The Fruit God Desires

The Fruit God Desires
Isaiah 5:1-13
March 8-9, 2025

All right. Isaiah begins the major prophets. There's five major prophets, there's 12 minor prophets, and that will finish out the study in the Old Testament. All of the prophets, both minor and major prophets, all have one great theme, that God is calling his people back to revival because they had wandered farther and farther away from the Lord and gotten into deeper and deeper troubles. God sends his word and his prophets to call them back to revival.

Here's what happened. The glorious days of Israel, you might say were during the reigns of David and Solomon. The power, the influence of Israel, it was a mighty nation. Nations were subdued around them, many paying tribute to recognize the great power and influence of Israel in those days. In Jerusalem, there was the temple, which was considered one of the wonders of the world. Glorious beyond all comparison. It wasn't just the brilliance of the gold.

Can you imagine, it certainly was amazing. You walk into the temple and the walls top to bottom were gold. The doors all gold. Not only that, the floors, can you imagine? The floors were gold. Amazing. It wasn't just the gold, it was the glory. That was the significance of the temple. It was God's presence there in the midst of his people. It was that which God had desired from the very beginning, from Genesis to Revelation. It's one of the greatest themes in the Bible that God desires to be Emmanuel, God with us.

That temple it represented them, God with his people, the glory of God, the Shekinah glory of God dwelt in that place. He was Emmanuel in all of the power and glory. Literally, those are the glory days. Think of the worship, the singing, the prayers of the saints, the free will offerings of peace and thanksgiving that were brought by the people who desire to honor God, but the glory days didn't last. That's the tragedy.

The downfall of Israel began with Solomon. We know the story. It began when Solomon made an alliance with the king of Egypt by taking Pharaoh's daughter as his wife. Brought her to Jerusalem to live with him in the city of David, of all things. Oh, but he was just getting started. He then started to collect many foreign wives from those nations in which God said that you must not associate with them.

Gradually, it says, "They drew his heart away. He held fast to them in love. Little by little, farther and farther, his heart went away until one day, Solomon found himself deeply in trouble." This is where a lot of people can relate to Solomon's story. They understand what it means to slowly walk farther and farther away from the Lord, farther and farther away into the world, until one day you'll find yourself in deep trouble. That's what happened.

Solomon even built a high place of worship for the detestable idol of Moab on the mountain, which is east of Jerusalem. That's the Mount of Olives. If you've ever been to Israel, you know that there is the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem is spread out before him, that city which Jesus prayed over and wept over. He built a high place of worship there to the god of the idol of Moab. God even warns Solomon that the kingdom would be divided because of this, but He said, "Not in your days because of the sake of your Father, David, I'll tear it out of the hand of your son." That's exactly what happened.

Solomon's Son, Rehoboam became king after him. The story unfolds that the people of Israel came to Rehoboam, and they said, "Now, your father made our yoke hard, therefore lightened that hard service of your father and lighten that heavy yoke, which he put upon us and will serve you." Rehoboam went to the counselors of his father that had served with his father Solomon, and asked them, "How should I answer these people?" The counselors of Solomon said to Rehoboam, "You shall say this, 'If you will be a servant to these people today, if you'll serve them in granting their petition, if you speak good and kind words to them, they will serve you forever.'"

Then Rehoboam turned to the young men that he went to high school with and asked them, "How should I answer these people?" Those young men filled with vigor, youth, and self-confidence said, "This is what you ought to say. You tell them this. You say, 'My little finger is thicker than my Father's loins. My Father loaded you with the heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My Father disciplined you with whips, I'll discipline you with scorpions.' That's what you say." That's what he did. That couldn't end well, and it didn't end well.

The people of Israel rebelled against Rehoboam, and the kingdom was divided. 10 tribes in the north, Judah and Benjamin in the South. By the way, things went very badly for the tribes there in the north, which went by the name Israel. The first leader and King was Jeroboam. Now, Jeroboam didn't want the people going to Jerusalem to worship, so he made two golden calves and set them up for places of worship. "Here are your gods, oh Israel." Thus began what is famously or infamously called the sin of Jeroboam. That was the great beginning of the downfall of the northern tribes of Israel.

The kings there in the north went from bad to badder, to worse to worser until you get to Ahab and Jezebel were the worst. It was only a matter of time before a foreign army would come and destroy them, because there is a very important spiritual principle. That spiritual weakness of a nation will bring weakness in every sense on that nation. I tell you what, we are seeing that before our very eyes. Our nation is growing weaker because the foundations of faith have been eroded and we are no longer walking near to God. There is a great truth revealed here. Amen.

What does God do in response to His people wandering away into the desert of spiritual darkness? That is the heart of God revealed, He sends prophets. He sends prophets to proclaim God's heart and to call his people back to revival. God doesn't relent. He doesn't stop pursuing them. In the north, He sent two of the most powerful prophets in the entire Old Testament, Elijah and Elisha. They did miracles, signs and wonders, but they would not believe.

Now brings us to the southern kingdom, and Isaiah. Isaiah was a prophet there in Jerusalem, in the southern kingdom of Judah. He was sent by God to bring them back. They had wandered away even though they had the temple. Oh, they had the temple there, but their hearts wandered far away from God. In fact, at one point he says, "Oh, these people honor me with their lip service, but their hearts are far from me. They don't mean it."

For example, when they would bring an offering and sacrifice, now, in those days, as we were studying through, we read that when a worshiper would bring an offering, let's say a sacrifice, maybe a burnt offering, it was to represent him. It was to represent his heart. It's like, "I give you this offering, this burnt offering God, because it represents me. I am on fire for you. There is a passion in my heart for the living God. I delight in you, oh God the Almighty. I give you this offering, it represents my heart." That's not what he did. Instead of bringing an unblemished lamb, they would say, "Oh, there's a sick lamb. He's going to die anyway. Give that one to the Lord."

Now you might say, well, actually that does represent their hearts sick and dying. We'll bring that. God at one point says, "I've had enough," right here in Isaiah. "I've had enough. Bring these worthless offerings no more. Remove this evil from my sight." Then he says, famous, "Come now, let's reason together. Though your sins are as scarlet, they'll be white as snow. I forgive." God is reaching out to them. "Come now. Let's reason together. Though your sins are scarlet red like crimson, they'll be like wool, white as snow. Come now." Over and over, God is trying to bring them back to win their hearts. If they would only listen, you will be blessed beyond words, but if you continue in this hard-hearted condition, it will end badly. You'll be devoured by the sword.

All right. that brings us to Isaiah 5. That was the first four chapters summarized. In Isaiah 5, it's a beautiful and unique chapter. Here, Isaiah sings a song. He sings a song to God who he calls his well-beloved. It's a song about a vineyard. The vineyard belongs to the Lord. Now, this song is a parable. It's also an indictment against the people of Israel, but it's also a call to revival. Let's read it. We'll read the first few verses, and again, we've looked at the other verses around these at the Wednesday Midweek Verse by Verse Service.

Chapter 5:1, "Let me sing now for my well-beloved a song to my beloved concerning His vineyard." All right. Here's the song. "My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug it all around. He removed its stones. He planted it with the choicest vines. He built a tower there in the midst of it." A tower was to guard it, or a watchtower, a guard tower, keep it protected from any who would come to invade.

"He hued out and wind that in it. He did all of that," and it says, "and he expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones." Then God interjects, verse 3, "And now, oh, inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard." Now, He's calling them, "Okay, men of Judah. Judge between me and my vineyard."

Verse 4, "What more was there to do from my vineyard that I had not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes, did it produce worthless ones? Now let me tell you what I'm going to do to my vineyard. I will remove that hedge and it will be consumed." That protection will be gone. "I will break down this wall. It will become trampled ground. I will lay it waste. It will not be pruned. It will not be hoed," which he had been doing, "but briars and thorns will come up. I'll charge the clouds to bring the rain."

Verse 7, "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are His delightful plant, His vines. I look for justice, good grapes. There was no justice. Only bloodshed, oppression. I looked for righteousness, good grapes. No, there was no righteousness. There was only the cries of distress."

Then beginning in verse 8, he brings a series of woes. Woe is a strong, strong warning to wake them up, to bring them back. "Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field." In other words, these are the land barons that are taking the land in the fields of those that are poorer. God gave them that land. "You land barons taking by greed." In verse 9, "In my ears, the Lord of host has sworn in, 'Surely many houses will become desolate.'" Yes, you won't live in them. "Even great and fine ones, there'll be no occupants. You won't live in them."

Verse 10, "For 10 acres of a vineyard will yield only one bath of wine." A bath of wine is like one small barrel you can put in your shoulder. 10 acres? Yes. It's not blessed. The land is not blessed anymore. "One homer of seed will yield only an ephah of grain." That's nothing. Not blessed. Then verse 11, "Woe to those--" here's another woe to wake them up. This is not good grapes. "Woe to those who rise early in the morning, that they may pursue strong drink." Got to have their strong drink. They get up early, they'll find it. Then they stay up late in the evening so that wine may inflame them. This is not good grapes.

Verse 12 continues. "Then they have these banquets, all these opulent banquets, self-indulgent banquets accompanied by lyre and harp and tambourine and flute and flowing with wine, but they don't pay attention to the deeds of the Lord. They don't consider the work of his hands. Therefore, my people go into exile for their lack of knowledge." You didn't know? You didn't know God did that? Did you forget the hand of God? That was the hand that blessed your life. You forgot?

I. God Expects Good Fruit

"Therefore, an honorable men will be famished and the multitude will be parched with thirst." It will be coming dry. Where we land, where there is no water. Again, we'll look at the other verses around this on Wednesday, but great verses here for us to take hold them and apply. Starting with this. God expects good fruit and He does still today expect good fruit.

Verse 4, "What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes, did it produce worthless ones?" You think back about all that God did for His vineyard, His people, Israel. You can go all the way back, back to when God saved Israel from the oppression and slavery of Egypt, brought them through the desert, performing miracle upon miracle, how He brought them into that land which He had promised to give them since the days of Abraham, how He cleared the way before them from their enemies, how He gave them a land flowing with nothing and honey, and, oh, how He gave them his glory. What more could He do?

Now, that's a great question for us to ask ourselves. Think about your life. How much has God done for you? I'll tell you what. I look at my life. God has blessed my life. I am so, so thankful for all that God has done in my life. I will be eternally grateful for all that God has done to bless my life. Anybody want to join me? Amen.

"What more could I have done?" Was there something God did not do? What was it that they desired that God could not provide? Here's the answer. God refused to satisfy the desires of the sinful nature, the flesh, but this is the very thing that the gods of this world satisfied. The gods of this world were all about all and every desire that the flesh had. So many of the idols of the world were only idols, again, appeal to the flesh. There were those that appealed to sexual immoralities. Oh my goodness. The imagery of these idols were graphic, offensively graphic. They were appealing to that nature.

Then others were about power and money. All the things that the flesh longs and desires. God says, "I refuse. I will not satisfy those desires because those are the very desires that will destroy you." It all comes down to that. What is it you value? What is it you seek? What is it you value more? Your soul or your flesh?

Now those with an insight into life, those who have an insight, understand that the soul is the most important aspect of who we are. This flesh that we have, this flesh of ours, it's just a temporary tent to dwell in. We're leaving this whole thing behind, but the soul is eternal. Your soul is the most important part of who you are. If your soul is sick, you are sick. If your soul is alive, you are alive. That's what God said to them.

This is where good grapes come from. A soul that's right. He says, "Look what all that I have done for my vineyard." He says, "The stones must be removed." God had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He took good care to prepare it well. The ground was fertile, which is true. You can grow anything in Israel from pineapples to apples, from avocados to dates, in some of the most productive land on the Earth, which is interesting.

A few trips ago, Pastor Matthew and I had an opportunity to go with some other pastors all the way to the northern border of Israel, where it borders Hezbollah. It was really a fascinating trip. We go all the way to the border, we get out of the bus, and you're standing there and you're looking at Hezbollah. He says, "See that Mercedes? That's Hezbollah. See that SUV? That's Hezbollah. They're looking at you." He says, "Don't worry, they won't make an international incident over some pastors." That's good to know.

You look out, and what is it you see? Dry barren land. There's nothing growing there. Literally, you turn like this, there's a line there. You turn this way to look over Israel, and you see row upon row, grove upon grove of lush vegetation. They're growing fruits and produce that they export all over the world. They turn that desert into a blooming, lush vegetation. You can grow anything in Israel. In fact, Israel is probably the leading innovator of irrigation and produce and the science of horticulture. It is absolutely amazing what they have done to that land.

There's a line there. You look there, it's barren. You look there in Israel is lush. You can grow anything, but you got to remove the stones. That, you must do because if you don't remove the stones, the seed can't go deep.

Now, if you've ever been to Israel, you know there's a lot of stones in Israel. What they would do is they would take the stones, and then they would use them to build hedges to build protective borders and boundaries around them. You got to remove the stones, because if you don't remove the stones, it can't grow deep. It's a great spiritual point. Now Jesus gave a parable that was very similar. He said that a farmer sowing seed on different types of soils is like the word of God being sown on different types of hearts. He says, "Now the seed on the hard path, that's like the person with a hard heart, they can't receive the word of God." Like on the hard path, the birds just come and take it away.

Then other seed fell on soil with rocks. Rocks didn't get taken out. It's rocks, rocky soil. He said, "These are the ones who've heard the word of God, and they receive it, but there's no depth of soil." When the heat of the day comes, they wither and die and produce no fruit. Now this is a picture of people who hear the word and they're fascinated. They take hold, but there's no depth, no spiritual depth at all. Then, as soon as troubles come, they're offended, and they wither, bring no fruit.

A. The stones must be removed

You can see that parable right here in Isaiah 5. You got to remove the rocks, or there will be no depth in the soil. He says, "I have done this to bring depth so that it has every opportunity to produce good fruit with depth." Spiritual depth is beautiful. David knew this. He wrote it in Psalm 42:7-8, where he said it this way, "Deep calls to deep at the sound of your waterfalls. All your breakers and waves have rolled over me. The Lord will command His loving kindness in the daytime, and His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life."

Beautiful. What does it mean? It means that David says the deep things of the Lord call to the deep places of my heart, my soul. I long for deeper things, and I know where to find it. See, there is a longing and a searching, and a desiring in every soul for depth, for meaning, for purpose. You can see it everywhere. People are looking and searching what is it that I'm missing? What's wrong with me? Why can't I not find depth?

B. The vineyard must be pruned and hoed

I search and I search, where is it? David knew. David says, "I have found my soul's desire and the deep things of the Lord call to the deep places of my heart. He will command His loving kindness in the daytime, and His song will be with me in the night." Depth of spiritual life is beautiful and prepares the soil to bring forth good beautiful fruit. Then he says, "And the vineyard must be pruned and hoed." This is also like the parable that Jesus gave where he said that other seed fell amongst the thorns and the thistles, and it choked out the word of God so they bore no fruit. Notice Luke 8:14, the seed which fell among the thorns. These are the one, they've heard the word of God, but as they go their way, they're choked with worries, with riches, with pleasures of this life, and they bring no fruit to maturity.

Isaiah 5 declares, "He will remove that hedge of protection, and the vineyard will be left to its own devices. It will not be pruned, it will not be hoed, therefore, briars and thorns will come up." If you don't prune and hoe, weeds will grow because it's the nature of weeds to invade. It is a spiritual analogy. You might say it's the influence of the world wanting to take root. If you don't clear them out, if you don't remove them, they will invade and they will take over everything.

It's a great picture. Briars and thorns describe it very well. We know all about that here in the northwest because we have these blackberry vines, and they start out tender and small, but then they start sending out these vines. They can go like 20, 30 feet, these vines can go. When they touch the ground, they do it again. Then, when those touch the ground, they do it again. Then the roots under the ground, they send forth these chutes, and then they pop up, and the whole thing starts to become a mountain of briars and thorns that are intertangled and intertwined so that it's a mess. If you've ever done the world thing, you know exactly what I'm saying. That influence will come in and it will set down its roots, and then it will start to shoot forward more and it will take hold more and more and more, until you got more trouble than you can imagine.

I was thinking of a fellow who called-- this is going back now, many, many years ago. He looked up the church in the yellow pages; that shows you how long ago it was, back when yellow pages were a thing. He looked us up, and he called, and he says, "I need to talk to someone. Is there anyone I can talk to?" They said, "Come on down." I sat with him, and I said, "How can I help?" He starts to tell me his story.

Oh, what a tragedy of a story. Trouble upon trouble upon trouble. Everything was wrong. Everything was broken and all of the epic troubles that he faced. Then he finished his story about how everything was wrong. He said, "What do I do?" I said, "Well, first, let's step back and see what has happened. How it got here." I said, "You look at your life, you look around, and all you see are weeds. You're standing in a field of weeds."

He said, "But what do I do?" I said, "Well, first stop sowing weeds, because that's what you've been doing. All these things, they've grown up because these have been the weeds that you have been living and sowing, and now you got a whole field all around." Stop sowing weeds and start sowing the seeds of righteousness. Follow after the Lord. It begins here, trusting that God is the one who can lead you out of this trouble. God is the one who can help resolve, but you got to start with your soul being made right with God.

He's the one who'll clear the briars. He'll clear the thorns, but you got to start by getting your heart right with God. He says, "What do I do?" I said, "Can we pray? Can I pray for you? Can we pray together?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Can we get underneath?" He said, "Yes." We got on our knees, we faced the chairs. I will never forget this scene. I put my arm like this on the chair. I put one arm around him, and I said, "You start." He started to pray. When he prayed, he started to weep, deeply, deeply weeping as he is crying out to God. "Oh God, help me now. There are so many troubles. I'm so sorry for all the things that I've done. God help me now." I remember, so clearly, I got my arm like this, he's crying and my arm, my shirt is getting all soaked with his tears. I thought, "You know what? That is beautiful. Those are holy tears right there." You know that Scripture that says He takes our tears in a bottle? He cherishes those tears. I thought, "Ah, this is holy tears. Beautiful moment. God's going to turn this thing around. You keep walking in this, God will turn this thing around." Amen?

You got to clear the briars. You got to clear the thorns, because they've been going on for a long time. Man, when they start out, they're so small. Over time, they become so entangled, it's so much trouble to get out of it. I remember, again, back when I was in Bible college, this family came to us and said, "Hey, I would rent you our home really cheap." I thought, "That sounds good. What's the catch?" "You need to help me get it ready to sell." "Okay, that sounds good. I'll do that." Then I go there. Oh, I see now. There's a mountain of briars in the backyard that are now creeping into the front yard. I thought, "Oh, what have I got myself into now?"

You get a machete, and you get special gloves, and a long-sleeved shirt, and you start hacking and hacking, and pulling on these vines that don't want to let go. You're going to pull them and pull them, and pretty soon, you're all cut up, and bloodied, and scratched up. This thing's a mess. If you've done the world thing and made a mess of it, it's a lot of trouble to try to undo it. If you would take care of it when it's small, it's way easier to deal with. You got to keep nurturing the field. Don't let it take hold. It has to be pruned. It must be hoed.

I was using the illustration on Wednesday. When I grew up, of course, I grew up on a farm, and we had rows upon rows of vegetables, and all of this, and it all had to be hoed, and I'm the one who hoed it.

I tell you what, though, if you would get out there when they're small, you can take that hoe, and you can just run that hoe right through them. You wait till they're big, you got more trouble than you can handle. Take care of it when it's small, because this flesh thing will destroy you. If that flesh thing becomes the master, it will destroy your life.

One of my favorite illustrations, or one of the illustrations that I like to use to illustrate that is like, sin is like raising a kitten, only it's a tiger kitten. At first you think, "Oh, it's so cute. It's so cuddly. I need it. It comforts me. Look, it's purring. I think it likes me." Sin is like that. It just starts out so small. "It's my comfort. I got this. I got it. It's small. I got it. I got it. I'm a functional whatever. I'm a functional alcoholic or whatever. I got it. I got it." Yes, until that thing starts to grow.

That's what Solomon probably thought. "I got this thing." It grows and gets bigger, and gets bigger, and gets bigger. Pretty soon, it's telling you to get off the bed. This thing's becoming the master. Pretty soon, you start getting afraid of it, because it's not purring at you anymore, it's growling. This thing has become a monster.

II. Godly Fruit is Beautiful

That's what happened to Israel. This thing has become, "I can't stop it now. It's so big." God can. God can transform. God can save. God can take hold. He says, "Godly fruit is what I desire. Godly fruit is beautiful. Don't you see this is what I want to do in your life? I see all the troubles. I see the brokenness. I see the mess that's been made. I will do a beautiful work. Godly fruit."

After God removed the stones from the vineyard, He planted the choicest best vines. The best of the best. Choicest vines produce the choicest fruits. Have you ever eaten a grape that's really, really good? Just large, and juicy, and sweet, and like a cotton candy grape. It's just so good. I want to do this. I can do a beautiful work.

The vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel. The men of Judah are His delightful plant. God says, "I delight in you." It's like what He said in Deuteronomy 7. "You are a people that are holy to the Lord your God." That's amazing. He says to Israel, "You are a people that are holy, set apart to the Lord your God, who has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession. I love you." That's what God is saying. "I love you. I want to do a beautiful work. I'll plant the choicest vines. I'll remove the stones. I'll remove the briars."

A. Bitter fruit is ugly and makes the soul ugly

Then he shows them that bitter fruit is ugly and makes the soul ugly. God says, "I don't want that for you. Bitter fruit is worthless, makes the soul ugly." Worthless grapes are the unripe ones. Have you ever bought a cluster of grapes, and then those little, tiny green ones, and then you bite into it just to see what they're like? You'll be puckered up for an hour.

They're bitter. He says it's like that, but the whole cluster is that. There's no good grapes. It's ugly. The rest of the chapter, He gives examples of unripe, bitter, worthless grapes. They're bitter because of what it does to everyone around them. It's about how you live. It's about the quality in the heart. It's about the quality in the soul.

What is happening in the soul? Jesus said this, Luke 6:45, "The evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth what's evil." Yes, because the mouth speaks and the life is lived from that which fills the heart. He says, "I look for justice. There was no justice, only in bloodshed. I look for righteousness. There was no righteousness, only a cry of distress." Then he gives these series of woes. He's trying to wake them up. He's calling it out. He's taking names, examples of bitterness, worthless fruit.

"Woe to those who join field to field, taking land like barons, overlords taking land. I gave that land to my people." Another one, "Woe to those who rise up early to pursue strong drink, and then they stay up late until wine inflames them." He's like, "That's not good grapes. That is hurtful." We know what that is. He's describing an alcoholic. We understand. I think everybody has seen that. I understand that. My father was an alcoholic. The reason he calls that bitter fruit is because it hurts people. What it does to relationships, it destroys them.

Then he says, "And then you put on these banquets of self-indulgence with the lyre and the harps and tambourines flowing with wine, but you forgot God. Did you forget the hand of God?" Then he brings up another woe where he says, "Woe to those--" this is really interesting. "Woe to those who drag iniquity and sin behind them with cart ropes." Now that's the picture. He said, "They're dragging sin and iniquity behind them, like with cart ropes." At some point, don't you want to cut the ropes. Don't you want to stop carrying that burden everywhere you go? Don't you want to be free? Cut the ropes that are dragging behind all of this burden you've been carrying for he who the sun sets free is free deed."

God wants you to be free of that. Let's give the Lord praise. It's exactly the way. God wants you to be free of that.

Then he brings up another woe, he says, "And those people who say this," there are people who are saying to the prophet, "Oh, you say God's going to do this and so?" "Yes." "Let God do it. Let God make speed. I want to see it. Go ahead. Go ahead. You say God's going to destroy it. You say God's going to bring trouble. Go ahead. Go ahead. I want to see it. Go ahead."

You mock. You mock. Really? that's not going to end well. Have you ever seen these videos, these YouTube videos from courtroom scenes where the judge is about ready to give his sentence on the guy and the guy's got an attitude. He's like cussing at the judge and saying all these stuff, I'm telling you that's not going to end well.

Then he says, "And woe to those who call evil good and good evil. Woe to those who substitute bitter for sweet, sweet for bitter, who substitute light for darkness and darkness for light," like you turn this thing around. That is describing today. Is that not what's happening today? Is that not so that evil is called good and good is called evil, like he says, you turn this around. You know that Scripture, that says, "The things which are highly esteemed in the eyes of man are detestable in the sight of God." Like you turned this around.

He said, "In fact, that it is an indication of the latter days. These are the condition that will indicate that the end is drawing near," but here's what we see in Isaiah 5. No, the soul was meant to bring beautiful fruit. Now, interestingly, the song begins, the chapter begins, chapter 5, in a beautiful way.

B. The soul was meant to bring beautiful fruit

Isaiah says, "Let me sing now a song for my well-beloved." That's so beautiful, "A song of my beloved concerning his vineyard. My well-beloved had of vineyard."

Now, Isaiah is saying here that God is his well-beloved, there is something amazing that's happening in the soul of Isaiah. "God, I love to sing. I want to sing a song. God is my well-beloved." That right there is the grapes that are beautiful because the soul delights in the Almighty. That's beautiful. The soul is meant to bring beautiful fruit. It's like what David said in Psalm 27, "One thing I have asked of the Lord and one thing I seek that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all that days of my life to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in his temple."

David understood what many people do not understand. The presence of the Lord is beautiful. The glory of God is beautiful on the soul. "I delight in you, oh my God," he wrote in another place. You can see so many of the great men and leaders of the Bible said a very similar thing. Job, he suffered greatly and then when his friends came and accused him of having hidden sins, he gave a great answer in reply, "Do sinners delight in the Almighty? I do. I delight in the Almighty and I treasure his words more than my necessary food."

On and on, you see the Scriptures that declare those who understood, they have the insight to understand the beauty of what God does on the soul. The soul was meant to bring beautiful fruit. Jesus said it this way in John 15:5, "I'm divine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in Him, he is the one who bears much fruit." It's in the abiding, it's in the drawing near. "He who abides in me, I abide in Him is drawing near to the glory, is drawing near to the God who loves your soul."

That's why to finish what we quoted earlier in Luke 6:45, "The good man out of the good treasure of his heart will bring forth what's good, for the mouth speaks from that which fills the heart." Well, how do you get that in your heart? Well, God removes the stones. He removes the thorns, the briars. He does a beautiful work of healing the soul from the hurt, the wounds, the lies.

There are people who've been carrying wounds all their lives. They've been carrying lies in their hearts all their lives. God will clear the stones, He'll clear the briers and the thorns. He'll plant delightful vines of glory, transforming by His glory, His power, His love. I tell you, I've used my story many times and it's a declaration of great victory because my father was an alcoholic, raised in extreme poverty. He was angry, cantankerous, abusive, difficult. By all statistics, I ought to have turned out terribly but God became my Father and changed everything in my life. It's true I had a bad father.

Yes. Amen. Thanks. It's true I had a bad father, but I have a wonderful Father now and I am completely healed from all the damage that my earthly father did. In fact, not only am I healed from all the damage of my earthly father, then God who is my Father now allowed me to lead my father to faith in Jesus Christ. I got to baptize him with my own hands and that is a turnaround.

Amen? Amen. Amen. God is the one who can transform that which is ugly into that which is beautiful. He can bring forth beautiful fruit. Only God can do that. Only God can heal the broken, the hurting, the wounded, the lonely. Take away the lies. He'll remove the stones. He'll remove the briars and the thorns. He'll build a hedge around and plant delightful vines of glory. He'll do everything so that in Him you would have life, and then you come to the point, when you come to the point when your soul can sing to the Almighty and He's your well-beloved. That's the point. That's the point God wants to bring you to.

When God does that healing work, then you come to the point when your soul sings to the great Almighty and you call Him "my beloved," because He calls you His beloved, precious in His sight. He wants to be Emmanuel. He wants to bring beautiful fruit. He wants to transform your life. Only God can do that.

Lord, we love you, honor you because we've seen it. So many times we've seen what your hand can do. How you take the hurt, the wounds that people have been carrying all their lives, the lies that they've been living by, and you clear the stones, remove the briers, the thorns. You plant delightful glory. Only God can do that.

Church how many would say to the Lord today, "Do that in me, oh God. I need you today to do that in me. I want that transformed heart. I want that healing. I want you to do that glorious work in me." Is that you, church? Would you say that to the Lord by just raising your hand as a way of saying that, "God, I need you this very hour. I need you. I'm done dragging this burden. Cut the ropes, set me free. Remove the stones, remove the briars and the thorns and put glory. Only you can do that. God do that in me."

Anyone else want to raise your hand? I want to just say yes and amen. God, I want to pray for everyone who's raised their hand, who has said to you today, "God, only you can do that. Do that in me, God, do that in me. Transform me. Do that in me, God." We pray. Meet us here and do a glorious, beautiful work. We pray in Jesus' mighty name, and everyone said? Can we give God praise?