Matt: 3:10; Mk 4: 3-20;

This morning I want to share something which has been on my heart these days.  I want to speak about fruit, bearing fruit.  I think sometimes we take it lightly and we think bearing fruit is an optional extra in our Christian life, but actually it is not an optional extra but a requirement, and the frightening thing is that the Word of God says that the majority of Christians will not attain to God's standard.  I am not talking here about genuine Christians but about those who call themselves Christians.  There will be many who call themselves by His Name, but He will say:  "I don't know you", and the fact that we don't bear fruit will condemn us.

SCRIPTURE READING:  Matthew 3:10

Then we realize how serious the situation is.  That is why I say it is not something which is a nice to have but a requirement for our Christian lives, to bear fruit.  Here God's Word says the axe is laid at the root of every tree, so dear friend, even as we sit here, we realize that our lives hang on a thread, and it is this thread which separates us from life or eternal damnation in hell.  If this thread is cut, we fall into a lost eternity.  So we realize that we have no time to lose.  We have here to do with a righteous God who is expecting us to bear fruit.  A righteous God who says:  "You shall be holy as I am holy".

God says the axe is laid at the root of every tree, just waiting for that command to say:  "Cut it down!"  Then it is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Why will it be cut down?  Because it is not bearing fruit.

I want us this morning to search our lives to see whether our life is bearing fruit.  And not just bearing any fruit but good fruit, as God classifies it.  It doesn't help that we call ourselves good and that we say it is good enough.   God is the quality controller and He has to be satisfied that this is good fruit.  God is the final Judge and He is the best Judge there is.  Very meticulous.  He separates even bone from marrow  -  that is how exact He is in His judgement.  He discerns between soul and spirit.  Where we cannot call the line and say here is the line, God can.   We say there is a grey area where you can't really say right or wrong  -  it is a middle area.  But God is a righteous Judge and He will judge meticulously according to His standard.

Woe to us if we are not found to be bearing good fruit.  If anyone here today is not bearing good fruit, he is at great risk.  God says the axe is already at the root of the tree.  If you are not bearing good fruit, you are about to be cut down.  That thread is the only thing that keeps us out of hell.  So let us take this matter seriously.  God takes it seriously.

The sad thing is that most people don't and won't bear good fruit.  Why?  There are different reasons.  Some of them are found in the parable of the sower, where he went out to sow the good seed.  We can read that in different Gospels, but let us read Mark 4:3-20  –

3.  It is the same seed that He used.  No one could say they received inferior seed.  It is God's Word.

4.  The hardened heart:

Some people won't bear fruit because the seed falls on a hard heart, like the road that has become hard.  A road where many people have walked over.  There are such hearts, hard as stone.

What happened to that seed?  No sooner had it fallen and the birds came and flew away with it.  It is like someone coming to the service, you are sitting wherever you are, the seed is sown, God's Word comes to you, but no sooner does it reach your ears and it is snatched away.  Maybe it doesn't even reach your ears, maybe you are not even listening there where you are.  Maybe you are sitting there, talking to your friend while we are busy talking here.  That happens.

With those people the seed is snatched away by the birds even before it reaches them.

But maybe you are not talking to your friend, but you can be sitting in the front row or 2^nd or 3^rd row, and you can be looking attentive, with wide open eyes, but maybe that seed never gets a chance to reach your heart.  There are such people with such a heart who aren't prepared to receive God's Word.  You have hardened your heart for some or other reason:  Maybe because of something which someone did or said to you.  Maybe you don't even know what the reason is, but the devil has hardened your heart.  Such a heart cannot receive God's Word.  We have to prepare our hearts, we have to humble ourselves and pray that God will be merciful and save us.

Such a life and heart will never bear good fruit.  It cannot grow.  The seed doesn't even come up.  If that is your heart and your state, then remember that the axe is laid at the root of the tree, just waiting for the command to cut it down and throw it into the fire.

That is the unrepentant, hardened heart who doesn't respond to the Gospel.  A person can be at the Mission for a year, ten years, but the heart is hardened.

The Bible says:  "He who wills (he who wants to), let him come to the waters and drink".  But the amazing thing is that some don't want to.  It is for the one who wants to.  It goes without saying that the one who doesn't want to, will not get that water and will forever remain thirsty.

The devil is right closeby and will quickly remove that which God wants to give you.

5.  On rocky places:

Then there are those where the seed is sown and it falls onto rocky places.  Maybe there is a little bit of soft soil, so the seed finds a place to start growing.  The Lord even said that those are the ones who received the Word with joy when they hear it.  There are those who come to the service and say:  "Wow!  That was wonderful!  That was a good message!"

17.  The seed grows but it is short-lived because, as the Lord said, there is no firm root in themselves.  It is temporary, short-lived.  "When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away."  They go back home or walk out here and meet one of their old friends, and are drawn back into their old lives.

7.  Among thorns:

There are others where the seed fell among the thorns.

18-19.  They hear the Word and the seed starts growing but here are the reasons why they will never bear fruit:   "The worries /cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful."

These are Christians who don't bear fruit.  Yes, they have received the Word, they like it, they want to serve the Lord, but they won't bear good fruit.  Why not?

i.  Worries:   Because of worries.  The worries of this world.  There are many things that worry us.  There are many things that we can worry about:  our daily needs, financial worries.  Maybe there is a reason, a so-called reason why I can worry, because maybe I am really in financial difficulty.  But a Christian forgets that the Lord said that we shouldn't bear our worries alone but should cast our cares on Him.  We can get so involved in the worries and cares of this world that we become unfruitful Christians.  We have been Christians for many years but we don't bear fruit because of these worries.

ii.  The deceitfulness of riches:

The other reason why we are not fruitful and that is the deceitfulness of riches.  There are those who are so bent on gaining riches, that they don't bear good fruit.  From morning till night they are just busy thinking of making money.  They even dream about it.  If you wake him in the middle of the night, that is what he will talk about.  When he is with his friends, that is what he talks about.  He will even make debt to show off and buy that smart car if he can't afford it.  So involved, so bound by the deceitfulness of riches, that he never becomes a fruitful Christian.  Money keeps him busy.  Not God's Word, not the things of the Lord or God's work, but:  How can I make money?  Maybe as an afterthought he says that if he makes money, he can also give to the Lord's work.  He loves money.   More than he loves God.  He will never bear good fruit.  The axe is laid at the tree.  How many people's lives aren't cut short just because of worry and riches.

iii.  The pleasures of this world:

Then it is also "the pleasures of this world".  The desire for the things of this world.  The world is so attractive to him.  Yes, he is a Christian. The Word is sown there but it is between the weeds:  the weeds of worry, of making money, of the pleasures of this world; they choke the Word and it cannot grow as it should, and therefore he cannot bear good fruit.

The axe is laid at the root of such a tree.

8 + 20.  Praise God!  Some of it fell on good soil.  The ground was prepared before the time.  This is a heart that seeks God.  Not a hardened heart, but one that is soft.  Where I say:   "Lord, here am I.  Lord, cleanse me.  Set me free from anything that is not good in Your sight.  Here I am, I am available."  In God's Kingdom it is not our capability or ability, but our availability that counts.

We need to bear good fruit.

Just to remind you of some of the fruit that God expects of us.   But maybe before we get to that, just back to John the Baptist.  He was preaching, sowing the seed.  People repented and got baptized.  Then some people came to him, also wanting to be baptized, but he said:  "You can't be baptized", and called them very painful things.   "First go and bear the fruit of repentance.  First of all show that you have stopped the evil life you used to live."

In Galatians 5 we read some of the things we need to repent of:

19.  Sexual sins, impurity.  Have we repented from those things, even in our thoughtlife, or would John also call us snakes if we would come to him for baptism, saying we should first repent of those things?

20.  Idolatry, sorcery.   Have we repented from those things?  Otherwise we serve 2 gods, even though God says it is impossible.

20.  Enmities, strife, jealousy.  Have you shown the fruit of repentance of these things?  These are not good fruits.  And the Lord says that anyone who doesn't bear good fruit will be chopped down.

20.  Outbursts of anger:   You can be quite normal but suddenly you get this outburst of anger, and you are even surprised yourself that you can do such things.   Is that still in our lives?

20.  Disputes, dissensions, factions:  We like to prove our point:  "I know I am right and the others will have to see it", "I am right and the others will have to accept it".  In that way we cause factions because we speak to others and influence them.

The fruit of my life is influencing people in the wrong way.

21.  I am jealous, envious of others.  Maybe because God is blessing them, I am envious of them.  God blesses someone, I curse him.  I don't agree with God.  I know better.

Tell lies.  Some are so good at it and can tell a lie that the person they are speaking to, doesn't even notice it.  They lie with such a straight face that eventually you apologize for accusing them.  But God knows what the truth is.  And the axe is laid at the root of the tree.  Woe to you if the call, the command comes to chop down that tree and you haven't repented of that sin.

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT:

22.  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness.

Does it sound familiar?  Are you recognizing these things in your life?  Is this fruit evident in your life or not?

Faithfulness:  Are we faithful to God in the first place?  And then in our everyday lives?  Can people rely on us because of our faithfulness?  Where we work, are we faithful?  Maybe you say:   "I am on a far higher level  -  far above these earthly things".  But God says He requires the fruit of faithfulness in our lives.  If we think that we don't have to be faithful in our work, God told the slaves in those days that they have to be faithful to their masters, in that way being a light and being able to get through to those people.   "Especially if your master is a Christian, serve him as unto the Lord."  But so easily we take advantage of it if my employer is a Christian and I expect him to honour me as well and do things for me.  If he says something, I say something back and I forget what God expects of us.  How can we expect to win such a person if we can't even respect him?

God expects the fruit of faithfulness in my life, and how much more if I serve Him, am in His service.  Will God find us faithful in His service?  Are we reliable?  Will God be able to say One Day:  "Well done, good and faithful servant"?

Gentleness, self-control.

 I have mentioned a few things which are good fruit and bad fruit.  What is the fruit that is evident in our lives?  The bearing of fruit is the climax.  If you look at organisms, a plant, the bearing of fruit is the ultimate.  That is what it is all about.  It is the seed in the fruit that sees to it that that species continues.  If there is no fruit, that species will soon be extinct  -  there will not be that plant anymore.

That is why the Lord says we must bear good fruit.  Maybe we bear bad fruit and that is why we permeate bad fruit to others.  I am a bad influence to my friends and family.  We have to strive to attain to the bearing of good fruit.  That is the bottom line as Christians.  It is not good enough to say:  "Hallelujah!   I have become a Christian.  Praise the Lord!  I am planted in the Lord's vineyard."

If you are one of those who say, "I have made it, I am safe now, it is the end of it", then read Luke 13:6-9 about the figtree that was to be chopped down because of not bearing fruit.

Do you realize why I say that bearing fruit is not just an optional thing?  We have to bear good fruit.  And without us knowing it, God is coming at a regular basis to do an audit and see whether we are bearing good fruit or not.  What does He find in our lives?  Woe to us if He doesn't find good fruit.  He said, "For 3 years this tree has been in my vineyard but I see no fruit.  Cut it down!"   The axe is at the root of the tree   -  cut it down.  It is wasting the ground.  We will rather plant another tree.  Even though it is small, but eventually it will bear good fruit.

It is not enough to have green leaves, or even blossoms.   God's bottom line is good fruit.  If He doesn't see that, He cuts it down.

We thank God for His mercy and grace:  Even though he didn't find fruit, He gave it another chance, even gave it fertilizer.  He sends someone to you to help you.  That is how God tries to produce good fruit in you.  God tries   -  how successful have His efforts been in your life?

What time is it on God's clock?  The 1^st year, the 2^nd, the 3^rd or maybe in injury time already  -  but still no result.  If extra time finishes and there is still no result, then it is sudden death where God says, "Cut it down!  It is wasting the ground."

 Pruning:

But there are always other methods which God uses.  John 15   -  the branch that doesn't bear fruit, is cut off.  But He says that the one that bears fruit, is pruned.  There are certain twigs, certain things that are growing on this branch.  It is bearing fruit, it is doing good, but there are certain things and the Lord works on it.  And so God does with us Christians:  He says there are certain things that are not good and He works on that.  But we Christians don't like that, it goes against the grain, it is unpleasant.  Most often when God prunes, He uses someone else.  I haven't seen a branch pruning itself  -  it is another hand that does it.

We don't want that  -  that is why we build walls around ourselves, just to keep people at bay.  We can get quite nasty when people get too close for our comfort.  But as Christians we need to be prepared for those uncomfortable times  -  we need it.  We need God to get close to us to prune us, and to address those secret things in our lives that only we know about.  Otherwise we won't bear good fruit and eventually the axe will be put to use.  That is the end of the tree that doesn't bear good fruit.

The example of the vine is so nice because we can't bear fruit out of our own.  We can't go out and do it on our own.  If we want to bear fruit, we have to be connected to the vine.  There needs to be that connection.  We need that fellowship with the Lord.  I need to speak to the Lord, and more importantly, He needs to speak to me.  When last did He speak to you?  Are you still connected to the vine?  If not, you won't bear fruit.  How wonderful if we are connected to the vine and we allow His sap to flow into us.  That is just the beginning of that relationship where we then bear fruit and from time to time the Lord prunes us and it just gets better and better.

 The aim:

Have I said enough?  Does it make sense?  I hope something has fallen into good soil.  We have to bear good fruit, those fruits of repentance, that fruit which is vital in any cycle.  The seed falls into the soil, but that is just the beginning.   The seed has to grow up and bear fruit.   The ultimate aim:  Phil 3:12b   -  "… to lay hold of that for which I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus".

This sums it up so nicely.  Is that what we are busy with?  Is that the aim in your and my life?  That ultimately we can lay hold of that for which God laid hold of us?  Or are we busy with other things?  The cares of this world?  Running after riches?  Being enticed by the pleasures of this world?  In that way we won't grow to maturity and bear fruit, and the axe is laid at the root.

My aim is:  "Lord, that I may lay hold of that for which You laid hold of me".

Illustration of a farmer:

If a farmer plants a tree, his aim is that it will grow.   He looks after it.  Then it grows and produces leaves, but he isn't just happy with that.  That is a good start but is not enough.  Otherwise we are like Adam and Eve who used figleaves to cover up with.  Then we just use Christianity to cover up with.  The farmer will be happy if there are leaves but he will want more.   He will be happy for the blossoms when they appear on the tree, but there are still risks:  frost can come, the wind can blow them off.  But how happy is he when eventually the fruit starts appearing.  But it is not mature yet.  There are thieves around. The devil is the biggest thief  -  he comes to steal and destroy.  So the farmer perseveres and ultimately the prize is that ripe fruit.

That is what makes the difference as a Christian, if we can be Christians bearing good fruit.  That is what it is all about, that we may lay hold of that for which Christ lay hold of us.  That is what it is all about in being a Christian, that we may lay hold of that.

Even though you may sow in tears, but what rejoicing when the ripe fruit is there!  When the master comes, whether it is in season or out of season, he comes and finds ripe fruit, He finds us faithful.  Then it is worth it.  That is what our Master expects of us.

I don't know what fruit has come out of your life this last week, but may God grant that as we go into this new week, we may bear good fruit.

 Kjell:

Let me give you 3 points to help you remember what we heard this morning:

1.  God is the Fruit Maker:  He is only satisfied with divine fruit.  That is why in Matthew 3 John the Baptist with the Holy Spirit in him could discern that their fruit which they were bearing was not divine.  I like doing good things and helping people, but that is not enough for God.  You might also have good 'ubuntu', but that is not good enough for God, because He is the fruit-maker.  That is why we heard in Gal 5 what the fruit OF THE SPIRIT is.

2. He is the Fruit Shaker:  He will come and check whether the fruit is from Him or from you.   Is it divine, from God, from Jesus in you as you are planted into Him and He in you?

3.  He is the Fruit Taker:  Yes, He allows some of the people around you to enjoy some of the fruit, but ultimately it is all for the glory of God.  That is why Paul says in 2 Cor 4:  "You are the sweet smell of Christ unto God."  After that he says:  "Yes, and unto man  -   to some the smell of death, to others the smell of life", but in the first place a sweet smell to God.

 

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