Bearing Fruit...

(Below is from my notes when listening to sermons by Clarance Sexton)

Fruit is a very important thing mentioned in the Bible.
We as Christians are suppose to have fruit in our lives.
Fruit gives evidence of something deeper.
Barrenness gives evidence of something deeper as well.

In Isaiah 5, we see that the Lord has a vineyard...
"My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:
And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof,
and planted it with the choicest vine,
and built a tower in the midst of it,
and also made a winepress therein:
and he looked that it should bring forth grapes,
and it brought forth wild grapes..."

When he saw that it didn't bring forth
what He expected of it, He said...

"What could have been done more to my vineyard,
that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked
that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard:
I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up;
and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down..."

That tree that didn't give fruit was taking the place
of ground where other fruit could grow, so he hewed it down.
As Christians, the Lord has given us everything we
need to bear the fruit He wants from us.
He has been so good to us and has blessed us so greatly
and He has a right to expect us to be fruitful!

There is evidence of life when fruit shows.
We need to be fruit-bearing Christians.
If there is no fruit in a person's life, 1 of 2 things is evident.
As a Christian, they're not abiding in Christ.
Or they are not born-again.
But we so many times place the emphasis on the fruit,
but we need to be focused on the root.

1. We must be right with God.
If we try to produce fruit, we busy ourselves with
things we shouldn't be busied with.
We just need to make sure we're abiding in Christ
and He'll produce the fruit in our lives!
"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman...
Abide in me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,
except it abide in the vine;
no more can ye, except ye abide in me." John 15:1-5

Unfortunately, it is our natural, sinful human desire
to not want spiritual things.
But Christ separates us to the Lord from the world.
(Ex. 33:12-16)
The struggles we have in this world are not between
us and things, people, etc... it's between us and God.

There's a fruit-bearing work the Holy Spirit does.
The same Holy Spirit that produces fruit,
produces death and withering. (John 15:6)
And He will wither the things that don't belong in our lives.
There are so many things that steal our time that
we should be using for Christ and abiding in Him.

He says right back in Isaiah 5:4,
"What could have been done more to my vineyard,
that I have not done for it...?"
Is there anything more Christ could have done for us? No!
He expects a thing and when He goes
to get it and if it isn't there,
then all He did to care for it He'll remove.
He doesn't forget, but He sets aside.

2. The fruit.
There are many places that talk about the fruit.
Galatians 5:22-23 for example.
And please, do read 2 Peter 1:1-10.
These things are all produced by the Holy Spirit.
We need to be right in order to do right.
If we're not the Christians we're suppose to be,
there will be fruit there that's not suppose to be.
The biggest failures on our lives are when we
succeed in areas that aren't God's will.
We need to spend more time in the Word of God.
We must determine to strengthen ourselves.
We need to die daily.

Now, dying is not supressing.
When we die to ourselves, it brings forth much fruit.
But of course, nothing wants to die, so there's a struggle.
We must not supress our sinful desires,
but rather put those away and use all that energy for the Lord.

3. Bringing glory.
It is all the Lord's victory.
He is glorified through our fruit.
Our biggest goal should be to bring glory to God.
Our desire should be for people to see us not saying,
"What a great person", but rather "What a great Savior".
As long as we desire to glorify Him, then He will bless us
and will give us what we need to bear fruit.


photo courtesy of allposters