Chosen by God to be Fruitful

At the very beginning of creation we read of God's first recorded words to Adam: "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; ..." (Gen. 1:28, NKJV).

God's command is to be fruitful, which is part of God's purpose of man. This is quite separate from multiplying, which relates to filling the earth and refers to subduing the earth, so that it is productive and brings forth fruit. This is an important principle to see because God wanted Adam to exercise rulership as part of his fruitfulness. In other words, he would be directly involved in producing order and being in authority over the animals and plants kingdoms. He was to be in control and as long as he was in fellowship with God abundance, prosperity and fruitfulness would result. The same principle applies to redeemed man in the walk of the Spirit. We are to be fruitful. When Jesus spoke to the disciples he told them: "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you" (John 13:16).

The fruit we are to bear is the type that will last and determine our reward in heaven, which is of course eternal and will last forever. In this message we shall look at the fruit that the Holy Spirit wants to bring forth in our lives and how to achieve abundant fruitfulness.

All fruit starts as a seed and when we are saved there is a seed planted within us. It comes from the Holy Spirit tree and is the very nature of Jesus, who was filled with the Holy Spirit and fruitfulness.

Jesus said: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).

There is no fruit apart from Jesus and the Holy Spirit will produce the nature of Jesus in us to the degree that we co-operate.

The seed and the fruit

The parable of the sower indicates what can happen to the source of the fruit, namely the seed. Without restating the parable in full, the seed is the Word of God and some fell on the path (wayside), some on rocky (stony) ground, some among thorns and some on good ground.

Jesus gave the explanation: "Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who recieved seed by the wayside. But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces; some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty" (Matt. 13:18 - 23).

The seed is supposed to produce fruit in each one of us, but we determine how great that fruit shall be. This is true both of salvation and of the seed of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5 is in essence a contrast between the walk in the Spirit and the walk in the flesh. There is a choice hence the exhortation from Paul: "Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Gal. 5:16).

We shall now consider the parable of the sower in relation to the seed of the fruit of the Spirit, for the principle is identical. The first seed falls by the wayside. Jesus relates it to the message of the kingdom that is neither received nor understood and the Devil therefore snatches it away. This can happen to the seed of the fruit of the Spirit for if it is neither received nor understood it will not be watered and the Devil will snatch away the idea that we should be fruitful at all. This happens when only salvation is preached and nothing more. It is assumed that any fruit will be self-germinating and automatic. Part of that message is that the gifts are not for now either! We need to be sure that the concept of fruitfulness is not snatched away by the father of lies and the accuser of the brethren.

The rocky ground is the man who initially desires to be fruitful for God but has no root to reach down to the nourishment. He doesn't read the Word because there is something good on TV. He doesn't go to the prayer meeting because it means getting up early after a late night movie or a late night birthday party. And if the prayer meeting is at night, he'll probably have to go out dinner with friends. He doesn't fast because it means missing a meal or two. This kind of shallowness will not produce fruit because of all the rocks in the ground. There is an initial enthusiasm after salvation but the spiritual life then gets too hard because some effort is required!

The thorns and thistles are more common than generally realized. We tend to assume that we are of course the good ground and can deceive ourselves that we are better than is the case.

James said: "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22).

Unless we are actively putting into practice the principles of the Word of God we will be deceived into thinking that we are following the Lord when we are merely onlookers.

Two of the main thorns are the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth. These prevent the fruit of the Spirit from growing to full maturity. If we can weed out the thorns and thistles then we shall have abundant fruit. All fruit come from the same seed. You do not produce some of the fruit and not others.

The fruit of the Spirit and the character of Jesus

The fruit of the Spirit is in essence a description of the character of Jesus. We are to be like Him, and aware of those things that hinder this.

The writer of Hebrews said: "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb 12:1, 2).

In the context of a race any excess weight slows you down and you miss your potential. With the gardening picture the problem is both the soil and the weeds. God nevertheless is keeping an eye on us as His sons and daughters and will correct and discipline (chasten) us.

The writer of Hebrews said further: "If you endure chastening God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you ar illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore stengthen the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be dislocated, but rather healed" (Heb. 12:7 - 13).

The fruit of the Spirit and the harvest of righteousness and peace are in essence the samething. Therefore we need to see discipline in a positive way and not despise God's ways of making us fruitful. We reap what we sow and if we sow to the Spirit we shall reap a bountiful harvest in the form of a really fruitful life for God.

The Devil is also sowing as the parable of the wheat and tares illustrates but we sow too. The seventh of the things the Lord hates is a man who sows discord among brethren (Proverbs 6:19). Control of the tongue is the suprime objective of self-control and God wants the Holy Spirit to control our tongues. One of the reasons that tongues were given to the Church at Pentecost is because God wanted His people to praise Him with a pure tongue and that had to come from the Holy Spirit. This is still true in the natural area and God wants your uncontrollable tongue - "But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison" (James 3:8). It is He who will produce that fruit of self-control as we yield to the Spirit of God. The fruit of the Spirit is the corporate result of the process of turning seed into ripe fruit. You don't have some but not others, e.g. patience but not self-control! They are all part of the same fruit. It starts off as a seed but it's all there in potential. First, you see the blossom immediately after salvation, and then it falls off sometimes to the surprise of the person who expected to be that way permanently. After blossom you have a tiny little piece of fruit that forms. If you pick it and eat it you will find that it is hard, green and bitter and you would reject it, but it is still nevertheless fruit. Only in later stages does the fruit come into ripeness and is visibly identifiable as fruit because the color changes. Too often we only think of fruit as fully formed and ripe and fail to recognize the stages of growth. Growth takes time and we are being repened by God into mature fruit. It need not take so very long and will be affected by the climate we are in. If you are in a greenhouse where here is warmth and water you will grow more rapidly. Equally true is the reverse, namely that if you are stuck out in the icy cold and not fed or watered, the fruit will be less and take much longer to produce. Fruit is important because it show wha kind of tree you are from. Even if you are producing fruit God will still prune you and you will be cut back regularly to produce even more fruit. It is the result of a spirit led life and does glorify God as Jesus siad: "By this My Father is florified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be My disciples" (John 15:8).

This is why we are told to recognize people by their fruit because it shows what kind of seed is inside them.

Two different views of the parable of the sower


In the parable of the sower Jesus said that the seed would bear fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixtyfold and some on hundredfold. There are two different views of the meaning of this:

1. Some consider that the seed has equal potential in each person and that we can all produce one hundredfold as our maximum potential because the seed of the Holy Spirit is capable of this. If you then produce sixtyfold you have achieved sixty per cent of your potential and similarly thirtyfold is thirty per cent. In other words, it all depends on the soil and how we feed and water the seed.

2. The other view is that believers have diferent potential by the svereign grace of God. Some are capable of much, others of less and God is looking for faithfulness. This view is supported by the parable of the talents where they were given different amounts. If you are a thirtyfold in potential and produce thirtyfold, then you have done equally as well as the potential hundredfolder who produces a hundredfold. Actually if you produce thirty and the other person produces ninety you have done better as far as God is concerned even if an outside observer thinks the ninetyfolder has been three times as productive as you!


Whichever view you choose the key is to achieve your maximum potential and not be concerned if others appear to be doing better. There is tremendous potential in the Holy Spirit to be really productive for the Kingdom and it is also true that we can quench the Holy Spirit and limit the fruitfulness. It is up to us to keep our soil weed free and open to the light of the Word of God and the Living Water that comes from Jesus. There is a day coming when God who is no man's debtor will reward those who have faithfully served Him and led a fruitful life. It is indeed a high calling. There is no easy way or soft option for the man of God. We have to take up our cross daily, die to self and follow Jesus.


Conclusion


Perhaps the best way to conclude is to consider what Paul wrote in Timothy and pray that God will be pleased with us on that day when we finally meet the One we seek to serve:


"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing" (2 Tim. 4:7, 8).


When we meet Jesus may He be able to say: "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord" (Matt. 25:21).


Many people toward the end of their natural life regret the missed opportunities and the wasted years, when they chose to live for themselves rather than God. Solomon started off walking with the Lord but the care of this life and the deceitfulness of riches led him astray. When he looked back and wrote the Book of Ecclesiastes he wished he had been wholehearted toward God. He discovered that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and that the commandments of the Lord are the route to happiness and he wished he had followed them. May we make the most of the days God has given us and determine afresh that we will be led by the Spirit of God, living a fruitful life worthy of our high calling.


"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is man's all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil" (Eccl. 12:13, 14).