Alla huwa l-Ħallieq tas-sema u l-art u dak kollu li hemm ġewwa. Xejn ma huwa maħluq barra Alla. Għalhekk is-sema u l-art u dak kollu li hemm ġewwa huma pussess ta’ Alla u ta’ ħadd ieħor. God is the Husbandman and has given the management of the vineyard to man. Madankollu, fil-ġnien tal-Għeden, man chose to no longer believe and obey God, but the devil and to do his will. And many still chose to believe and obey the devil, despite the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. But although many people keep serving the devil through sin and empowering him, it is still God, who is the Owner and shall judge everyone according to their works. God has this right, ma jimpurtax dak li n-nies jgħidu. God is the Husbandmen and the earth is the vineyard and God still sends His servants in the vineyard, despite the wicked husbandmen. But as the wicked husbandmen, who are sons of the devil, treated the prophets and the Son of God in the Old Covenant and the sons of God in the New Covenant (kemm irġiel kif ukoll nisa), the wicked husbandmen still treat the sons of God, because the darkness can’t stand the light. Min għadu jazzarda jaħdem fil-vinja?
Abel was killed because of his righteousness
Għalhekk qal ukoll l-għerf ta 'Alla, Nibgħatilhom profeti u appostli, u xi wħud minnhom joqtlu u jippersegwitaw: Li d-demm tal-profeti kollha, li kien imxerred mill-pedament tad-dinja, jistgħu jkunu meħtieġa minn din il-ġenerazzjoni; Mid-demm ta’ Abel sad-demm ta’ Żakkarija, li spiċċat bejn l-artal u t-tempju: tassew ngħidilkom, Għandu jkun meħtieġ minn din il-ġenerazzjoni (Luqa 11:49-51)
Għalhekk, ara, Nibgħatilkom profeti, u rġiel għorrief, u skribi: u xi wħud minnhom toqtlu u ssallab; u xi wħud minnhom intom tagħmluhom fis-sinagogi tagħkom, u jippersegwitawhom minn belt għal belt: Biex fuqek jiġi d-demm kollu ġust imxerred fuq l-art, mid-demm ta’ Abel il-ġust sad-demm ta’ Żakkarija bin Barakija, li int qtiltu bejn it-tempju u l-artal (Mattew 23:34-35)
Abel was the first person, who was killed because of his righteousness. The righteousness of Abel revealed the unrighteousness of Cain. The sacrifice of Abel was accepted by God, but the sacrifice of Cain was not accepted by God, and because of that Cain became very angry.
U fil-proċess taż-żmien seħħet, li Kajjin ġab mill-frott tal-art offerta lill-Mulej. U Abel, ġab ukoll mill-ewwel twelid tal-merħla tiegħu u mix-xaħam tagħha. U l-Mulej kellu rispett lejn Abel u lejn l-offerta tiegħu: Imma lil Kajjin u lill-offerta tiegħu ma kellux rispett.
U Kajjin kien rabja ħafna, u wiċċu waqa’. U l-Mulej qal lil Kajjin, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him (Ġenesi 4:3-7)
God confronted Cain and asked, għaliex kien irrabjat (rabja) and why his countenance fell. Then God warned Cain of the sin he was about to commit, by giving him a choice to do good or do evil.
If Cain would choose to do well, he would not give in to his anger and would rule over his feelings of anger and because of that, he wouldn’t sin.
But if Cain chose to do not well, and give in to his anger, then he would open the door for sin and sin would rule over him, minflok bil-maqlub.
God warned Cain and the consequences of his decision, but it was up to Cain to decide. Would Cain rule over his anger or would Cain allow the temporary feelings of anger to rule over him and bear the fruit of sin in his life?
Cain didn’t listen to God’s warning but rejected the warning of God. Instead of submitting to the words of God and choosing to do good, Cain rejected God’s warning and yielded to the will of his flesh and gave into his feelings of anger and allow the anger to rule over him and so Cain slew Abel, so that the righteousness of Abel would not accuse him anymore.
But the blood of righteous Abel bore witness of the sin of Cain and cried from the earth unto God (Ġenesi 4:8-16)
The prophets were killed because they spoke the righteous words of God
Abel was not the only one, who was killed because of his righteousness, which became visible through his sacrifice. It was not only his blood that cried from the earth unto God. The prophets, who God had sent and walked righteously before the face of God according to His will and spoke the righteous words of God and revealed the sin and iniquity of the people and convicted the people of their sin and called the people to repentance, were also killed by the people.
The true prophets of God were killed, so that the people of God could do evil and live the way they wanted to live according to their own will, without being harassed and accused by the prophets of God and without feeling guilty.
The people loved to hear the false prophets, who prophesied according to their own insights and from their own will, xewqat, and desires and therefore prophesied lies and peace, while there was no peace, and approved the sin of the people, so that the people could live according to their own will.
Zachariah was the last prophet of the Old Covenant, who was killed between the altar and the temple.
The message of Zachariah was a hard message with the purpose to turn the people from their evil ways and their evil doings (atti) and repent and serve the Lord by keeping His commandments, so that the people would be saved.
But the people didn’t want to hear the words of God, which were spoken through the mouth of Zachariah and so they killed Zachariah, so that the people wouldn’t be confronted by Zachariah with their evil ways and their evil doings and no longer be accused, but continue their own way.
Ġesù Kristu, l-Iben ta’ Alla, was killed because of His righteousness
Id-dinja ma tistax tobgħodkom; but Me it hateth, għax nixhed biha, li x-xogħlijiet tagħhom huma ħżiena (John 7:7)
Ġesù Kristu, L-Iben ta ’Alla l-Ħaj, was the last One of the Old Covenant and the first One of the New Covenant, who was killed because of His righteousness by the house of Israel. Jesus did good and only spoke the words of God and preached the message of repentance and brought the Kingdom of God to the children of Israel.
Although Jesus was a Man of compassion, Jesus didn’t consider the feelings and emotions of the carnal people, but Jesus spoke the words of God, despite the consequences and the persecution of people.
Jesus experienced persecution by the people, who looked sincere, pious, and religious outwardly but were wicked inwardly (Aqra wkoll: Min hu Ġesù Kristu Tassew? U Ġesù, a Man of compassion).
Il-poplu, who looked sincere and religious from the outside, but were evil on the inside, were convicted by the righteousness of Jesus of their evil works and walk.
Although they belonged to the house of Israel and many of them were appointed as leaders of the house of Israel, they had the nature of the devil and listened to their father, Ix-Xitan, and did his will and works and because of that, they walked in darkness in his will (Aqra wkoll: Ir-rieda ta’ Alla vs ir-rieda tax-xitan).
They tried to find a way to get rid of the Person, who accused them and convicted them of their sins.
They followed the example of Cain, who killed Abel, and the example of their fathers, who killed the prophets, and got rid of the righteousness of Jesus Christ, by sentencing Jesus to death, so that Jesus wouldn’t be a threat to them anymore and Jesus wouldn’t testify of their evil works and they wouldn’t be accused anymore, but they could continue their evil works.
The sons of God were persecuted and many of them were killed because of their righteousness
And as they killed Abel, il-profeti, and the Son of God, because of their righteousness, they also silenced and persecuted and many sometimes even killed the sons of God of the New Covenant because of their righteousness in Christ (lill-. 2 Korintin 5:21)
The world has not changed, nor is the ruler of this world. Therefore the world shall still silence and persecute and sometimes even kill the sons of God when they preach the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the words and will of God.
The Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin, tjieba, u tal-ġudizzju
Jekk id-dinja jobogħduk, intom tafu li kienet tobgħod Lili qabel ma kienet tobgħodkom. Kieku kont tad-dinja, Id-dinja kienet tħobb tiegħu: imma għax intom m’intix tad-dinja, Imma għażiltlek barra mid-dinja, għalhekk id-dinja jobgħodkom. Ftakar il-kelma li għidtlek, Il-qaddej mhux ikbar mill-Mulej tiegħu. Jekk ippersegwitawni, Huma wkoll jippersegwitawk; Jekk żammew il-qal tiegħi, Huma jżommu tiegħek ukoll. Imma dawn l-affarijiet kollha se jagħmlulek minħabba Ismi, għax ma jafux lil Dak li bagħatni. Kieku ma ġejtx u kellimthom, ma kellhomx dnub: but now they have no cloke for their sin. He that hateth Me hateth My Father also (John 15:18-23)
L-Ispirtu s-Santu, who dwells in the new creation, convicts the world of sin, tal-ġustizzja, u tal-ġudizzju. Għalhekk dawk, who belong to the world and obey the ruler of the world and persevere in sin and live in darkness, can’t stand the light and can’t be in the presence of those, who are born of God and belong to Christ and have the Holy Spirit abiding in them, because the righteousness of God testifies that their works are evil (lill-. John 7:7; 16:8-11)
There shall be people, who shall be convicted, mill-Ispirtu s-Santu, of their sins and iniquities and by faith in Jesus Christ repent and be baptized and receive the Holy Spirit, so that by faith and regeneration in Christ, they shall be saved from death and shall no longer be a slave of sin and death (Aqra wkoll: L-Armatura tad-Dlam U L-armatura tad-dawl)
But there shall also be people, who shall be convicted, mill-Ispirtu s-Santu, of their sins and iniquities, but shall refuse to repent because of their stubbornness and hardened heart, and therefore they shall feel uncomfortable in the presence of Christians and can’t be in their presence and shall become angry and walk away or accuse and persecute them, so that they will no longer testify of their evil works and they won’t feel condemned and guilty and can continue their evil works.
Do you still dare to work in the vineyard?
If the prophets, Jesus the Son of God and the new creations; the sons of God would have considered the feelings and emotions of people and spoke the words the people wanted to hear, as so many preachers do today, the prophets wouldn’t be killed, Jesus would not have been crucified and the disciples and apostles would not have been persecuted and died a martyr’s death.
Wara Ġesù jiswik kollox, se jiswik ħajtek. Are you willing to give up your life and be a witness of Jesus Christ? Are you a brave soldier of Jesus Christ? Do you dare to preach the uncompromised gospel of Jesus Christ that calls to repentance, it-tneħħija tad-dnub, and saves and changes lives, and makes people righteous and walk in righteousness? Do you still dare to work in the vineyard?
‘Kun il-melħ tal-art’
