The past couple of posts have been looking at fruit and fruitfulness.
Jesus comes looking for and expecting to find fruit
and a lack of fruitfulness has consequences—that’s what we learned from Jesus’
cursing of the fig tree.
You can see in John 15 that God
desires to see us produce abundant fruit that will last and how He prunes or
lifts up branches to help them produce more fruit than they already are.
We are called to Bear Fruit For God
Romans 7:4 Therefore, my brothers, you also were
put to death in relation to the law through the crucified body of the Messiah
, so that you may belong to another—to Him who was raised from the dead —that
we may bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions
operated through the law in every part of us and bore fruit for death.”
Just as there are two Kingdoms battling over the
souls of every human being in this world, there are two kinds of fruit we can
produce as humans—Fruit for God and Fruit for Death—the kind of death Adam
& Eve experienced back in Genesis 3—so to this day, people all over the
world, including us here in this church are repeating what they did and bearing
fruit for death.
For those apart from Christ, that’s the only
option. But in Christ, we can actually
bear fruit for God—for His Glory.
So what does fruit for God look like? Are we talking Apples, Oranges and
Pineapples?
The First Fruit
Those of you who plant gardens know that even if
you plant a variety of plants on the same day, some will produce fruit and be
ready for harvest before any others.
There’s one like that when it comes to Fruit for God—it bears fruit
before anything else—the Fruit of Repentance
John the Baptist first mentioned this when He was
speaking to the Pharisees, questioning their motives for coming to him. He said in
Matthew 3:8—“Therefore produce fruit consistent
with repentance.”
10b Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good
fruit [fruit for God] will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Without this first fruit, the only destination is
being thrown into the fire. Repentance
must be harvested before anything else—that is talking about Salvation. The second fruit then becomes possible.
We know from John 4 that God is seeking worshippers
who will worship Him in Spirit & Truth.
God is actively looking for and desires worshipers. True Worship is the second fruit.
Hebrews 13:15— “Therefore, through Him let us
continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our
lips that confess His name.”
Because of all that Jesus did on our behalf,
purchasing our freedom, we offer up praises to God. Confessing His Name, speaking His name,
singing His name, testifying to His Name—even when it’s not easy, even when it
costs us.
We Worship God for Who He is and what He has done Romans
12—offer yourselves as living sacrifices.
This is essential to a healthy harvest in the Kingdom of God.
The Third Fruit – Sanctification
Out of our repentance & worship comes a true
life change—where we are made more and more like Him, conformed to the image of
His Son. To be made holy is to be
Sanctified—which is the third fruit.
Romans 6:22—“But now, since you have been liberated
from sin and have become enslaved to God, you have your fruit, which results in
sanctification —and the end is eternal life!”
We have been set free—delivered from bondage to
sin—and set free to be a voluntary slave of God—He makes us holy—the fruit is Sanctification—being
more and more like Him—having that corrupted image restored and brought back to
life.
You can infer what kind of people Adam and Eve were
and who we are to be again in Galatians 5:22—“But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness,
self-control.”
I’d guess the first fruit of the Spirit they
ignored was Self-Control.
To be Sanctified means to be Set Apart—God sets us
apart for a Purpose—to Serve Him and participate in His mission.
The Fourth Fruit—Service & Mission
We have a purpose and something to do—that’s why He
keeps us here. As long as we are here,
we have more to do, more opportunities to be watching out for in order to
fulfill our mission. Paul understood
this—as long as He was alive, He was to live for Service & Mission.
Philippians 1:21-22—“For me, living is Christ and
dying is gain. 22 Now if I live on in the flesh, this means fruitful work for
me; and I don’t know which one I should choose.”
Paul prays for his readers
Colossians 1:10—“so that you may walk worthy of
the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing
in the knowledge of God.
God doesn’t just want us to be working and
laboring—spinning our wheels until we die—He desires us to be fruitful in our
Service and Mission.
And in order to be more and more fruitful, we must
continually Grow as a Disciple—
The Fifth Fruit--Discipleship
James 3:17-18—“But the wisdom from above is first
pure, then peace-loving, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits,
without favoritism and hypocrisy. 18 And the fruit of righteousness is sown in
peace by those who cultivate peace.”
Wisdom is more than just knowledge—it starts with
the fear of the LORD and walking with Him.
It is what you know of God that translates into how you live and make
decisions.
This wisdom changes how you pray, what you pray
for, how you prioritize your life, how you know your Bible. You become someone who loves Peace—peace with
God and with each other—loving God and loving your neighbor.
As you grow, you become full of good fruit.
And Discern Good from Evil
Discernment – by their fruit you will know them
Ephesians 5:8-11—“For you were once darkness, but
now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light— 9 for the fruit of
the light results in all goodness, righteousness, and truth— 10 discerning what
is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Don’t participate in the fruitless works of
darkness, but instead expose them.”
As you grow in wisdom with the Lord, discerning
good and evil as a Disciple then you will begin to produce more and more of
The Sixth Fruit--Evangelism
Making new disciples and participating in the
harvest
John 4:35-37—“Don’t you say, ‘There are still four
more months, then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your
eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest. 36 The reaper is
already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so the sower and
reaper can rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows
and another reaps.’”
We sow and reap as disciples—we are to bear good
fruit—fruit like ourselves—Disciples make more disciples.
The Great Commission is—Go and make disciples
of all nations—it’s not just a conversation in sharing who Jesus is or asking a
question—this fruit is a whole life of influence.—the Vineyard owner oversees
it all. If we would just open our eyes
and look around—at our community, we would see there is a great harvest.
This is what it means to be producing Fruit For
God. And God desires us to be effective
and fruitful in our lives.
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