Okbe Zemede

St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church5333 St. Bernard Ave. New Orleans, LA 70122

August 11, 2013

God’s amazing patience God’s incredible mercy. 

God’s amazing patience God’s incredible mercy. 

 The wicked behavior of the vinedressers (farmers)

The vice (deep corruption) of human nature.

 The wicked behavior of the vinedressers (farmers)

The vice (deep corruption) of human nature.

First: The vinedressers beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed.Second: They beat him, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. Third: They wounded him and cast him out.Fourth: "Then the owner of the vineyard send his beloved son but they cast him out of the vineyard and killed him, too.

Now, How many of us resemble the vinedressers (Jews) who beaten the messengers?

We may not own a vineyard & may not be Vinedressers

We may not have beaten a servant/messenger We may not have mistreated anybody We may not have wounded somebody. We may not have killed anybody at all.

The Vinedressers acted against the covenant they have with the owner (God) The vinedressers lived according to their will & without control! They became role models for their wickedness, (Killing, mistreating, casting out fellow humans)

The Vinedressers acted against the covenant they have with the owner (God) The vinedressers lived according to their will & without control! They became role models for their wickedness, (Killing, mistreating, casting out fellow humans)

Christ wants us to be role models to others in good deeds and words Light & Salt to the world (Matt 5:13-15) To love one another. “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you (John 15.12)

To have the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22)

Christ wants us to be role models to others in good deeds and words Light & Salt to the world (Matt 5:13-15) To love one another. “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you (John 15.12)

To have the fruits of the Holy Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22)

Now, How many of us resemble the vinedressers (Jews) who mistreated others?

Sin by CommissionSin by Commission

Sin by OmissionSin by Omission

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.(1 John 3:17-18).

"Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.“ (James 4:17).

But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.(1 John 3:17-18).

"Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.“ (James 4:17).

"‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Luke 20: 14-15.

"‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

Luke 20: 14-15.

If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker (James 2:11). Whoever sins is guilty of breaking God's law, because sin is a breaking of the law.(1 John 3:4)

If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker (James 2:11). Whoever sins is guilty of breaking God's law, because sin is a breaking of the law.(1 John 3:4)

Not loving our neighbor is a sin because God Commanded us to love in deed and in truth (1 John 3:16-17). Neglecting my responsibilities as a Christian

Not loving our neighbor is a sin because God Commanded us to love in deed and in truth (1 John 3:16-17). Neglecting my responsibilities as a Christian

What do a shoplifter & a killer has in common?

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5)

The end (destruction) of the wicked

The end (destruction) of the wicked

 God's final punishment on the stubborn sinners.

 God's final punishment on the stubborn sinners.

“16 He will come and destroy those vinedressers and give the vineyard to others.“ Luke 20.16.

God’s grace and compassion is infinite but it is also written, that He is "a consuming fire." (Heb. 12:29.)

Think of the grape/orange tree … that does NOT bears fruit.

A tree in your backyard

Take it away (cut it)

Think of the grape/orange tree … that does NOT bears fruit.

A tree in your backyard

Take it away (cut it)

1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away;

6“If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned (Joh 15.2; 15. 6).

"Behold then… If you continue not in God's goodness, you also shall be cut off." (Rom. 11:22)

Think of the grape/orange tree that BEARS fruit.

A tree in your backyard

Takes care of it, prunes it so that it gives fruit.

Think of the grape/orange tree that BEARS fruit.

A tree in your backyard

Takes care of it, prunes it so that it gives fruit.

1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. John 15.1-2.

Abide in Me

 4“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine.

5“I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit.

7“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. John 15:1-4 (the gospel of the 3rd hour)

If you live to satisfy your sinful self, the harvest you will get from that will be eternal death. But if you live to please the Spirit, your harvest from the Spirit will be eternal life (Galatians 6:8, ERV).

Abide in Me

Conclusion

Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of our faith & we are a temple in which God lives by his Spirit .

you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit (Ephesians 2:19-22).

May God help us be a holy temple in the Lord,

Glory Be To God Forever, Amen!