The Fruit of the Sprit
Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from brambles? Just so every good tree produces good fruit, but a poisonous tree produces bad fruit.” A tree never chooses what kind of fruit it produces. Good trees just naturally bear good fruit. Poisonous trees produce poisonous fruit naturally. Trees do not even choose how much fruit will grow on their branches. They just bear fruit. In fact, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a poisonous tree good fruit” (Matthew 7:16-18, Weymouth).
Every human is like a tree. We are either good “trees of righteousness” (Isaiah 61:3) or we are a “bramble” (Judges 9:15). If we are good trees, then we bear good fruit. If we are poisonous trees, we bear bad fruit. Fortunately, we can choose what kind of tree we are. God helps us to be good trees.
Jesus makes this fruit grow in us. “Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself - that is, if it does not continue in the vine - so neither can you if you do not continue in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:4, 5, Weymouth).
Paul talks about this same experience. Do “we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? Our letter of recommendation is yourselves - a letter written on our hearts and everywhere known and read. For all can see that you are a letter of Christ entrusted to our care, and written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the ever-living God - and not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts as tablets” (2 Corinthians 3:1-3, Weymouth).
If you are a good tree, you will bear good fruit. How do you know that you have the fruit of being connected to Jesus? How do you know you are a letter of Christ written by His Spirit?
Looking at the world around us, we are too often reminded that, by nature, human beings have been evil since the Fall. In fact, they have become very agitated and turbulent beings, “for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21). Instead of following the Gospel, the good news of salvation, which would bring them back to God, they have drifted farther and farther away from their Creator. They should have allowed the Holy Spirit to lead them back to a state in which they would radiate peace, but, by yielding to the enemy, they have lost self-control and have developed an unruly nature. This is why the situation prevalent in the world today testifies of agitation, commotion, and rebellion.
If we turn our eyes away from the world and look at the people of God, considering their life as a church and as families, we see that, to some extent, both men and women have been affected by the spirit of the world. Even God-fearing Christians are influenced by the restless, gain-getting spirit which prevails.
“Now you know full well the doings of our lower natures. Fornication, impurity, indecency, idol-worship, sorcery; enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of passion, intrigues, dissensions, factions, envyings; hard drinking, riotous feasting, and the like. And as to these I forewarn you, as I have already forewarned you, that those who are guilty of such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God. The Spirit, on the other hand, brings a harvest of love, joy, peace; patience towards others, kindness, benevolence; good faith, meekness, self-restraint” (Galatians 5:19-23, Weymouth).
“The same law that was engraved upon the tables of stone is written by the Holy Spirit upon the tables of the heart. Instead of going about to establish our own righteousness we accept the righteousness of Christ. His blood atones for our sins. His obedience is accepted for us. Then the heart renewed by the Holy Spirit will bring forth ‘the fruits of the Spirit.’”1
“Those who become new creatures in Christ Jesus will bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, ‘love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance’ (Galatians 5:22, 23). They will no longer fashion themselves according to the former lusts, but by the faith of the Son of God they will follow in His steps, reflect His character, and purify themselves even as He is pure. The things they once hated they now love, and the things they once loved they hate. The proud and self-assertive become meek and lowly in heart. The vain and supercilious become serious and unobtrusive. The drunken become sober, and the profligate pure. The vain customs and fashions of the world are laid aside. Christians will seek not the ‘outward adorning,’ but ‘the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit’ (1 Peter 3:3, 4).”2
It is God’s desire that every one of us may enjoy fullness of joy and peace, and that we comprehend and possess the fullness of the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our life. Our Lord Jesus expressed in John 15:11, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” And again, “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full” (John 16:24). When the believer is in the presence of God, and in communion with Him by earnest prayer, there is fullness of joy and peace. “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11).
What if you do not feel this peace and joy? What if you love Jesus and accept Him, but you do not experience the fruit of connection with Him?
“There are many who, though striving to obey God’s commandments, have little peace or joy. This lack in their experience is the result of a failure to exercise faith. They walk as it were in a salt land, a parched wilderness. They claim little, when they might claim much; for there is no limit to the promises of God. Such ones do not correctly represent the sanctification that comes through obedience to the truth. The Lord would have all His sons and daughters happy, peaceful, and obedient. Through the exercise of faith the believer comes into possession of these blessings. Through faith, every deficiency of character may be supplied, every defilement cleansed, every fault corrected, every excellence developed.”3
“Words cannot describe the peace and joy possessed by him who takes God at His word. Trials do not disturb him, slights do not vex him. Self is crucified. Day by day his duties may become more taxing, his temptations stronger, his trials more severe; but he does not falter; for he receives strength equal to his need.”4
“There is peace in believing, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Believing brings peace, and trusting in God brings joy. Believe, believe! my soul says, believe. Rest in God. He is able to keep that which you have committed to His trust. He will bring you off more than conqueror through Him who hath loved you.”5
“A half service, loving the world, loving self, loving frivolous amusements, makes a timid, cowardly servant; he follows Christ a great way off. A hearty, willing service to Jesus produces a sunny religion. Those who follow Christ the most closely have not been gloomy. In Christ is light and peace and joy forevermore. We need more Christ and less worldliness, more Christ and less selfishness.”6
“Sin has destroyed our peace. While self is unsubdued, we can find no rest. The masterful passions of the heart no human power can control. We are as helpless here as were the disciples to quiet the raging storm. But He who spoke peace to the billows of Galilee has spoken the word of peace for every soul. However fierce the tempest, those who turn to Jesus with the cry, ‘Lord, save us,’ will find deliverance. His grace, that reconciles the soul to God, quiets the strife of human passion, and in His love the heart is at rest.”7
“Peace and rest will come to you as you bring your will into subjection to the will of Christ. Then the love of Christ will rule in the heart, bringing into captivity to the Saviour the secret springs of action.”8
“In the heart of Christ, where reigned perfect harmony with God, there was perfect peace. He was never elated by applause, nor dejected by censure or disappointment. Amid the greatest opposition and the most cruel treatment, He was still of good courage. But many who profess to be His followers have an anxious, troubled heart, because they are afraid to trust themselves with God. They do not make a complete surrender to Him; for they shrink from the consequences that such a surrender may involve. Unless they do make this surrender, they cannot find peace.”9
“So long as we choose the easy path of self-indulgence and are frightened at self-denial, our faith will never become firm, and we cannot know the peace of Jesus nor the joy that comes through conscious victory.”10
“Nothing tends more to promote health of body and of soul than does a spirit of gratitude and praise. It is a positive duty to resist melancholy, discontented thoughts and feelings - as much a duty as it is to pray. If we are heaven-bound, how can we go as a band of mourners, groaning and complaining all along the way to our Father’s house?
“Those professed Christians who are constantly complaining, and who seem to think cheerfulness and happiness a sin, have not genuine religion. Those who take a mournful pleasure in all that is melancholy in the natural world, who choose to look upon dead leaves rather than to gather the beautiful living flowers, who see no beauty in grand mountain heights and in valleys clothed with living green, who close their senses to the joyful voice which speaks to them in nature, and which is sweet and musical to the listening ear - these are not in Christ. They are gathering to themselves gloom and darkness, when they might have brightness, even the Sun of Righteousness arising in their hearts with healing in His beams.”11
“God has shown me that He gave His people a bitter cup to drink, to purify and cleanse them. It is a bitter draught, and they can make it still more bitter by murmuring, complaining, and repining. But those who receive it thus must have another draught, for the first does not have its designed effect upon the heart. And if the second does not effect the work, then they must have another, and another, until it does have its designed effect, or they will be left filthy, impure in heart. I saw that this bitter cup can be sweetened by patience, endurance, and prayer, and that it will have its designed effect upon the hearts of those who thus receive it, and God will be honored and glorified. It is no small thing to be a Christian and to be owned and approved of God.”12
“He brings forth fruit ‘with patience.’ None who receive God’s word are exempt from difficulty and trial; but when affliction comes, the true Christian does not become restless, distrustful, or despondent. Though we cannot see the definite outcome of affairs, or discern the purpose of God’s providences, we are not to cast away our confidence. Remembering the tender mercies of the Lord, we should cast our care upon Him, and with patience wait for His salvation.”13
“Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24).
“ ‘Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God’ (Matthew 5:9). Christ is ‘the Prince of Peace’ (Isaiah 9:6), and it is His mission to restore to earth and heaven the peace that sin has broken. ‘Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Romans 5:1). Whoever consents to renounce sin and open his heart to the love of Christ, becomes a partaker of this heavenly peace. . . .
“Christ’s followers are sent to the world with the message of peace. Whoever, by the quiet, unconscious influence of a holy life, shall reveal the love of Christ; whoever, by word or deed, shall lead another to renounce sin and yield his heart to God, is a peacemaker.
“And ‘blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God’ (Matthew 5:9). The spirit of peace is evidence of their connection with heaven. The sweet savor of Christ surrounds them. The fragrance of the life, the loveliness of the character, reveal to the world the fact that they are children of God. Men take knowledge of them that they have been with Jesus. ‘Everyone that loveth is born of God.’ ‘If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His;’ but ‘as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God’ (1 John 4:7; Romans 8:9, 14).”14
“The only power that can create or perpetuate true peace is the grace of Christ. When this is implanted in the heart, it will cast out the evil passions that cause strife and dissension.”15
“There is no other ground of peace than this. The grace of Christ received into the heart, subdues enmity; it allays strife and fills the soul with love. He who is at peace with God and his fellow men cannot be made miserable. Envy will not be in his heart; evil surmisings will find no room there; hatred cannot exist. The heart that is in harmony with God is a partaker of the peace of heaven and will diffuse its blessed influence on all around. The spirit of peace will rest like dew upon hearts weary and troubled with worldly strife.”16
“Those who take Christ at His word, and surrender their souls to His keeping, their lives to His ordering, will find peace and quietude. Nothing of the world can make them sad when Jesus makes them glad by His presence. In perfect acquiescence there is perfect rest. The Lord says, ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee’ (Isaiah 26:3). Our lives may seem a tangle; but as we commit ourselves to the wise Master Worker, He will bring out the pattern of life and character that will be to His own glory. And that character which expresses the glory - character - of Christ will be received into the Paradise of God. A renovated race shall walk with Him in white, for they are worthy.”17
“The religion of Jesus is joy, peace, and happiness.”18
May this be our experience. Amen!