Fruit

 FAITH AND BELIEVING IN THE LAST DAYS

Chapter 3

Fruit

Let’s go back to the beginning and take a look at the temptation of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"

2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

3 "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' "

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.

5 "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

The temptation is two fold.

The first is found in verse one.

The serpent got Eve to start questioning Gods purpose, word, will and guidance.

WHY WOULD GOD TELL YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM THIS TREE? WHAT’S SO BAD ABOUT THIS TREE?

Now we come to the second part of the temptation.

Look at verse 6.

The tree offered but one single attraction.

Not three, but one.

Its fruit.

It was the FRUIT of the tree that appealed to Eve.

It was the FRUIT of the tree that Eve perceived as…

1. Good for food.

2. Pleasant to the eyes.

3. Desirable to make one wise.

It was the fruit of the tree that Eve was tempted to eat.

Listen to what Jesus has to say about fruit in Matthew 7

Matthew 7:15 Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

Sheep are soooo cute.-they are pleasant to the eyes.

Lamb taste soooo good.-it is good for food.

Learn the lessons of the sheep and the shepherd.-it can make one wise.

BUT

some acting as sheep are actually ravenous wolves!

So how can you tell which sheep are sheep and which sheep are wolves?

16 You will know them by their fruits.

This means that you will know who a person is by their fruits.

Fruits being that which originates or comes from something.

Ok, in verse 16 the question is, who is them?

In other words, whose fruit are we to know who by?

Whose fruit are we to examine?

Is it the sheep’s fruit or the wolves’ fruit?

Well, using “them” indicates both the sheep and the wolves’.

Just a little note here, don’t you ever wonder about those Christians who quote Matthew 7:1?

1 "Judge not, that you be not judged.

We are not to judge ones heart in respect to their present salvation, or even their chance of being saved in the future.

 But we are obviously to be fruit inspectors.

Let’s read on…

17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.

Here’s where we Christians have a problem.

We tend to look for bad fruit in order to know what fruit is good.

How are we supposed to know the sheep from the wolves, the good fruit from the bad fruit?

After all, Adam and Eve were fooled by the good looking forbidden fruit weren’t they?

The answer is found in verse 21.

21 Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

We discern the good fruit from the bad fruit, the godly from the ungodly, the right from the wrong, and the wolves from the sheep by the fruit of obedience.

Obedience is defined as a behavior intended to please,

Compliance with that which is required by authority;

Subjection to rightful restraint or control.

Now ask yourself, are you are obedient?

Obedience implies not just submission or compliance; it implies that you have placed yourself under the power, control and authority of another.

This act of freely setting aside your own will creates a dependant relationship. You are now depending on God to not only direct your path and actions in life, but you are also depending on God to empower you to live an obedient life. When you give your heart and life to God you are turning yourself into a slave of God. God owns you. You are Gods possession.

You give your heart to God meaning your inner man, your mind and your will.

 You give your life to God meaning your flesh, your ambitions, your future, your very purpose for living is placed in Gods hands.

Yet, obedience for the Christian is a continual act of free will.

Every day you get to choose to obey or to not obey.

Understand right now that obedience to Christ has nothing to do with salvation.

Salvation is the free gift from God.

It does not come from obedience to Christ, but through faith in the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. Just like baptism does not have the power of salvation, obedience does not have the power of salvation. It is the blood of Christ that washes us clean that saves us. Baptism and obedience are both evidences, fruit of our salvation.

1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,

10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

11 And such were some of you.

But you were washed,

but you were sanctified,

but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus

and by the Spirit of our God.

12 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.

You were washed, you were sanctified, and you were justified.

And it was accomplished and finished in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. (Notice that it is NOT by our obedience)

Obedience is a fruit born from loving God.

Obedience divides the wolves from the sheep, the authentic from the counterfeit.

Remember, you are slaves of whom you obey.

Romans 6:16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?

17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.

Obedience is not easily performed; actually it can be quite difficult. Since our obedience is not something that God takes from us, but it is something that we freely give to God, we need to have a reason; we need to have a purpose, for our obedience.

Take a look at what John says in 1 John 2:15-19

1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-is not of the Father but is of the world.

17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.

19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

Our love will not and can not accomplish Gods will.

Our love is worldly and our love is selfish.

It is only Gods love and Christ’s obedience to God that saves us.

Actually our love is not only displayed through our obedience, but our love is also displayed by our not loving a fallen world and the fallen things it contains and offers.

Now wait a minute, don’t get bent out of shape here.

It was God who so loved the world that He gave His only Son… and that was for the purpose of saving the people in the world, from sin and its impending destruction.

God is real and eternal, this world, is not.

Only earths inhabitants are eternal. And where you spend your eternity should be one of your most consuming thoughts.