“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” I Corinthians 12:27
We believers are the body of Christ whenever we meet. When we assemble, being all fleshy and worldly, the world will be exposed to a heavy dose of us. But if we meet in the fruit and power of the Spirit, then it is Christ’s BODY that will be seen.
“And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”
The ax can be laid to your roots at any time. How’s your fruit?
“Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it:” Lk. 13:7-8
For three years the keeper of the vineyard was watching for that fig tree to bear fruit. He was asking the lord of the vineyard to give him another year to work it to see if it would bear fruit. The hard-nosed religious keeper would have never given the tree three years. The carnal keeper would have cared less if there was any fruit. The doubtful keeper would not have expected any fruit and the greedy keeper would only want fruit to fill his own needs and desires. The keeper that is full of grace and truth is patient, he is willing to give more time, yet he does expect to soon receive a harvest of fruit. Are you full of grace and truth when you deal with your brethren?
“What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.” Mk. 12:9
Just think, when Jesus said that others would be given the vineyard, He was talking about you. God is trusting you, let Him receive the fruit from it.
“They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.” Mt. 21:41
This verse is the conclusion of a parable Jesus spoke. The parable starts at the 33rd verse if you wish to read the whole thing. If you do you will understand that Jesus is teaching thru this parable that the vineyard will be taken away from the Jews and will be given to the whosoever will which is known as the church (Jew and Gentile). The words I highlighted are great words of encouragement. Jesus is saying that His church, in every generation, will give back to Jesus fruit. Hallelujah! That means that if we are going to give back to Him fruit there will be a production of fruit. Let us be confident that we the church will produce fruit in our generation.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2Every 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.” Jn. 15:1-2
If you are good at gardening and you grow tomato plants then you understand that you have to cut off what they call “suckers.” These suckers suck the nutrients from the plant and soil that would otherwise go to the fruit. My first several years of growing tomato plants I did not prune them and remove those suckers. My plants would grow real tall and bushy. It took forever for my tomatoes to ripen. You could say they were all plant but not much fruit. So too, if we don’t allow God to prune us by abiding in the vine, then we will stand tall and proud, but produce very little fruit.
“And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. 20And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! 21Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.” Mt. 21:19-21
Jesus said that if we have faith we too could curse the fig tree and it would wither. Why would I want to curse a fig tree anyway? When you consider the fig tree represents Israel, which is a type of church, and the lack of figs signifies a lack of fruit, then we can understand that we can and should curse unfruitful religion. No loving Christian wants to curse anyone or anything, but considering the carnal state of much of the church, it seems few have risen up in our generation to curse the unfruitful religion we have. In fact it seems we may have more tree huggers than cursers.
“Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.” Mt. 12:33
There is a very strong delusion overcoming people today, it is that bible knowledge is evidence of salvation. However, the biblical standard prescribed by Jesus is that you know true believers by their fruit. Knowledge is not the evidence, fruit is.
