The Holy Spirit (44)
By Abraham Eli
This study was first taught on September 3, 2013
Topic: The Essence of the Holy Spirit in Our Lives (7.4): The Progression in Fruit-Bearing (1)
(use the audio to study)
Background
Last week, we saw how that the Lord’s fruitfulness in His own earthly life and ministry, and His accomplishment of the Father’s purpose, was essentially due to His abiding in the Father, and the Father likewise in Him. We saw that in spite of the measureless anointing that was upon Him, it was really the maintenance of the vital union between Him and the Father, that made His life and ministry very fruitful, so much so, that He continues to bear fruit, even to this day. We saw that the Lord did not allow the pressure of ministry overtake His fellowship with His Father, neither did He let the persuasion of men overwhelm His delight to do the will of His Father, nor did He succumb to the power or influence of money and fame to overshadow His primary purpose of glorifying the Father. Indeed, everything that the Lord Jesus did in His earthly ministry, was as it was written of Him; regardless of whether or not it was pleasing to Him!
In like manner, if we are to fulfill our own mandate of fruit-bearing, we also must not let the pressure of ministry, the persuasion of men, and, the power or lure of money and fame, overtake our fellowship with the Lord, overwhelm our delight to do His will, and overshadow our primary purpose of bringing glory to the Father, and to His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We must ensure that the vital union between us and the Lord Jesus is never detached or broken, as we maintain constant fellowship with Him; get to know Him more intimately daily; get to know what is written about us in the word of God; and, take our instructions and directions from the Holy Spirit, no matter how unpleasant it is to the flesh! We must also understand that the anointing of the Holy Spirit is not given for personal aggrandizement, gain, or fame, but for the accomplishment of the purpose of God, in bringing Him glory; and it does not guarantee fruitfulness without the vital union!
Scripture Text(s)
John 15:1-8, 16
Tonight, we shall begin to look at the progression that the believer in Christ must make in order to fulfil the purpose of bringing glory to God, by bringing forth much fruit! We pray that the Holy Spirit will help us make the necessary progress which we ought to make in fruit-bearing, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Our scripture text reveals the progression of fruit-bearing for the believer in Christ, and the basis for the progression. We see that the believer in Christ, if he truly is in Christ, will, from the beginning of his walk with the Lord, bear some fruit; then, he must progress to bearing more fruit; and must again progress further to bear much fruit; and finally, progress to the ultimate of bearing abiding fruit. We shall be looking at the basis for each progression over the next few weeks, as we brace ourselves to bear abiding fruit. Tonight, we begin by looking at the basis of bearing some fruit, and the consequence of not bearing fruit at all.
2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 John 3:6-9; Romans 12:2; Matthew 3:7-10; 5:13-16; 1 Peter 2:9; Matthew 25:14-30; 13:19-23; Galatians 5:16-23, 24; Acts 2:41-42, 46; Hebrews 10:25; 1 Peter 2:1-3; Luke 13:6-9; Hebrews 6:4-8; Matthew 21:19; Judges 13:1—16:21, 22-30.
Conclusion
As we begin to look at the progression in fruit-bearing for the believer in Christ, one thing is clear: if you truly are in Christ, you will, from the beginning, bear some fruit—they may not be much, but there will be some fruit in your life. Being in Christ means that you are a new creature—distinct from the people of the world—old things are passed away, and all things have become new! You cannot therefore, knowingly commit sin or continue to live in sin, and neither can you be conformed to this world, since you are being changed into the image of Christ, nor can you as a result, be unfruitful! If, therefore, we find people who claim to be in Christ being unfruitful, it must be that they have an unbroken spirit, they are deceptive or hypocrites, or, they are still very much carnal or worldly in their spirit. An unfruitful Christian, which really is a misnomer, is a person who has refused to yield to the Holy Spirit; and who insists on gratifying the desire of the old Adamic nature, which leads to sinful living.
No matter how little, you ought to be bearing some fruit if you truly are in Christ. For instance, you ought to show, by your character and conduct, the fruit of the Spirit to some extent; you should be receiving answers to your prayers, meaning that you should be praying constantly; you ought to be telling people about the Lord Jesus—the Messiah who died to save them from sin, sinful living, and its consequences; you ought to be reading the bible regularly, and should be able to memorize and recite scriptures; you should find attending bible study as well as worship services a joy to your spirit, even if your flesh does not agree with the new regimen; you should be receiving the doctrines of the word of God being taught you without debate, and you should be putting what you have been taught to practice immediately. The appearance of these few fruit will form the basis of your progression to the next level of fruit-bearing—bearing more fruit.
To deal with unfruitfulness in the life of a believer, what is feeding the Adamic nature must be destroyed and this is done by crucifying the flesh and its affections and desires. The Holy Spirit, our Paraclete (Helper, Comforter, Counselor, Guide, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), has been given to every ‘new creature’ (believer in Christ), to be with him, and in him, for the very purpose of ensuring that he is fruitful, by annihilating the flesh. It is only as the believer yields to the Holy Spirit totally, that this early beginnings of fruit-bearing can occur. Failure to yield to the Holy Spirit can have disastrous consequences, as Samson found out. Like every ‘new creature’, Samson was brought forth to fulfill a divine purpose, but he allowed his own will to over-ride God’s purpose for his life. It was a sad day for Samson, when the Holy Spirit left him; for he had become a “branch” that wouldn’t produce fruit, even though he was in the “Vine”. The good news though, is that Samson repented, albeit, somewhat late. We have the opportunity not to leave things until late tonight, so we ought to go to the Lord in genuine repentance, and make amends henceforth, to allow the Holy Spirit have His way in our lives.
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