Volume 26, Issue 8
WisconsinChristianNews.com
Page 21
Bringing Forth Fruit Unto Perfection
helps others find the Lord. “Therefore leaving the prin- ciples of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto per- fection.” (Hebrews 6:1). There are things that are el- ementary to our salvation and we move beyond that to the things that “accompany salvation.” (See verse 9). Verse 10 goes on with this: “for God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shewed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.” The fruitful Christian is filled with the love
lives, the more painful the process. Fruit unto perfection is the Christ-like ministra- tions we exercise toward others along the pathway of life. According to our text, the first require- ment is patience. This agrees with what we have in Ephesians 4:1-2. This whole chapter 4 shows us the process. We begin humbly, with all lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, forbearing one another. This perfecting process usually involves others of God’s people. Our imperfections often show up in human relationships. We can talk about having a wonderful relationship with the Lord, but if we have not learned how to be humble, meek, longsuffering, forbearing in love, the fruit of our life will not be perfect. God gives grace to every Christian. He gives us power to overcome the weakness of our nature. God gives gifts to the Church for the perfecting of the saints. (Ephesians 4:11-12). Satan’s work is to destroy the work of God and our human nature can join sides with Satan at any time. Or we can yield to the Holy Spirit’s work and be perfected. The patient minis- tration of Christ’s love to others is what draws others to God’s truth. But those who are occupied with cares, riches and pleas- ures do not have the time to patiently labor with souls that need much love and care. We cannot be fruit-bearing Christians when we do not have the Holy Spirit filling us with His life, love, and power. Much of
conservative religion is too involved with cares, riches, and pleasures. These seem so legitimate and even necessary. Life is to be enjoyed and that enjoyment must in- clude affluent living. But we forget the truth that Jonah discovered — “They that ob- serve lying vanities forsake their own mer- cies.” (Jonah 2:8). Affluence carries many lying vanities with it. These lies all come from the father of lies! We cannot be fruit- ful if we allow cares, riches, and pleasures to dominate our life. Consider what domi- nates conversations after a worship serv- ice. Is there a lively discussion about the message just preached? Or is it about cares, riches, and pleasures? These are the things that choke out the Word and cause us to forget what we hear. “But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straight- way forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” (James 1:22-25). Rod & Staff Publishers W6053 County Rd. X Withee, WI 54498 (715) 229-9400
By Isaac D. Martin January 2026
The Bible speaks much about fruit. Fruit is what you see and the fruit tells us much about the tree! John the Baptist told the Jews to bring forth fruit that shows that you are repentant. Jesus warned of false prophets that would come in sheep’s clothing but their fruit would prove them false. (See Matthew 7:15-20). Psalm 1 gives us a picture of a tree planted by wa- ters that brings forth its fruit in season. It is the picture of one who delights in the Law of God. In John 15:1-17, Jesus speaks much about fruit — more fruit, much fruit! In the middle of all this, He says, “Without Me, you can do nothing.” We have such words as “purge,” “clean,” “abiding,” “full joy,” “friends” and “love.” The Husbandman is at work caring for His planting! He is caring for His plants to get the best fruit. Fruit bearing is about increase: some thirty, some sixty, and some one hundred. The fruit of the Christian is more Chris- tians. See John 15:16, “That ye should go and bring forth fruit.” Cares, riches, and pleasures greatly hinder us in witnessing. The business of life occupies so much of our time that we cannot find time to seek the lost. The lost are not that far away and they are not that hard to find, but we are too busy. Nurturing souls in the truth re- quires much patience and time. Helping souls to become free from the entangle- ments of sin requires dedication that we seldom find in an affluent brotherhood. We may seem seriously religious. We may even appear worshipfully religious, but the fruit of our lives is not what God desires. Even though our lives bear the fruit of the Spirit — love, joy, and peace — we are not as evangelical as God would have us be. Cares, riches, and pleasures consume our time and energies and the fruit of our lives is not perfect. It is the Word that makes us fruitful. It is the Word that purges and cleanses. If our mind and heart are too occupied with cares, riches, and pleasures, the Word cannot be effective in our heart. God’s Word and will become the most important elements in our life if we will be fruitful. The Husbandman is very interested in His care of the Vine and the fruit. If we will be fruit- ful, we need to be aware of the care of the Husbandman in the experiences of life. When we are focused on the care and the will of the Husbandman, it frees our heart from any resentment against people or cir- cumstances. A proper response to life’s experiences make us evangelical and
of Christ and he sees the needs of others and devotes much time ministering to the needs of others. They go about doing good deeds for others. The perfection of our love is an ongoing process. God brings many different oppor- tunities to us to see if we will be “Good Samaritans” or if we will be a priest or a Levite! Some needy people are thankless people. Can we be like the Father who sends rain on the evil and the good? God is not unrighteous to forget your labor of love. Men forget, but God does not forget. It is much more important that God re- members and rewards us. Those choked by cares, riches, and pleasures do not have time to be involved with others. Fruitfulness is all about loving relationships that takes pa- tience. Patiently loving those around us even after we have discovered how human they are. They may even be a bit obnoxious but we keep on loving them and ministering to them. Hebrews 6:11-12 speaks of being dili- gent instead of being slothful in our patient ministrations of love. We con- tinue to trust God, Who promised to be with us in such ministrations. The hope of the fruitful one is the eternal reward that is secure to those who lay up their treasures in heaven. Those choked by the thorns of care and riches will often talk about how good God is and what a wonderful re- lationship they have with God. They are glad to be a part of a Scriptural church. They have this “oh so won- derful peace” since their sins have been washed away! They pass up the offering basket because they have too many needs of their own! They do very little for others because “they do not appreciate what I did for them some time ago.” Sometimes their life is like thorns and briars and no one can get close to them! They become quite critical of others, especially their leaders who try to wake them up to their needs. Christian perfection brings us to “the stature of the fullness of Christ.” No Christian is so full of Christ, so per- fectly Christ-like that he never needs refining. By keeping our mind focused on being Christ-like, we can surrender to every experience as being for our good. The process is often painful. The more humanity is in control of our
“And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they heard, go forth, and are chocked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” (Luke 8:14). This text speaks of a class of people that do not bring forth fruit unto perfection. This class of people probably makes up a large seg- ment of those that hear the Word. Cares, riches, and pleasures cause them to be unfruitful. We, in an affluent society, are probably all dealing with cares or riches, or pleas- ures and maybe we are dealing with all three. Life brings cares to us all and there is a way to handle cares, riches and pleas- ures in a way that will be fruitful. The next class of hearers shows us how to do it. “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” (Luke 8:15). There is no hypocrisy in this group. They are seri- ous and put to practice what they hear. This makes all the difference in a brother- hood. Are they obedient to what they hear or do they decide that what they hear is not all that important? This makes the way to heaven narrow and few find it. This message is a warning to us who live in an affluent, money-driven society. Without an honest and good heart, we will not bring forth fruit with patience. “With patience” is the key to bringing forth fruit unto perfec- tion. Jesus said; “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48). Paul’s farewell command to the Corinthians was “Be per- fect” (See 2 Corinthians 13:11). This per- fection is a maturing of Christian character: “Unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ!” (Ephesians 4:13). This perfecting of the saints is an ongoing process. It’s the work of the Spirit of God through the Church. “Bringing” and “unto” helps us un- derstand that it is a process. No one is per- fect at once like he desires to be. This perfection is a perfection of love and we grow in our love for God and His truth. As we walk with the Lord, He becomes more precious to us. As we grow in our love for God, others likewise become of more value to us. If we do not grow in our love for God, we will soon be on the broad road where cares, riches, pleasures, and self- love will dominate our life.
Made with FlippingBook Converter PDF to HTML5