praising God, and however great may be the work which is committed to the charge of any of us, we shall always do well if we pause awhile to spend a time in
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 61: 1915

The Well-Beloved's vineyard.
AN ADDRESS TO A LITTLE COMPANY OF BELIEVERS, IN MR. SPURGEON'S OWN ROOM AT MENTONE."My Well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill."--Isaiah v. 1. THE WELL-BELOVED'S VINEYARD. WE recognize at once that Jesus is here. Who but He can be meant by "My Well-beloved"? Here is a word of possession and a word of affection,--He is mine, and my Well-beloved. He is loveliness itself, the most loving and lovable of beings; and we personally love Him with all our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength:
Charles Hadden Spurgeon—Till He Come

Of Confession and Self-Examination
Of Confession and Self-examination Self-examination should always precede Confession, and in the nature and manner of it should be conformable to the state of the soul: the business of those that are advanced to the degree of which we now treat, is to lay their whole souls open before God, who will not fail to enlighten them, and enable them to see the peculiar nature of their faults. This examination, however, should be peaceful and tranquil, and we should depend on God for the discovery and knowledge
Madame Guyon—A Short and Easy Method of Prayer

God's Last Arrow
'Having yet therefore one son, his well-beloved, he sent him also last unto them.'--Mark xii. 6. Reference to Isaiah v. There are differences in detail here which need not trouble us. Isaiah's parable is a review of the theocratic history of Israel, and clearly the messengers are the prophets; here Christ speaks of Himself and His own mission to Israel, and goes on to tell of His death as already accomplished. I. The Son who follows and surpasses the servants. (a) Our Lord here places Himself in
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Dishonest Tenants
'And He began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. 2. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. 3. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. 4. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Miracles no Remedy for Unbelief.
"And the Lord said unto Moses, How long will this people provoke Me? and how long will it be ere they believe Me, for all the signs which I have showed among them?"--Numbers xiv. 11. Nothing, I suppose, is more surprising to us at first reading, than the history of God's chosen people; nay, on second and third reading, and on every reading, till we learn to view it as God views it. It seems strange, indeed, to most persons, that the Israelites should have acted as they did, age after age, in
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Knowledge that God Is, Combined with the Knowledge that He is to be Worshipped.
John iv. 24.--"God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." There are two common notions engraven on the hearts of all men by nature,--that God is, and that he must be worshipped, and these two live and die together, they are clear, or blotted together. According as the apprehension of God is clear, and distinct, and more deeply engraven on the soul, so is this notion of man's duty of worshipping God clear and imprinted on the soul, and whenever the actions
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

The Barren Fig-Tree.
"There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except
William Arnot—The Parables of Our Lord

A Sermon on a Text not Found in the Bible.
MR. JUSTICE GROVES.--"Men go into the Public-house respectable, and come out felons." My text, as you see, my dear readers, is not taken from the Bible. It does not, however, contradict the Scriptures, but is in harmony with some, such as "WOE UNTO HIM THAT GIVETH HIS NEIGHBOUR DRINK." Habakkuk ii. 15; "WOE UNTO THEM THAT RISE UP EARLY IN THE MORNING, THAT THEY MAY FOLLOW STRONG DRINK."--Isaiah v. 11. "TAKE HEED TO YOURSELVES LEST AT ANY TIME YOUR HEARTS BE OVERCHARGED WITH SURFEITING AND
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

Religion Pleasant to the Religious.
"O taste and see how gracious the Lord is; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him."--Psalm xxxiv. 8. You see by these words what love Almighty God has towards us, and what claims He has upon our love. He is the Most High, and All-Holy. He inhabiteth eternity: we are but worms compared with Him. He would not be less happy though He had never created us; He would not be less happy though we were all blotted out again from creation. But He is the God of love; He brought us all into existence,
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII

"For to be Carnally Minded is Death; but to be Spiritually Minded is Life and Peace. "
Rom. viii. 6.--"For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." It is true, this time is short, and so short that scarce can similitudes or comparisons be had to shadow it out unto us. It is a dream, a moment, a vapour, a flood, a flower, and whatsoever can be more fading or perishing; and therefore it is not in itself very considerable, yet in another respect it is of all things the most precious, and worthy of the deepest attention and most serious consideration;
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

a survey of the third and closing discourse of the prophet
We shall now, in conclusion, give a survey of the third and closing discourse of the prophet. After an introduction in vi. 1, 2, where the mountains serve only to give greater solemnity to the scene (in the fundamental passages Deut. xxxii. 1, and in Is. 1, 2, "heaven and earth" are mentioned for the same purposes, inasmuch as they are the most venerable parts of creation; "contend with the mountains" by taking them in and applying to [Pg 522] them as hearers), the prophet reminds the people of
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Eleventh Day. The Holy one of Israel.
I am the Lord that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God; ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. I the Lord which make you holy, am holy.'--Lev. xi. 45, xxi. 8. 'I am the Lord Thy God, the Holy One of Israel, Thy Saviour. Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord, your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King.'--Isa. xliii. 3, 14, 15. In the book of Exodus we found God making provision for the Holiness of His people. In the holy
Andrew Murray—Holy in Christ

The Harbinger
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD , make straight in the desert a high-way for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. T he general style of the prophecies is poetical. The inimitable simplicity which characterizes every
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

Letter Xlviii to Magister Walter De Chaumont.
To Magister [75] Walter de Chaumont. He exhorts him to flee from the world, advising him to prefer the cause and the interests of his soul to those of parents. MY DEAR WALTER, I often grieve my heart about you whenever the most pleasant remembrance of you comes back to me, seeing how you consume in vain occupations the flower of your youth, the sharpness of your intellect, the store of your learning and skill, and also, what is more excellent in a Christian than all of these gifts, the pure and innocent
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

In Reply to the Questions as to his Authority, Jesus Gives the Third Great Group of Parables.
(in the Court of the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) Subdivision C. Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen. ^A Matt. XXI. 33-46; ^B Mark XII. 1-12; ^C Luke XX. 9-19. ^b 1 And he began to speak unto them ^c the people [not the rulers] ^b in parables. { ^c this parable:} ^a 33 Hear another parable: There was a man that was a householder [this party represents God], who planted a vineyard [this represents the Hebrew nationality], and set a hedge about it, and digged a ^b pit for the ^a winepress in it
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Third Day in Pasion-Week - the Last Series of Parables: to the Pharisees and to the People - on the Way to Jerusalem: the Parable
(ST. Matt. xix. 30, xx. 16; St. Matt. xxi. 28-32; St. Mark xii. 1-12; St. Luke xx. 9-19; St. Matt. xxii. 1-14.) ALTHOUGH it may not be possible to mark their exact succession, it will be convenient here to group together the last series of Parables. Most, if not all of them, were spoken on that third day in Passion week: the first four to a more general audience; the last three (to be treated in another chapter) to the disciples, when, on the evening of that third day, on the Mount of Olives, [5286]
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah

Of Orders.
Of this sacrament the Church of Christ knows nothing; it was invented by the church of the Pope. It not only has no promise of grace, anywhere declared, but not a word is said about it in the whole of the New Testament. Now it is ridiculous to set up as a sacrament of God that which can nowhere be proved to have been instituted by God. Not that I consider that a rite practised for so many ages is to be condemned; but I would not have human inventions established in sacred things, nor should it be
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, too little to be among the thousands of Judah
"And thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, too little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall come forth unto Me (one) [Pg 480] to be Ruler in Israel; and His goings forth are the times of old, the days of eternity." The close connection of this verse with what immediately precedes (Caspari is wrong in considering iv. 9-14 as an episode) is evident, not only from the [Hebrew: v] copulative, and from the analogy of the near relation of the announcement of salvation to the prophecy of disaster
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

An Analysis of Augustin's Writings against the Donatists.
The object of this chapter is to present a rudimentary outline and summary of all that Augustin penned or spoke against those traditional North African Christians whom he was pleased to regard as schismatics. It will be arranged, so far as may be, in chronological order, following the dates suggested by the Benedictine edition. The necessary brevity precludes anything but a very meagre treatment of so considerable a theme. The writer takes no responsibility for the ecclesiological tenets of the
St. Augustine—writings in connection with the donatist controversy.

The Gateway into the Kingdom.
"Except a man be born again he cannot enter the kingdom of God." (John iii. 3.) There is no portion of the Word of God, perhaps, with which we are more familiar than this passage. I suppose if I were to ask those in any audience if they believed that Jesus Christ taught the doctrine of the New Birth, nine tenths of them would say: "Yes, I believe He did." Now if the words of this text are true they embody one of the most solemn questions that can come before us. We can afford to be deceived about
Dwight L. Moody—The Way to God and How to Find It

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