Date: June 29, 2025
Series: Fruit bearing
Last week, we began to look at ‘Fruit bearing in Christianity’. And I began to show us from scriptures that God wants those of us who are his children to bear fruit. We have reasons, of course, that He wants us to bear fruit, which are:
1. He chose and appointed us to bear fruit. We were recreated, chosen and recreated by Him to bear fruit.
2. We have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that puts us in a position where we can bear fruit.
3. It brings God’s glory when we bear fruit.I want you to take those three things and put them in your heart. I don’t want you to forget them.
Maybe you should say these things after me: God wants us to bear fruit because He has chosen us and appointed us to bear fruit. That’s one. Two, He wants us to bear fruit because we have a relationship with Him that puts us in that position where we can bear fruit. Three, it brings Him glory when we bear fruit. Put those three things in mind.Now we rounded off by speaking about the nature of fruit that we are meant to bear. God indeed wants us to bear fruit. But what sort of fruit does He want us to bear?
Jesus, speaking to us in St. John’s Gospel Chapter 15, tells us that God wants us to bear fruit. But we need to know what sort of fruit He wants us to bear.I gave us a suggestion. I said there are preachers who believe that when Jesus says that He has chosen and appointed us to bring forth fruit, it means that we should go out and begin to preach the good news. For them, it is as we bring souls into the kingdom of God that we are bearing fruit.
While that sounds good, it is not an explanation for what Jesus says. It is not even consistent with the body of truth that we are given in Scriptures about bearing fruit.See, it is not only in St. John’s Gospel Chapter 15 that we are told something about bringing forth fruit. There are other passages of Scriptures in which we are shown that God is expecting us to bear fruit. And we are also given instructions on the nature of fruit He wants us to bear. So, before we proceed on how to bear fruit, we need to know the nature of fruit God expects us to bear. We need to know God’s expectations.
What is God expecting of us? We need to know what sort of demands God is placing on us. Yes, we have come into a relationship with Him. But we do need to know what He expects of us.Because this is often the problem with those of us who are Christians. We are, for the most part ignorant, of what God expects of us. How does God expect us to behave? How does He expect us to function? What are the things He wants us to be doing? It’s not just about talking about living to please God. It’s so easy to talk about living to please God. It’s so easy to tell somebody, “Don’t you know you ought to be living to please God?”
But how do I live to please God? What will I be doing that will make him able to say that I am pleasing God? Jesus says, “The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” (John 8:29NIV)
This is coming from Jesus: The one who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him. My emphasis is on ‘always’. He’s not just telling us that He does what pleases God. He also tells us the frequency. He says, “I always do what pleases Him.”Now I’ve asked myself if I too can say that. I love to say that. I want to say that.
I’m not sure I can say that at the moment, but I’m aiming for it. I want to get to a point in my walk with God that I will be able to say, “I always do what pleases you.” I want to be able to tell Him that you know that I always do what pleases you. He [Jesus} wasn’t guessing. There was no doubt about it. He knew that He always pleased God. Interestingly, God said the same thing about Him. God said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” That means God agreed with him that He always did what pleased him.
Now how many Christians know whether they are pleasing God or not? Can you tell if the life you are living now is pleasing God? Can you tell if the things you are doing right now are pleasing God? Is it even on your heart to please Him? It is said in Scriptures about Enoch that he had this testimony that he pleased God. Enoch had this testimony that he pleased God. The man knew that he pleased God. That must have been because he knew God’s demands. He knew what God expected of him. And we too, as believers, need to know what God expects of us. We need to know how He expects us to live. We need to know how he expects us to function. So, (Cf. Hebrews 11:5)
Well, we are talking about fruit bearing and are saying that we need to know what sort of fruit God expects us to bear. And I’m saying that it has nothing to do with soul-winning or evangelizing our world. Nothing is wrong with soul-winning. Nothing is wrong with evangelizing our world. There are scriptures that point to the fact that God wants us to be reaching out with His word to those in our world. But ultimately, the results are determined by Him.
We do our bit in preaching the word of God, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. But the one who determines the results is God, not human beings. And so, when Jesus is talking about fruit bearing, He’s not dealing with preaching the good news. It’s possible for you to be preaching the good news and not be bearing the kind of fruit God wants to be here. It is possible.
Yes, as I pointed out already, since we have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, we are put in that position where we can bear fruit. He describes that relationship as that between a vine and its branches. It follows, then, that the sort of fruit He wants us to bear is that which is consistent with His own character.
He is the vine. We are the branches, as He puts it in St. John’s Gospel chapter 15. That being the case, the kind of fruit He expects us to bear is that which is associated with who He is, that which is associated with His character. I need to give us some scriptures. Let me start with Isaiah chapter 5. From verse 1, it says:“I will sing. I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard. My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile east side. He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? Now I will tell you what I’m going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its edge, and it will be destroyed. I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated. And briers and thorns will grow there. I will command the clouds not to rain on it.
The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in. And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed, for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.” (Isaiah 5:1-7NIV)
Now this is a passage talking about fruit bearing. It speaks of the vineyard of Isaiah’s beloved and all the things that his beloved did to take care of the vineyard.
Unfortunately, though he was looking for good fruits from the trees there, what was he getting? Bad fruits!Now, in explaining or in talking about what the vineyard and the fruits that it was bearing mean, what does he say? He refers to the vineyard as people, right? Then, in talking about the fruit, he refers to the fruit as character. He says, “I am looking for justice. But what do I see? Bloodshed! I am looking for righteousness. But what do I see? Cries of distress””So, here, when the Lord is talking about fruit bearing, it has to do with people’s conduct; it has to do with people’s character.
And as I give us some other passages of scriptures where fruit bearing is mentioned, you will see that they are consistent. Or let me say that Scriptures consistently point out that when God is speaking about fruit bearing, He’s talking about godly character; He’s talking about people’s character.
Let’s also look at St. Luke’s Gospel, Chapter 3. As a background, John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ, came and began to preach, calling people back to God. Here are some of the things said by Luke about his ministry: “John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Luke 3:7-9NIV)
Now, in preaching to the people, what did John the Baptist say? He said produce fruit in keeping with repentance. In other words, if you are coming to God, you must bring up fruit that shows that you have actually turned to God. If you call yourself a child of God, you must bring forth fruit that will show those of the world that you are indeed a child of God.If you stand before an orange tree, you don’t need to ask that tree, “Are you an orange tree or something else?” What do you need to look out for? The fruit! Jesus says a tree is recognized by its fruit.
So, if I am a child of God, I will be recognized by my fruit.And remember, in St. Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 7, speaking about false prophets, Jesus says, “By their fruit, you will recognize them.” He does not say by their preaching. He does not say by their sermons. Now we don’t recognize people as children of God through their sermons.
Yes, their sermons may give us the impression that they are children of God. But that’s not the true test. If you want to know whether someone is of God or not, you are not going to be looking at the person’s sermons.
Also, you are not going to be looking at the person’s gifts. Someone may prophesy, and the prophecy will come to pass. Now you may, on account of that, mistake that person for a child of God. But the person may not be a child of God. Someone may be working miracles. And you may mistake that person for a child of God. But the person may not be a child of God. That is because even Satan can work miracles. Satan can prophesy. (Cf. 2Thessalonians 2:9)
By the way, sometimes God can borrow people to prophesy. God can use a non-believer to prophesy to you. And the unbeliever may not even know that he is prophesying. John, speaking about one of the high priests of the time of our Lord Jesus Christ, said the man prophesied. The man said, “Is it not better for one person to die for the entire country than for the whole country to perish?” And John said that he was unconsciously prophesying when he said that.
And those listening did not even know he was prophesying. But he was prophesying about the death of Jesus Christ, how He would die to save the Jews and all mankind. Interestingly, the man himself did not even know they were prophesying. So, what happened was that God borrowed his mouth for a while and used it to prophesy. (Cf. John 11:49-52)
The point is that God can borrow people and use them to do something spiritual for a while. It does not mean that they belong to him. At least Jesus speaks about those who will come to Him on the day of judgment and say, “Did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not heal the sick in your name?” Yet He will say to them, “I do not know you.” (Cf. Matthew 7:21-23)
But how can somebody prophesy in the name of Jesus and He will still tell them, “I do not know you?” And how will someone heal the sick in the name of Jesus and yet Jesus will tell the person, “I do not know you?” Do you think Jesus will not say to Judas Iscariot, “I do not know you?” Hello? Hello? Is somebody with me?Judas Iscariot lived with Jesus. He traveled with Jesus. He slept with Jesus. He ate with Jesus. He managed Jesus’ money.
Not only that, Jesus entrusted Judas with authority to preach the good news, to heal the sick, to drive out demons. And Judas wasn’t just entrusted with that authority, he used it. He went out with others and preached the good news. He went out with others and healed the sick. He went out with others and drove out demons.
Yet the Lord referred to him as the son of perdition, right?So, guess what? With my own sanctified imagination, I am considering the fact that on the day of judgment Judas will face Jesus and say, “Lord, we did all these things together.
Do you really mean that you’re sending me to hell?” Have you ever thought about that? Do you think Judas will not try to appeal to Jesus on the basis of their relationship? Would he not say, “You called me. You chose me. Remember, I managed your money. Yes, I messed up, but are you saying that all those things that we did together did not mean anything to you?”
So, bearing fruit is not about being a good preacher. It’s not about having certain spiritual gifts or healing gifts or gifts of prophecy or gifts of speaking in diverse tongues and all of that. No. It has to do with bringing forth godly character. Now what we are dealing with is a relationship. If indeed He is the vine and we are His branches, and indeed He is the vine and we are His branches, then if we are going to bring forth fruit, the fruit we will bring forth should reflect His character, not something else.
And so, here in Luke 3, John the Baptist is saying, “Don’t just say that you are turning to God. You also need to bring forth fruit that is in keeping with repentance.” Why? As he points out, the axe is already at the root of the trees. And every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
Personally, I love the way the people responded to John the Baptist. They did not assume that they understood what he was saying. Yes, he was speaking to them about bringing forth fruit. He said, “You need to bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance.” But they would not assume that they understood what he was talking about. So, they asked him, “What should we do then?” (Cf. Luke 3:10)
Now look at his response. He did not tell them to go and start preaching the good news. He did not tell them to go out and start winning the unbelievers and the pagans around them. What did he tell them? Look at it: “John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” (Luke 3:11NIV)
What is that? Goodness! If you belong to God, you bring forth the fruit of goodness; you bring forth the fruit of love. The one who has two shirts should give one to the one who does not have any, that is, if you have two. You can’t give what you don’t have. Since you have two, you can give one. John doesn’t say the one who has one should give to the one who doesn’t have any.
Instead, he says the one who has two should give one to the one who has none. That is goodness. That is a manifestation of love.Luke goes on in the next verse, saying, “Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them.” (Luke 3:12NIV)
What is he talking about? Character! Don’t extort the people. That’s what he’s saying.So, you know, when we’re talking about fruit bearing, it has to do with character, godly character. It’s not about speaking in tongues, for instance. People would not know you as belonging to God just because you speak in tongues or just because you prophesy or because you know how to pray heavens down or because you keep your bible on your desk in your office.
If you walk to any office today and see somebody with a bible on his desk, how would you feel? I mean, naturally you should feel comfortable that I’m dealing with a Christian here. So, things should be easy. But from experience, some of us have not made things easy for those who come to us for help.
To say the fact, sometimes, when you meet those who appear to be Christians, you probably will just begin to think that you’re in for trouble. But should it be like that? No! John says, “Don’t take any more than you are required to.” This has to do with character. Don’t cheat people. Don’t oppress people. That is what he is saying.
Luke goes on in verse 14, saying, “Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”” Look at the classes of people coming to him. None of them assumed that they knew what he was talking about. Each one of them wanted to know God’s demands on their lives. You understand? What should we do? What was his answer? Look at it: “He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely – be content with your pay.”” (Luke 3:14NIV)
Did you see that? Be content with your pay. What does this have to do with? It has to do with character. So, when we’re talking about bringing forth fruit, we’re talking about exhibiting godly character where we live, where we work. It’s not about talking. Yes, there’s a place of talking about Jesus. But before we’re going to be getting opportunities to talk about Jesus, there must be something that will invite people to want to know about Him, something that will want people to want to know about him.
Writing to Titus, Paul says we can make Christianity attractive. And just as we can make Christianity attractive, we can also make Christianity unappealing. Then nobody wants to hear our sermons. Whether they are going to make sense or not, they don’t even want to hear them. Because the life we are living is not appealing. What will make the life we are living appealing is our exhibition of the character of God. (Cf. Titus 2:9-10)
So, for us as believers, we must always place great emphasis on an exhibition of godly character. It’s not enough to be born again. Being born again is just, how would I put it, a means to an end. That’s the starting point. Now the idea of saying, “Oh, I’m a Christian in the heart. God sees my heart,” doesn’t work with Christianity. If what is in your heart is good, then, it will reflect in your character. If you indeed have a relationship with the Lord, then, it will reflect in the fruit that you bear.
I ask myself, “If I have a relationship with Him indeed, it should show in the fruit that I bear. It should show in the quality of life that I live. It should show in the way I talk, in the way I behave, in the way I act. It should show.” People didn’t come to Jesus just because His sermons were great. People came to Him because His character was good too. People were glad to be around Him. Look at those people that followed Him up and down, those old men and women – they were not young like that.
Why did they follow Him like that? There’s something about His character.What is it about your character? Is it appealing? Is your character appealing? Is your way of life appealing? Is your way of life attractive to those that are around you? The way you talk, is there anybody that would like to talk the way you talk? The way you react to things, is there anybody around you that would like to react to things the way you react to things? The way you conduct yourself among people, is there anybody around you that would love to do the same? Is there anybody admiring your life? That’s the point.
If no one is admiring your life, then something is wrong. What are we dealing with? We are dealing with fruit bearing. And we are talking about the nature of fruit that God wants us to bear.
Why? We have that relationship with Him. And if indeed we have that relationship with Him, then, it should show in the quality of fruit, the nature of fruits that we bear.It’s another week. What sort of fruit are you going to bear this week where you live, where you work, where you do business, where you..