"The Little Foxes"

                Good morning all.        This is a sermon I preached yesterday afternoon at my church, Your Will Christrian Ministries. It may be a little short, but it's very powerful. Short only because it's a children's Homily. Yesterday Was our second youth Sunday service. And although all the youth weren't in attendance, th ones that were there held I'd down. And we most certainly had some church on yesterday Amen? For those that heard it yesterday and are reading it today, I pray you are blessed by the reading and renewing of your mind. For those that are reading for th first time, even though you werent there to hear it, meditate as you read & I pray that you recieve a move from God. So here goes.......      Todays text comes from the Song of Solomon 2:15 "Take us, the little foxes, that spoil the vines; for our vines have tender grapes"         In ancient times, the farmers would have problems with little foxes. The larger foxes would often get into the vineyard and eat the farmers grapes off the vine. But the little foxes couldn't reach the grapes. So they would gnaw  away at the vine killing the whole bunch. So the farmer would loose all the grapes on the vine. You see, with the big foxes eating the grapes and not the vine, the vine could eventually still grow more grapes. But the little foxes were chewing away at the vine, killing the whole branch.       This song of Solomon was written by Solomon who was a young shepherd who feel in love with a woman that was an outcast. When he left he promised her he would return to marry her and make her his bride. While he was away she dreamt about their union. When he returned, he returned as King Solomon. And he took her back to Jerusalem to marry her.       We can take from king Solomon's promise of his return for his bride as Christ promise to come back for his bride, the church, us. You see Jesus is the true vine.  We know this because He said so.         In John 15:1-2 Jesus said: I AM the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 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.      Here Jesus is telling us that he is the true vine, God, our father is the landworker, or farmer, and we are the branches that abide in him. And every branch that does not bare fruit he picks it off and throws it out. And the branch that bringeth good fruit, he purges it so that it can bare more good fruit. To Purge means to cleanse, to prune.  Verse 5 says 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. And remember in my previous message, "I in them and You in me" as Jesus prayed refers to the shared glory of Gods love.      Jesus is already telling us that he is in us. As He is the vine and we are the branches that abide in Him. But if we don't abide within him, we are nothing. As the broken branch can bring forth no fruit at all. Hence the little foxes that kill the vine because they couldn't get to the fruit.       Now Get ready for this: the little foxes, they represent sin. Get it?  It's the things that we think are the little things that gnaw at our righteousness and our relationship with Christ. Thus slowly killing off our part of the vine that we abide in, which is Jesus. As Jesus said, He is the vine and we are the branches that are of the vine. For example, many of us have pulled a banana off the ream one time or another. Notice how that one banana starts to wither away as the others that are still connected to the ream remain healthy. Or if you have a bunch of strawberries the one that is going bad will infect the others right next to it. So what do we do? We have to take away the ones that are causing the bunch to spoil right?     Same concept. Jesus tells us that without him we are nothing. Doesn't get any simpler than that. Verse 6 says 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. Meaning God will take away anything or anyone that is not healthy to your relationship to Christ out of your life so you can bear good fruit. And if you're the on that is corrupting the bunch guess what? It will be you that is cast down to the fire & burned.    You see, just as the rotten fruit can spoil the bunch, sin has a corrupting nature as well. The more you sin the more your spirit is corrupted. But the more you push to seek Christ, the more Your spirit receives conviction. So as long as you live in Christ, if you sin one time or another, and you confess your sins to the Lord, He will pluck you from the ones that has been corrupted by another bad fruit, or your group of friends, those little foxes that has been chipping away at your vine, so you can bring forth more fruit. Listen when you allow the holy spirit to come into your life, and I'm not saying you have to act all high and mighty with your nose in the air at folk, but your spirit will know when it doesn't want to be bothered with foolishness. And you will feel it in your gut when you think something is wrong with this or that person, situation or thing. The Lord will allow you to see that corrupting nature of that person or thing that is gnawing away at your vine trying to sever your connection to Christ.     So children and adults alike, can take heed to the Little Foxes. It's the things you think are little things that will cause you to get into more trouble than you realize. The things you try to hide will eventually come out into the open. And you may be able to hide what you've done from people, even if to a little while, but you will never be able to hide it from the Lord. So take heed to these "Little Foxes", because each little sin that nips away at your vine can will sever your connection with the Lord if you let it. So abide in Christ who as he said is the True Vine, so that you may bring forth more fruit, good fruit that will one day be a blessing to someone else.                                         Thank you and God Bless                                     ~Rev. Tai Birch~