Chapter 13.8
Un-fruitfulness
All
fruit harvested is not always fit to eat - Unfaithfulness – Bad Fruit
Good
Works does not make you a Christian – No Fruit; not a Christian
Discipline
and pruning of the Believer - Relationships
First Word
GOOD WORKS does not make you a Christian; but
because you are a Christian you will do good works. Fruit does not fall very far from the tree.
The Bible is clear that you will recognize a Christian by his works, his FRUITFULNESS.[1]
There is a new fruit that is observable in the actions and reactions of the
Believer. In due season people will
observe in the Believer’s life the Holy Spirit’s fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.[2]
As a kid, I tried to eat the fruit of a persimmon tree before it was ripe; it was bad fruit. This Word study raises to a HIGH PITCH how God feels
about BAD FRUIT. Whatever is stored up in a man is eventually
what comes out.[3] The Holy Spirit can only show you the door,
you must decide to walk through it; not doing what you should gives birth to bad fruit.
The grace of God gives you the ability
to say NO to ungodliness and worldly passions.[4]
Satan
As
soon as the desire to do “good works” comes, Satan tries his best to
choke it out with distractions[5],
keeping it from being watered and receiving the light of the sun; causing it to
WITHER,[6] thus the desire
to “do good”
becomes unfruitful.
What More can God do?
God,
through the Holy Spirit has given the best and most specific GIFT tailored just
for you to produce fruit that is to be used for the building up of the body of
Christ.[7] While the gift is just for you; it’s not just
to enrich YOU, but to enrich the whole body of
Believers in the vineyard of Christ.
He chose the most specific and “choices of
gifts” that will grow best in your fertile soil: then He removed the
stones in your life that would impede its growth; He then watered it with his
Word, then guarded it and watched over the growth awaiting the harvest.[8]
What
more can God do to help you to produce a harvest? Life is
choice driven.[9]
Only the one who DOES the will of the
Father will enter the kingdom of Heaven.[10]
It’s All Over
The
“Believer” WILL BE
FRUITFUL;
so when there is no fruit, it’s all over.[11] You don’t belong to God; you
cannot be fruitful apart from God.[12]
God will not be mocked; you will reap what
you sow.[13]
Those that produce sour grapes will die
for their own sins. You will eat the fruit of your ways[14] and be filled with
the fruit of your schemes. At some point the face of the Lord will turn
against you and you will become like a wasteland;[15] God
will put an AX
to your tree and cut it down and use it for firewood in the Lake of Fire.[16]
Scripture
about un-fruitfulness leads right into the subject of un-faithfulness. If you are unfruitful you will also be
un-faithful.[17] A Believer is like a tree planted by the
water that produces fruit in its due season.[18] When you bear fruit, it is a sign that you
are a disciple of Christ,[19]
therefore make every effort to add the fruit of brotherly kindness, love, goodness, knowledge, self-control,
perseverance, and godliness, to your faith.[20] Fruitfulness enlarges your Righteousness.[21]
Pruning
Discipline
and pruning comes from the Father because you are a son of God;[22]
He will prune your works in order that even more works will be harvested.[23]
Even when you have a bad harvest, the grace of
God will give you another season
to cultivate what has been planted.[24]
Let it shine
Your
gift is not for private consumption, but is to be placed like a Light
House on public display so others may be drawn to its light.[25] FRUITFULNESS
When the woman with the issue of blood was
healed, Jesus called her to share in public what had happened to her in secret
so others could “See the Light”.
We are to live in harmony with one
another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble; [26] the fruit of righteousness brings PEACE.[27]
Luke
8:45-47 – Share publicly how God has touched your life
45 "Who touched
me?" Jesus asked. When they all
denied it, Peter said, "Master, the people are crowding and pressing
against you."
46 But Jesus
said,
"Someone touched
me; I know that power has gone out from me."
47 Then the
woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his
feet.
IN THE PRESENCE OF ALL THE
PEOPLE,
she told why she had touched him and
how she had been instantly
healed.
NIV
Good News
If
you have not been fruitful; start now, use your gifts to help others so
that God will be glorified.
Our LORD; our
compassionate and gracious God is slow to anger, abounding in love and
faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness,
rebellion and sin.[28]
Seek God while He may be found and He will
abundantly pardon.[29]
Though our sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;[30]
though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. Because of Jesus Christ, God will remember our
sins no more.[31]
If you are a Believer; then you will
have good works; you WILL be fruitful.
Relationships
Life
is like a river flowing gently through the land. Many Believers especially myself, sit on the
bank and enjoy the river and its sounds from a distance; uninvolved, unfruitful, but watching
and enjoying. Others
are out in the middle of the river with the waters flowing all around them as
they extend a part of themselves to others.
Making a difference; being
fruitful; building lifelong relationships.
To use an old Presbyterian term; “This study bites me
in the Butt”. I find myself ALWAYS sitting on the bank watching the “fruitful works”
of others. I find it easy to pray
throughout the day, tithe, support missionaries, give money and spend hours
daily doing “Word
Studies” for myself; but I just can’t
seem to give of myself; of my time to others.
Mike, my youngest son had relocated and told
me he was now spending about 3 hours every Sunday helping his new church set up
and tear down equipment in a temporary rented facility; I asked WHY? He said he had always attended Church every
Sunday somewhere, but had developed NO relationships. Five
years ago he had been deeply involved in his Church; so considering commitment,
he had already been there and done that and had just taken a break. However, he had become disconnected and FRUITLESS; now it was time to get his FAMILY involved again.
Such is the case for ME; “Been there; done that”. I had become so involved with so many
responsibilities on Sunday Morning, that I didn’t even get to hear a Sunday
School lesson or the Pastor’s sermon; so I just started saying NO; now I find I can’t get myself off the river bank, I just watch. I sure know and speak to a lot of people, but
I don’t have any relationships.
This Word study speaks to ME
to be fruitful through relationships with others; to get IN the river; to DO
things “quickly”
in season or out of season; whether it’s convenient or not; to be fruitful
Is
that YOU… sitting on the bank… next
to ME…
Commiserating
with Unfruitfulness?
James 1:22 – Don’t just hear the Word; DO IT
22 But BE YE DOERS OF THE WORD, AND NOT HEARERS ONLY, deceiving your
own selves.
KJV
2 Timothy 4:2 – Get involved whether it’s
convenient or not.
2 Preach the
Word; BE PREPARED IN SEASON AND
OUT OF SEASON; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and
careful instruction.
NIV
[2] Galatians 5:22-23 – Fruit
of the Christian is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
[3] Matthew 12:35 – Bad Fruit stored up gives birth to more bad fruit.
[4] Titus 2:11-12 – Grace
gives us the ability to say NO to worldly passions
[5] Matthew 13:4-7 – Early
on, Satan tries to steal your Works
[6] John 15:6 – Unfruitfulness withers the Believer.
[7] 1 Corenthians 12:11 – The
Holy Spirit determines the BEST GIFT for you
[8] Isaiah 5:1-4 – What more can God do? He
dug, cleared, planted and placed a hedge of protection and a watchtower.
[9] John 8:36 – You are free
to choose; life is choice driven
[10] Matthew 7:21 – Only the
one who DOES the
will of the Father will enter the kingdom of heaven
[11] Matthew 21:19 – If you
don’t bear fruit, your gift will be gone forever
[12] John 15:4 – Your gift cannot
function apart from God -- Luke 13:9 – Give a little more time for fruit; if
not cut it down
[13] Galatians 6:7-8 – God will not be mocked; you will reap what you sow
[14] Proverbs 1:31 – You will
eat the fruit of your ways
[15] Isaiah 5:5-7 – I will
make your life like a wasteland -- 1 Peter 3:12 – The face of the Lord is
against evil doers.
[16] Matthew 7:19 – Trees that bear bad fruit will be put to the axe and burned --
Matthew 3:10 – Produce bad fruit; you will be cut off and thrown into the lake
of fire -- Jeremiah 31:30 – If you are unfruitful and
produce sour grapes you will die for
your own sin
[17] Luke 16:10-12 - Trusted with little can be trusted with much
[18] Psalm 1:3 – Fruitfulness
will yield its own fruit in due season
[19] John 15:8 – When you bare much fruit it shows you are Christ’s
disciple
[20] 2 Peter 1:5-9 - Add
knowledge, self-control and perseverance to your Faith
[21] 2 Corenthians 9:10 – Fruitfulness enlarges your righteousness
[22] Hebrews 12:7-8 – Discipline comes from the Father to His sons.
[23] John 15:2 – God will
prune a gift that is not bearing fruit.
[24] Luke 13:6-8 – God will
give one more “season” to use your gift.
[25] Luke 11:33 – Let others
see the fruit of your conviction
[26] 1 Peter 3:8-11 – Live in harmony, love, compassionate, humble
[27] Isaiah 32:17 – The fruit of righteousness brings peace
[28] Exodus 34:6-7 – God is
slow to anger and quick to forgive
[29] Isaiah 55:6-7 – Seek God while He may be found; we will receive Mercy and
Pardon
[30] Isaiah 1:18 – A Believer’s sin becomes white as snow
[31] Isaiah 43:25 – He remembers our sins no more
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