YOU SHALL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUIT

“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...Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be My disciples.” (John 15:5, 8).

 

“Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth [prunes] it, that it may bring forth more fruit.  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” (John 15:2, 3).

 

“And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” (Luke 8:14).

 

Every fruit or nut bearing tree, and every fruit bearing shrub or vine, should produce healthy, mature fruit.  This is what they were created to do, and they do it quite naturally given the proper conditions:  good fertile ground, ample sunlight, consistent watering, weeding, and periodic pruning are all necessary.  It is the Lord’s will that you and I bear good fruit in our lives also.  When we don’t, it means we are not reaching our full potential, and need some sort of intervention so that we can.  Like the fruit tree, we, too, need proper conditions to bear an abundance of good fruit.  The more we grow in Christ Jesus our Lord, the more fruit we will produce, and the more mature it will become.

 

The things that God considers fruit in our lives are listed in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatian churches.  Paul writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22, 23).  In this chapter, Paul contrasts the fruit of the Spirit with the works of the flesh.  He lists these works as follows: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Galatians 5:19-21). 

 

Neither of these lists is a catalog of every fruit of the Spirit, or every work of the flesh; but they give us a very good idea of how God defines these things.  The works of the flesh are products of our old nature which we walked in before we accepted Christ.  These works still want to rise up from time to time, but we must learn to resist them in the name of the Lord Jesus as we learn to walk in the Spirit.  Such works will only promote pride and exalt self because they are borne out of our natural strength and abilities.  The fruits of the Spirit, on the other hand, are products of the new nature which we receive when we accept Christ as Savior.  These fruits will always glorify God, and promote the Kingdom of Heaven.

 

In order to produce spiritual fruit in our lives we must be connected spiritually to Christ.  This connection comes about as a result of our being born again.  Every human being requires two births.  The first is our natural birth which we are all familiar with and had no say in.  The second is our spiritual birth which is a choice we make by faith in response to the Lord’s call to follow Him.  Our natural birth makes us a part of the natural world around us, while our spiritual birth delivers us from the powers of darkness and translates us into the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. (Colossians 1:13). 

 

Since man’s fall from grace in the beginning of creation, the world (the treasures, philosophies, entertainments, and priorities of this materialistic, humanistic system that we all live in) has been subject to Satan, the prince of the power of the air.  We are born with a carnal nature that is not subject to God at all and only wants to serve self and seek pleasure.  The devil has crafted a world that caters to man’s base nature.  Jesus said, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh [or fleshly].” (John 3:6).  In other words, our natural birth can only produce a carnal, fleshly being. 

 

At some point in our life, God calls to us and sows His Word (the good seed) into our hearts.  We then have a decision to make.  It is the one most important decision we have ever, or will ever, make in our lives: the decision to accept and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, or to reject and walk away from Him.  If we accept Jesus, we are awakened to a spiritual world that we were previously ignorant of.  Our own spirit becomes alive and sensitive to spiritual things.  We are also then connected to Jesus in ways that we could not imagine before. 

 

Jesus uses the illustration of a grape vine to explain this new relationship.  He said, “I am the true vine, and My Father is the husbandman…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.” (John 15:1, 5).  Just as the branches of a grapevine can’t bear grapes unless they are continuously and firmly attached to the main vine, neither can we bear spiritual fruit unless we are connected to Christ.  The fruit of the Spirit is the result of the divine life that is in Christ flowing into us.  We can’t bear true fruit by our own works, inventions, or good intentions.  Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ...” (Philippians 1:21).  Scripture uses the word “abide” to describe the attachment we have with Christ.  The Greek word from which it is translated means “to remain, to sojourn, tarry, not to depart, to continue to be present, to be held, kept, continually, to remain as one, not to become another or different, and to wait for or await one.”

 

There are several things that are necessary to produce healthy, productive plants that will bear much fruit.  These same things are necessary in the spiritual realm also.  You need:

 

GOOD GROUND 

Jesus said, “…the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word [the Gospel of truth], keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15).  The good ground in this case refers to those individuals whose hearts are honest and open to truth and intend to keep, or follow, that truth.  It is those who have a love of the truth whose hearts are most open to the Word of God. 

 

Before no-till practices became popular, it was customary to plow or till a patch of ground before planting it.  This made it easier for the plants to take root, and it helped with water absorption during the early spring rains.  Our hearts often get “tilled” by difficulties and sorrows in our lives.  These things disrupt our routine and highlight our need for God; but they also make it easier to absorb His Word into our hearts and minds. 

 

My wife and I recently ministered to a man who was going through a heart-breaking struggle in his life.  He had been raised in a Christian home and been taught the scriptures but had wandered away from the faith.  We encouraged him to seek the Lord and trust Him to reveal His will and direction for his life.  He had not read his Bible for a long time, but God drew him to the Words of Life.  The verses that he opened to spoke directly and specifically to his need, and the next time we talked with him, he was anxious to share what God had spoken to him.

 

The Lord spoke through His prophet Jeremiah to tell His people to “Break up your fallow ground,” or plow the soil of your hearts that has lain uncultivated for far too long.  Sincere, gut-wrenching repentance before God is the best way to work up the ground of our heart to prepare it to receive God’s Word.

 

Farmers also use fertilizers to supplement and restore what may be lacking in their soil, or has been depleted from the previous growing seasons.  The best natural fertilizer is manure from animals.  In Philippians chapter 3, the Apostle Paul says that he counted all of the accomplishments of his life, along with his religious education and his desirable pedigree, as nothing but loss.  In verses 7 and 8 he writes, “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ…”  Hmmmm.  I wonder if the more that we relinquish and renounce of our old life and our old nature, the more fertile the ground of our heart becomes?  Like spreading manure on depleted ground!  Makes sense, doesn’t it?

 

Put simply, to have good ground in which the Word of God will thrive and be fruitful we must love the Lord our God with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our strength, and with our entire mind; and we must also love our neighbors as ourselves (Luke 10:27).  If we are willing to do these things with the Lord’s help, the fruit from the garden of our heart is going to be abundant. 

 

GOOD SEED

Jesus said, “The seed is the Word of God.” (Luke 8:11).  The one who sows the seed is the Lord Jesus Christ.  He uses preachers, evangelists, missionaries, teachers, and just about any Christian who is bold enough to share their faith with others, to broadcast the Good Seed of the Word of God into other’s hearts.  As is true of every natural seed, there is life contained in the Word of God.  This life, when it is allowed to grow and mature, will produce fruit of all kinds. 

 

God called the Jewish patriarch Abraham and promised him that his seed (or descendants) would be like the stars of heaven and the sands of the sea for number.  This was promised when Abraham was yet without any children at all.  God then deliberately waited until Abraham and Sarah his wife were about 100 years old before sending them their son, Isaac.  Their bodies were dead as far as reproductive functions were concerned, and yet, Isaac was conceived and born strong and healthy.  He was the promised seed according to the flesh.  But where there is a natural, fleshly example, there is always a spiritual one with God.  That is part of the beauty and the mystery of godliness.  Isaac’s birth is a type and shadow of the true Promised Seed, Jesus Christ.  He was born of a virgin without the need of human intervention whatsoever.  He was the One of Whom God spoke from the beginning to Abraham, saying that his seed would be as the stars of heaven for number.  “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.  He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” (Galatians 3:16).  In other words, those who were born after the flesh are not the seed of Abraham, but those who are born after the Spirit by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ are.  “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:29).  “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children [or seed] of Abraham.” (Galatians 3:7).

 

Jesus Christ, then, Who is the living Word of God, Who was in the beginning with God when the worlds were made, Who became flesh and blood and dwelt among us, He is also the Promised Seed of Abraham.  That seed has been planted in all those who have believed in Him, and they have now been begotten into the family of God.  

LIGHT

Just as most plants need light to grow, we, too, need the light of God’s truth in order to grow spiritually.  Jesus said that He was the Light of the world.  In Christ there is life, and that life is the light of men (John 1:4).  God’s Word produces Life, and that Life, in turn, shines light into our darkened souls. 

 

Plants will always grow toward the direction of the light.   A hungry soul will also be attracted to, and reach for, the Light.  If we walk in the Light as Jesus is in the Light, we will continue to grow and produce fruit in abundance.

 

It is a curious fact that God created the Light on the first day of creation, the growing things on the second day, and the sun and moon on the third.  That indicates that the growing things needed the Life that was in the True Light more than they needed mere sunshine.  The Word confirms this in the Book of Revelation where it describes the new heavens and new earth as having no need for the sun for the Lord Himself will be the Light of that world! (See Revelations 22:5).

 

WATER

Water is necessary for growth and for the very life of all living things.  Those of us who have lived through droughts or partial droughts know just how quickly things begin to turn brown, wither, and die without regular watering.  There is something very symbolic about the rain, how it falls from heaven to bring life and nourishment to every living thing.  In this way, it is very much like the manna that God let fall from heaven to feed His people when they were hungry.  In both cases, we see Jesus, the Word of God, in the symbolism.  He is our Bread from Heaven and our Living Water.

 

“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall My [God’s] Word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10). 

 

Jesus said, “If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive…” (John 7:37-39).  The Spirit of Christ is a river of living water that God sends to those who thirst for Him.  He becomes a source of life, health, peace, and joy to all who believe in Jesus.  When the Lord met the woman of Samaria as she was drawing water from the well, He told her, “…whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14).  This spring of living water will fuel our growth in the Lord and nourish our spiritual man for the rest of our lives.  Truly, we need the water of the Word in order to flourish and bear fruit for the Lord.

 

WEEDING

Anyone who has kept a garden knows that weeding is a very important part of caring for the desirable plants that grow in our gardens.  Weeds, especially the pernicious, viny ones, can choke the good plants and steal the nutrients that they need to produce healthy fruit. 

 

Jesus, in the Parable of the Sower, warned against sowing seeds among thorns (or other types of weeds).  He said that “the care of this world , and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the Word” and it becomes unfruitful.  Distractions of any kind can become dangerous to our spiritual journey when they begin to sap the life away from us.  We need to be diligent and aggressive when we see weeds starting to grow up in our hearts and minds.  We need to pull them up by the roots so that they don’t reappear!  Look at the list of the works of the flesh one more time: these are the types of weeds that attack our spiritual garden and can potentially harm the things which God has planted there.  We must be vigilant.  Just as every good gardener tends to their plants every day, it is likewise important for us to look after our own spiritual condition every day through prayer and the study of God’s Word. 

 

PRUNING

Pruning is the most aggressive operation that we can perform on the plants that we are nurturing in our gardens, orchards and vineyards.  It seems counterintuitive to the way in which we think we should be caring for them.  To take a sharp instrument and cut away parts of our precious plants is just plain hard.

 

The purpose of pruning a plant is to direct all of the plants’ nutrients to those branches that are the most fruitful.  This way, the plant will produce larger and healthier fruit rather than waste its resources on branches that are not bearing.  Jesus said that it is God’s job as the Vinedresser or Gardener to remove the branches that do not bear.  He also is the One Who prunes away the suckers on the fruitful branches so that they will bear more fruit.  The Lord then said, “…ye are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you.”  In other words, it is the Word that prunes us by revealing to us the areas of our life that sap our time and energy, but produce no fruit.

 

Jesus spoke a parable that reveals much about how God cares for His Vineyard.  He said, “A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none.  Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?  And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: and if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.” (Luke 13:6-9).  God is looking for growth, maturity, and fruit from each of us.  Given all that He has done for us to ensure that we have every opportunity to flourish, in the end, it is our choices that make us unfruitful.  The Lord will cultivate and fertilize around us in an effort to bring us to spiritual health; but if we do not respond, and will not believe, we will find ourselves cut down and removed from God’s Vineyard altogether.  This is a frightening prospect, but one that can be avoided if we will just be willing to lay aside our will and submit ourselves to God’s.

 

God often chastens His children, and this is a form of pruning if we are compliant to His instruction.  Scripture tells us, “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” (Hebrews 12:11). 

 

It is not those who speak the right words who are righteous in the Lord’s sight, but those who bear fruit.  Jesus said, “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?” (Matthew 7:16).  There are too many who have the name of the Lord on their lips, but are far from Him in their hearts.  In the Day of Judgment the Lord will deny that He even knows them.  We must measure people by this rule, which is the Lord’s own measuring stick: “For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.  For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” (Luke 6:43-45).  Beloved, let’s learn to abide in Him so that His Life will flow into us and make us fruitful in all that we say and do.

 

“And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when He [Jesus] had said these things, He cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.” (Luke 8:8).