FRUIT BEARING
[p. 247] FRUIT BEARING
John 12: 20 - 24; Hosea 2: 23; 1: 10,11
It is laid on my mind, dear friends, on this occasion, to speak of fruitfulness. The idea, as you will all be aware appears early in Scripture; it appears on the third day of what we call the creation. There can be no doubt that the submerged condition of the earth occasioned its fruitfulness — layer upon layer being laid on into which God in time would give the impulse of life, so that the earth, as the Lord says in the gospels, should bear fruit of itself. There was the latent power of fruitfulness there, placed there divinely; it was placed there of God. It was not simply the outcome of natural causes, as men speak, for the actual life or fruitfulness that issues therefrom is directly from God. The creation was not some-thing let go from the divine hand to operate itself — such is not the divine way. God ever holds His hand over, and under, and about what He creates, so that as we read of a bare grain sown, “it may be of wheat, or some one of the rest: and God gives to it a body as he has pleased” 1 Corinthians 15: 37, 38.
The third day in Genesis 1 was marked by the earth emerging from its submerged condition — the dry land appeared; it came out fertile, it came out with latent life from God, so that it was to bring forth, as God said, “Let the earth cause grass to spring up, herb producing seed, fruit-trees yielding fruit after their kind, the seed of which is in them” Genesis 1: 11. The botanist may trace it to what he calls nature, or natural development or evolution; but Scripture connects it with God; as I remarked, the grain is placed in the earth, the power of life is in the earth, but God gives it a body. We see, therefore, that God is behind everything — even the [p. 248] very blade of grass, as the Lord says, “if God so clothe the herbage of the field” Matthew 6: 30.
There is a course that is called ‘nature’, which indeed is said to be a teacher in Scripture (1 Corinthians 11: 14), but God is behind that. It is not simply, as I said, that He commanded it and then let it work its way; He is in it. Thus the third day speaks particularly of fruitfulness and what the earth brought forth on that day — the grass, the herb producing seed and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed is in itself, after its kind. God would have things as He intended them; He never intended that things should be crossed; He would have the thing as it is, according to its kind. But all was His own design; there is neither a flower, nor a tree, nor even a blade of grass that has not issued forth thus from the divine thought.
So the Lord refers back to that day in this remarkable passage that I read, when He said: “Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it abides alone”. The earth itself had gone through that in figure, for everything in the divine way must come through death. The earth itself had been in death figuratively, so that in principle it was life out of death. All material things — that upon which men live every day, and depend upon for sustenance — are really the issue of life out of death. How few know it, how few admit it! But it is a fact. And so the Lord says, “Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die”. If the earth itself had to be submerged figuratively, how much more so man whose history Scripture records!
We read “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth;” He did not create the earth in a submerged condition, it became that, and if the material thing had thus to go down into death, I repeat, how much more so man? Certain Greeks had come up. They came up as Greeks, and said,
“We desire to see Jesus”. What thoughts must have arisen in His holy mind, beloved brethren, as the representatives of the Greek world came up! They belonged to the race of which He had become one; in wonderful condescension He had become a Man; they stood out as the most renowned branch of it.
One can understood how in His holy mind the history of the Greek world would come up; He knew it well. Could He regard them as suitable? Would their renown, their literature, their oratory add to Him? You can understand how all this would come into His mind, for He was a Man and as such stood related to them. He would extend His mind, extend it further and further afield, for there were men and men, the different families of the race; but here were the representatives of the most renowned family; would He recognise them as suited to God? Nicodemus had come earlier — the very best, religiously. One can understand too how the Lord would refer back to the history of those whom Nicodemus represented.
And now the Greeks come up. They represent the race — not religiously, but as the very best the race can produce from the standpoint of human wisdom, and learning, and literature — they stand out without a compeer in the minds of learned men at the present moment; the world never produced such men as those Greeks; their names fill the pages of history. Would the Lord take them up as such? Are they such as shall add to Him? Are they such as He can be head to? Let us hear Him speak. Are they the fruit that He had in mind? Do they represent what God had in His mind when He said to Adam and Eve, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 1: 28). Do they comport with the divine idea of a people for the earth? No, they did not. When Adam was formed, Christ was in the mind of God; Adam was but a figure of Him that was to come.
[p. 250] Even the posterity of Adam and Eve would not do.
And now we have the very One that was to come, the Son of man, and as these Greeks come up and desire to see Him He said, “The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified”. How glorified? Shall He find His glory in the Greek world? Shall He find it in the Latin world? Shall He find it if He looks eastward into the Semitic world? Shall He find it in Africa? All that came up in His mind. The hour had come that He should be glorified; but how glorified? What did the Greeks care for Jesus really? The very reproach of the cross in their account was but foolishness; the Lord knew that, and so He says, “Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die”.
What a scene! These ancient worthies, as they are called, set up alongside the precious name of Jesus! One recoils at the very mention of it — to set these men up alongside the peerless name of Jesus! He repudiates it; He says, “Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it abides alone”. Not one of them, however renowned, has a place with Him. How sweeping! But then the divine thought remains, and the earth is to be peopled, for of wisdom it is said, “My delights were with the sons of men” Proverbs 8: 31. The earth is to be peopled and so the Lord proposes to die.
Now, fruit depends on sowing. John does not give us the parables of our Lord in which He speaks of sowing, but he does give us this simple figure. It does not say that He was sown, for no one could sow Him. We may say He sowed Himself. The word is, “Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground”. It fell into the ground. God would always protect the personal glory of our Lord. He fell into the ground; it was not accidental, it was deliberate. It was as though, having taken a survey of the race, and knowing perfectly what marked it, He deliberately [p. 251] entered into the ground. Not only did He die, but He fell into the ground. He says to John later, “I am the first and the last, and the living one: and I became dead” Revelation 1: 17, 18. Think of it, dear brethren, He became dead!
He said, too, “Thus shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three nights” Matthew 12: 40. Was there ever such latent power of fertility in the earth before? Never. Not only now the grass, and herbs, and fruit trees, but a race springing out of it, a race according to God’s mind. It was the divine way. The divine way was that fruit should come out of the earth; He entered into it deliberately, hence, beloved, the fruit.
Notice with John the use of the word ‘much’. He says “much fruit”. John’s ministry refers to our own time, and it is an encouraging feature that you have ‘much’. Not only much as the result of Christ dying, but the fruit borne from every branch is to be much. “In this is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; and ye shall become disciples of mine” John 15: 8. And again, “Every branch in me not bearing fruit, he takes it away; and as to everyone bearing fruit, he purges it that it that it may bring forth more fruit” (John 15:2).
Well, that leads me to what I had particularly on my mind, and that is, the sowing of the saints. The saints are definitely sown. It is not a question with them of falling into the ground. In the parables of Matthew 13, the Lord speaks about two kinds of seed, the first is the word of the kingdom, and the second is the sons of the kingdom. I wanted particularly to speak about the latter, because it is a time of fruit-bearing. The testimony, the word of the kingdom, is to be preached, but what God is developing now, I believe, through the ministry of John, is the persons of the saints. They are the sons of the kingdom, and that is really how the dispensation began. God [p. 252] began with persons. Ere the Lord went to heaven He had prepared the persons, and having the persons the testimony went out; so that the one hundred and twenty refer to what was sown in the way of persons, and then their testimony was the word of the kingdom; the two things go together.
But I wish particularly to speak of the persons because God never intended that a testimony should be presented by those who are not the thing themselves. There was to be the fruit-tree bearing fruit whose seed is in itself. That was the divine idea, and so the Lord, as I said, first speaks in the parables in Matthew 13 of the word of the kingdom, and: it is most interesting to note in that connection that He sat down to present that (see verse 2). The sower sowed the seed upon different soils, but He sat down and spake. I understand by that that He was doing it deliberately, and I understand further that there is an allusion to His present position.
This dispensation was set up most deliberately, and it is maintained with the greatest deliberation and discrimination so that you have, first the Sower sitting down and sowing, and then you have the fishermen sitting down and selecting the good fish — discriminating. I mention that because God is looking for fruitfulness, but He expects in that connection the utmost deliberation and care so that the right seed is sown. I am speaking now of the word of the kingdom. There is much sown abroad, alas! that is not strictly the word of the kingdom; it may be partially so, but not strictly so, that is to say, it is not done with deliberation and discrimination.
But then there is, as I said, the seed, representing the sons of the kingdom, referred to in the second parable of Matthew 13, and that I think is what is so important and perhaps some of us have not thought of it. There were the sons of the kingdom represented by the wheat which the Son of man sowed in [p. 253] His field, and I understand that every one of us — every single believer, every true believer — is a son of the kingdom; that is, he is sown. It is not simply that I am a product of the testimony, but I am sown, you are sown, and alongside of us, the evil one sows his sons. I note the word ‘sons’, because it is a question of maturity, or full development. What God sows in this world in the way of persons are those who are developed spiritually and He intended that they should reproduce. I bring this before you, dear friends, because of its great importance. The divine intent is reproduction, and it is reproduction according to its kind; there is to be no admixture.
Now the enemy, as the Lord said, came and sowed tares. They were also persons, they were not principles. It is a mistake to make them principles, they are persons, and the enemy has developed them; and they are called his sons, the sons of the evil one. The wheat and the tares grow up together; such is the condition we find ourselves in, the sons of the kingdom, and the sons of the wicked one growing up together. The sons of the wicked one, alas! are reproducing; the world is being filled with them — pernicious teachers, persons who are produced by the enemy, as the Lord says, “An enemy has done this”. These men are all about us, beloved friends. But then what we are concerned about for the moment is the sons of the kingdom. God has set us here to bear fruit.
Now I turn to Hosea, because he develops this thought. The son born to the prophet, Jehovah said was to be called Jizreel, which, as many of you will be aware, means, ‘God soweth’. If you look through chapter 2 you will find that God calls out the remnant and teaches her under the figure of Jizreel, and says: “I will sow her unto me in the land”. The import of that is that God, having separated the remnant, intends in the last days that [p. 254] they shall reproduce; they may be numerically few but they will be fruitful. God will work with them in patience. He says “Therefore behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak to her heart. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope; and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth” (Hosea 2: 14, 15).
He teaches her to call Him husband: He sets her up in relationship with Himself and He makes a covenant for her with the beasts of the field, and with the fowl of the heavens. Then we read “And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith Jehovah, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; and the earth shall hear the corn and the new wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jizreel” (verses 21, 22). It is a question of fruitfulness — of sowing. God intends to sow her in the earth, in the land: He intends to sever her wholly from the nations that she has been under, to set her up in relationship with Himself and in relationship with heaven, and to furnish her, and then He sows her to Himself.
Thus in that way the Jewish remnant will be sown. “I will sow her”, He says, “unto me in the land”. And what a seed! They will be like Jesus, for no other seed will God sow. Then it says in the end of chapter 1: “Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea which cannot be measured or numbered”. Note how in keeping this is with John; how God intends to enlarge His people, to multiply His people through themselves! Christ is the great seed both in regard to them and in regard to the gentile world — all issue from the same grain of wheat which fell into the ground and died, but then every one that is the result of that is to continue to reproduce; so that the number of the children of Israel is to be as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered! Think of that result, dear [p. 255] brethren, and all on the principle of divine sowing He sows her unto Himself.
Well, now to come back to the application. God would increase us; He would increase us through ourselves, so to speak. You will understand that the Lord Jesus, the great seed that fell into the ground, is the source of all: there can be no fruit apart from Him, nor can any of us bear fruit apart from abiding in Him; nevertheless, God would have reproduction, not only by what I say, but by kind — what I am. Is it a mere accident that the apostle Paul refers to Timothy as his child? The truth is he was like Paul, he was of his kind. He could write to the Corinthians: “For this reason I have sent to you Timotheus, who is my beloved and faithful child ... who shall put you in mind of my ways as they are in Christ” (1 Corinthians 4: 17). Hence the importance of understanding what the original seed is — the fruit-tree, as it says, bearing fruit whose seed is in itself. I want you to understand what the original seed is; it is Christ, but as characterising the believer. Thus fruit is borne as others are affected by him. The seed is in itself, so that what is reproduced is really what is according to Christ, but it is like myself; hence the importance of being like Christ, beloved. What I reproduce is to be like myself; but that supposes that I am like Christ.
Look at the malformation all around us religiously, because those who present the testimony are not it; they are not like Christ. God uses the greatest care that the remnant should be separated, and that they should be set up in relation to Himself, and furnished in every way from Himself; and then it is said she is sown: “I will sow her unto me” He says. Mark that! How serious a question this raises, for every one of us!
If God has set me up here and has sown me in that way, am I reproducing? God would multiply us,
[p. 256] as I said, through ourselves. He would multiply His people through themselves. The one hundred and twenty at the beginning refer to a seed; they are the outcome, as you might say, immediately of the grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying. Take account of them; the Holy Spirit loves to dwell upon them. In Acts 1 the Spirit of God gives an account of their character — what they were — each one bearing his own distinctive feature. “The crowd of names who were together was about a hundred and twenty” (Acts 1: 15); one hundred and twenty varieties of life. These were together on the day of Pentecost as it was accomplishing, with one accord, in one place, and the Holy Spirit came and sat upon each of them. There was unity, but there was nevertheless distinction and individual recognition, for the Holy Spirit sat upon each of them. In that way each one of those one hundred and twenty persons was, as it were, sown unto God.
Now the first great addition to that number was by the testimony — by the word of the kingdom. Peter preached the word and three thousand souls were added. Thus, the first great result was by the preaching of the word of the kingdom; but later on we find them being edified and multiplied; Acts 9: 31. You must distinguish between being added to and being multiplied. God adds to us, but then there is the idea of multiplication, and that is through ourselves.
I beg of you to notice this distinction; first it says that the Lord added, and then later that they were multiplied. The two ideas are very different in meaning; the multiplication has reference to what we are ourselves, what God does through us, but it is not a question of preaching. In chapter 9 it is a question of what the saints were: they were edified and had the comfort of the Spirit and then they were multiplied; and that is what God is doing. There is the testimony, the word of the kingdom going forth, and the Lord adding as the result, but there is too [p. 257] the multiplication, and the multiplication, the reproduction is not only a question of preaching, otherwise it would all depend on preaching, but of what we are personally, hence the idea of multiplication refers to every single christian, whether there is gift or otherwise. Thus we see what a field is open to us — the word of the kingdom being sown, and the sons of the kingdom being sown.