LITTLE FOXES THAT SPOIL THE VINES
Song of Sol. 2:15
Morning Meditation 7/15/2015
Verse 15 says, “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.”
This is an invitation by the Shulamite for her attendants to help her get rid of the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines . . .There are tender grapes and they will be ruined by the little foxes.
A lot of the commentaries say that the foxes are the false teachers that come in to the vineyard and spoil the fines. That certainly may be true. False teachers cannot take away the salvation of a truly born again believer. But they can be major hindrances to fruitfulness in the Christian’s life. Satan’s primary purpose is to keep the unsaved in that condition until they die. The next is to keep the true Christian from being fruitful and productive after he is saved. Heresy on the part of false teachers is one of the ways Satan does this. So the commentaries may be right on this point.
However, for the purpose of this meditation I would like for us to see the vineyard as God’s present kingdom, i.e., the place of fruitfulness. Then let’s look at the Shulamite as a type of the Church who has a responsibility to watch the vineyard for the foxes that spoil the vines. Then let’s consider that the foxes are those things that hinder the maturity of the fruit.
The Church has been sent by the Lord into all the world to preach the gospel to every creature. Out task is fruit bearing in His vineyard (John 15). There are “foxes, little foxes, that spoil the vines” that need to be taken care of. These foxes may seem little but they spoil the vines. If they spoil the vine and hinder the growth of the tender grapes they become major hindrances.
The tender grapes are grapes in their beginning. So we are talking about a true believer that is growing and in the beginning stages of fruit bearing. His fruit is being threatened by the “little foxes.” What are the little foxes? I want to suggest that they are the things that hinder growth in the Christian life. Let’s look at some of those “little foxes” that need to be driven out of the vineyard. I want to give names to seven of these little foxes:
THE LITTLE FOX OF SELF PITY
1. One of the biggest little foxes for me is self-pity. This puts me in despair the quickest of any attitude that I can adopt.
2.. The person of self-pity always interprets the Bible in the light of himself. There are two good illustrations of self-pity in Scripture. Elijah; 1 Kings 19; Jonah; Jonah 4.
3. The person with self-pity always thinks discussing it with others will help. It turns into what we call a pity-party at this point.
4. Until you are willing to get your eyes off self and focus them on Christ, your fruit bearing will be hindered. The young grapes will never develop.
5. This is a “little fox” but it spoils the vine. It may not seem big to you but if it spoils the vine, it is big.
THE LITTLE FOX OF TOLERATED SIN
1. Tolerated sin spoils the whole life.
F This principle is brought out in 1 Cor. 5:6: “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” This is referring to sin tolerated in the church. See also Gal. 5:9.
2. Tolerated sin grieves the Holy Spirit; Eph. 4:29-31: “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.. And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:”
THE LITTLE FOX WRONG COMPANIONSHIP
1. Wrong company can spoil the vine and destroy fruitfulness; 1 Cor. 15:33 says, “Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.” The word “communications” translates “homilia” and means, “keeping company with and talking to the wrong people.”
2. I have seen lit. hundreds of people over the years, both adult and young people, begin their journey to a life of unfruitfulness when they started keeping company with the wrong people.
3. Recently I was sitting in my church with my wife. I noticed a couple of teenagers sitting together and I leaned over and said to my wife, “Have you notice how a couple of dingbats are drawn together.” She leaned over to me and said, “I have known that for almost 65 years (we will be married 65 years in November.) I said to myself, “I guess I’ll never learn who to talk to!”
4. I have observed over the years that carnal Christians find one another in the church. They find one another in the schools. They find one another where ever they go. Why does this happen? Well if someone is sold out to the Lord, fellowship with them convicts you of your carnality. We have to maintain our comfort zone.
THE LITTLE FOX OF SELFISHNESS
1. A selfish person is a very insecure person. They are self centered and money and things become their security.
2. When you talk to them about giving, they are threatened.
F There is the selfish person who tithes because he is afraid not to. He fears God but does not really trust Him. The way you can tell this person is if he makes $399.25 he tithes $39.92. He usually rounds it of in his favor!
F They will find every excuse to avoid giving any more than a tithe. They avoid faith-promise mission conferences unless they are trying to fake it and make people think they give above the tithe.
THE LITTLE FOX OF BITTERNESS
1. Bitterness is easy to occur in a Christian.
F It is a characteristic of an unsaved person: Romans 3:14 says, “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
F It can happen to a Christian: Ephesians 4:31 says, “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice.”
2. Bitterness in anyone spoils the others that they are around; Hebrews 12:15 says, “Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.”
3. Bitterness spoils the vines in the Lord’s vineyard and hinders fruit bearing.
THE LITTLE FOX OF A CRITICAL SPIRIT
1.. The Corinthian Church was warned about this: 1 Cor. 10:10 says, “Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.”
2. There are some people who will always find something to criticize in anything.
F You better watch what you say around them because if they get in trouble over their critical ways they will bring you into it. They will say you agree with them.
F A trouble-making woman once told John Wesley, “God has given me the talent of speaking my mind.” Mr. Wesley snapped back, “God wouldn’t mind if you buried that talent.”
THE LITTLE FOX OF UNBELIEF
1. Unbelief was the major problem with the Lord’s disciples.
F Matthew 6:30 says, “Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”
F Matthew 8:26 says, “And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.”
F Matthew 14:31 says, “And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”
F Luke 17:5 says, “And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.”
2. Unbelief is a constant temptation for the believer. It is a struggle against our own rationalism. It never is easy. But God wants us to trust Him even when it seems unreasonable to do so.
THE LITTLE FOX OF THE UNSURRENDERED LIFE
1. The life of service is a life of surrender. We have to surrender our preconceived ideas. We have to surrender our plans and accept His plans for our life.
2. It is possible to surrender and then take it back again. Demas did this: Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:10: “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world . . .”
3. Have you surrendered you body a living sacrifice? Rom.. 12:1: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
There are little foxes that spoil the vines. Are the foxes spoiling the vines of fruitfulness in your life? It is a question that we need to ask ourselves.
May the Lord bless these words you our hearts.
In Christ
Bro. White
