Fruitfulness
Fruitfulness
The God of Heaven has planted one true Vine. The true Vine is Jesus, the Christ of God. The Vine is spiritual but it is designed to be revealed in the earth.
God desires that the Vine bear fruit. The fruit for which God is looking is His own image: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control. The Divine image is found only in Christ and is Christ.
God desires that this fruit be visible and available to the nations of the earth. When the nations eat the fruit of the true Vine they will live spiritually and worship and serve the God of Heaven.
Adam and Eve were in the image of God to a limited extent, as we have stated previously. They were commanded to reproduce this image in the earth.
The Lord Jesus Christ is perfectly in the image of God. It is our role, the role of the members of the Body of Christ, to reproduce the image of Christ in the earth. The image of Christ is the precious fruit of the earth for which God is looking.
It is through the Seed of Abraham, Christ and His Body, that God will bless the nations of the earth. The emphasis in the present hour is on the maturing of the branches of the Vine. When that occurs, the image of God will appear for the nations to behold, and beholding to be saved.
For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. (Isaiah 61:11)
"Before all the nations."
God has planted a Vine, and all the creation is waiting for, is dependent on, the bringing forth of the fruit of that Vine. The nations will continue to grope blindly for the light until the only true Light shines from the branches of the Vine.
The believer in Christ in whom the image of God is formed, and who enters restful union with God through Christ, will bear the fruit of the image of God in unnumbered multitudes during the ages to come. His fruit will be as that of Abraham if he chooses to believe God.
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman vinedresser. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. (John 15:1,2)
The issue here is not Heaven or Hell. Too much emphasis has been placed on going to Heaven when we die. This is not the biblical emphasis, although we hope to go to a place of peace and joy when we leave this flesh.
Indeed, through Christ we can escape the wrath of God. God has made a way for the sinner to escape destruction. But the emphasis of the majority of the writings of the New Testament is not on our "being saved and going to Heaven." It is on the godly behavior of those who have been called to be branches in the true Vine.
Jesus did not pray for the nations of the world. He prayed for the elect, for those whom the Father has given Him. As soon as the fruit of righteousness appears in the sight of the world, as soon as the peoples of the earth behold the Glory of God in the saints, the world will believe that God has sent the Lord Jesus Christ.
The believers of today are babes in Christ. Therefore the world continues in darkness.
Jesus did not say if we did not bear fruit we would not go to Heaven. Heaven is not the issue. The issue is that of being allowed to remain as part of the Vine.
If the fruit of God’s image does not appear in our personality, if there is no new creation, we are in danger of being cut out of the Vine.
Believers speak of "eternal security." What do they mean by that? Do they mean they will remain in the Vine whether or not they bear fruit? If this is what they mean they are contradicting the words of the Lord Jesus.
We are baptized into the Body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. After that we must walk faithfully with Christ as He brings us into God’s image. Each day the Lord presents a new challenge to us. If through His grace we rise to meet that challenge we will continue to abide in Him.
If, however, we neglect prayer, the study of the Word, obedience, the fellowship of the saints, and do not press into Christ each day, we are not continuing to abide in Him. If we continue to abide in Him we bear fruit naturally. But if we do not continue to abide in Him we cannot bear fruit. If we do not bear fruit, God will remove us from the Vine.
There are multitudes in the Christian churches. Among these multitudes there are a few who, through the Spirit of God, overcome every enemy that comes against their abiding in Christ. These few are the true Church, the Wife of the Lamb, the Body of Christ, the branches of the one true Vine.
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:4)
It is written that in the last days the love of the majority (the majority of believers) will grow cold (Matthew 24:12). This is happening in our day. The Christian people of the wealthy nations are succumbing to the lust, drunkenness, ease, and prosperity with which they are surrounded.
The "cold" do not bear the fruit of God’s image in their lives. Therefore they shall be cut out of the Vine. They never will be part of the Wife of the Lamb. They will not be heirs of the nations of the earth. Whether or not they will be saved in the Day of Wrath is known to God alone.
Only those who bear the fruit of the image of God, bearing it in themselves and in those with whom they come in contact, will be allowed to remain in the Vine. We may desire to go to Paradise. But God’s desire is that righteousness and praise spring forth in the sight of the nations of the earth.
God has planted a Vine. If we are fruitful in the world, when we die God will continue to minister to us so throughout eternity we may bear the fruit He desires. If we waste our days on the earth, when we die we will face an angry God. God will deal with us according to our laziness and disobedience.
If we are not faithful in small responsibilities we will not be given a greater opportunity and responsibility in the Kingdom of God.
Christ is the only true Vine. Our task is to continue to abide in Him each day. Each day, abiding in Him is more difficult than it was on the preceding day because He steps up to a higher level. The Master is setting us free from all sin and all self-centeredness and bringing us into union with Himself. It requires all the consecration of which we are capable in order to keep up with the daily lessons and challenges.
We do not have to strive to bear fruit. We do have to strive to be found in Christ. As long as we continue abiding in Christ we will continue to bear fruit naturally. The world, Satan, and our sin and self-will are always attempting to prevent our abiding in Christ. We battle against these enemies by the wisdom and power of the Spirit of God.
We must continue in prayer, in the Word, and in diligent devotion to Jesus if we expect to have the strength to continue abiding in the Vine. The rewards go to the victors.
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. (John 15:16)
Every member of the Seed of Abraham was known to God before the creation of the world. We have been chosen to bear fruit. We have been ordained to bear in ourselves the righteous, holy, obedient image of Christ.
Christians today are seeking power from God. Power is not our goal, our goal is image, union, and fruitfulness. If we are fruitful, God will answer our prayers. Then we will have power and dominion.
Image makes union possible. Union makes fruitfulness possible. Fruitfulness makes dominion possible. When we possess image, union, fruitfulness, and dominion we are ready to inhabit and maintain Paradise and to bring Paradise wherever we go. The name of the city of God will be imprinted on us. This is the calling and destiny of each member of God’s elect, of the Seed of Abraham, of the members of the Body of Christ.