Sounds kind of like a line from some song, doesn't it. Well, it isn't. It is really a necessary caution for Christians of today...especially for God's front-line soldiers. Satan is an expert in designing and using very subtle traps for those who are actively working for God, and his favorite targets are those to whom God has lent charge of his churches. It is not a new kind of trap, Jesus covered it very well in the Book of Mark, Chapter 12, Verses 1 - 8.

    Verse 1: And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.

    It is imperative that we take note of the fact that the vineyard was built and set up completely by the Master himself. He did all the preparatory work for the vineyard to eventually produce fruit. He alone was the creator...the one responsible for the building and preparing. Then he let it out to the care of others.

    2. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
    3. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.

    Do we begin to see what is happening here? The Master created the vineyard, prepared it for the production of fruit, and gave it's care unto others to tend it for him and to oversee it. But those to whom he committed its care fell into the snare of thinking that, because of the work they had done there, the vineyard was theirs. They had lost sight of the fact that it was founded by, and belonged to the one who had built it.

    4. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled.
    5. And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some.

    Notice that the longer the Master was away, the stronger the delusion of the husbandmen became that the vineyard was theirs. They totally refused to render the fruits to those servants who had been sent to receive of them. Their delusion was so strong that they did harm to the Master's representatives.

   6. Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son.
   7. But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be our's.
   8. And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.

    This final act was the ultimate. The husbandmen, appointed by the Master to oversee his vineyard, became murderers...outcasts forever...having given up the opportunity to be a part of the great work the Master had begun.

    Jesus spoke this parable to the Jews of the times concerning the prophets and himself. But it remains as a reminder to all of us in this modern day that Satan is an expert at setting traps to snare God's people. It is an example, preserved throughout the ages so that we might escape the same trap those husbandmen fell into.

    How many times have we heard church founders, pastors, etc., say "This is my church, and I'm gonna run it the way I want to!"? They have been deceived into forgetting that a church, if it is a church, belongs to God. it must be run, through prayer, by God. The Lord is not deaf...he hears our prayers. And if we will seek his guidance and submit to his will, the church will prosper, and the fruits will return unto the Lord. We must be ever mindful of the fact that the church belongs to the Master, not to the founder, or the pastor, or the chairman of the board, etc. Only by tending the church in this way can we be assured that we are in the Lord's will, and that we will receive just payment for our stewardship.