Preserve the Seed

“For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?” (Jer. 2:20,21). “For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not AMONG THORNS. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings” (Jer. 4:3,4). “He also that received seed AMONG THORNS is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful”(Mat. 13:22). “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch IN ME that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit… Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned” (Jn. 15:1,2,4-6). “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather OUT OF HIS KINGDOM all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Mat. 13:40-43). Anyone who chooses to believe the modern Christian traditions of “eternal security” and “sinners saved by grace,” are playing a very foolish game of Russian Roulette with their souls, and if they continue playing they are going to lose that game. You may note that all of the quoted scriptures above are totally synonymous with one another, whether old testament or new. And all of these warnings of the Spirit of God are TO GOD’S PEOPLE! None of these passages have anything at all with anyone who has never been born again. They are all about those who have had faith in Jesus Christ the Lord.

As you can see in the above quoted passages, the old testament verses are more for new testament believers than they were for Israel of old; as the apostle Paul also affirmed (Rom. 15:4; I Cor. 10:1-12; Heb. 3:5-14; Heb. 4:1,2,11). The only way we can be a branch in the vine, which vine is Jesus, is if we are “in [him],” as he stated. So that means that the parable of the vine and the branches is only about people who have been baptized by Jesus with the holy Ghost INTO HIM, because that is the only way that we can GET into him (Rom. 6:3,4; I Cor. 12:13; Gal. 3:27). In the parable of the sower and the seed, someone cannot “become unfruitful” unless they have BEEN fruitful, which is right in line with what Jesus said about the branches that left off bearing fruit from the vine. And finally, one cannot be “cast out of the kingdom of God,” unless he was first IN the kingdom of God; which only happens by being born of the Spirit, which is to say baptized with the Spirit with the accompanying sign of speaking with other tongues (Jn. 3:5; Jn. 16:7; Acts 2:4). We can only make ourselves look foolish by trying to argue against what is plainly and clearly set forth to us by the scriptures, and the cost for making ourselves look foolish is far greater than just looking foolish. The Bible advises us otherwise in fact: “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity” (Psm. 5:5) And, “Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding” (Prov. 9:6). And this; “Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why shouldest thou die before thy time?” (Eccl. 7:17). Yes my friend, there is a very good reason that the apostle Paul exhorted us to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philip. 2:12). In fact he also GAVE us that reason: “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the TERROR of the Lord, we persuade men” (II Cor. 5:10,11). Peter was in agreement with these things as well: “And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear” (I Pet. 1:17). The summation of all of the wisdom that God bestowed upon Solomon was also in perfect unison with these two new testament warriors of the faith: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the WHOLE DUTY of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil” (Eccl. 12:13,14). So anybody up for a game of Russian Roulette? Count me out please. Amen.