Fruitfulness: Goal or Byproduct?

Fruitfulness: Goal or Byproduct?
Taken Up, Not Taken Away!
(Re-written on 2014-10-10, Miami, FL)
Passion for Fruitfulness
God has put within us from the very beginning, the desire to be fruitful. Paul made this his prayer for the Colossians: “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col 1:9-10). Peter gave this promise in his epistle: “For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:8).
In the Last Supper discourse with His disciples, John 13 to 17, Jesus had saved up for last some very important items to discuss. Much of what He shared with them was concerning the coming of the Holy Spirit – an epic event that would bring to birth the New Covenant, the initiation of the Church, and the preparation of the Bride of Christ. In this midst of these words, Jesus uses the illustration of the vine and branches and the importance of fruitfulness: “Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:8).
Focus on Fruitfulness
It’s interesting in Scriptures to see so many examples of men and women who were called to be fruitful, yet they were absolutely desolate and barren! Abraham and Sarah were barren even after God changed their names! Isaac’s wife was barren until Isaac entreated the Lord. Jacob’s wife, Rachel, was barren for quite some time. Samson was born to parents who were barren for a long time. John the Baptist was born to parents who were way past the age to have children! And on and on it goes…
A problem often exists, though, when man focuses on fruitfulness as the goal in life. For Jacob’s barren wife, Rachel, she was so desperate to have children that she almost became suicidal: “Give me children, or else I die!” (Gen 30:1). Sadly, Rachel did die with only the birth of her second child. Abraham and Sarah, became so desperate for children, that Sarah finally just said, “Here, try Hagar!” The result? Ishmael is that the enemy of Israel to this very day! [Note: Ishmael is recognized as an important prophet and patriarch of Islam. Ishmael is also recognized by Muslims as the ancestor of most of the prominent Arab tribes, and the forefather of Mohammad himself!] Wow, what a mistake Abraham made! All because Abraham’s focus was on the fruit! Now, to Abraham’s credit, he wasn’t completely off-base, because God had never actually specified that the seed had to be through Abraham’s wife, Sarah. (Had Abraham’s focus been on his relationship with God, God’s heart would have been easy to understand.) Nevertheless, right when Abraham was planning to proudly present Ishmael to God, God bursts his bubble of fatherly pride:

“And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call — her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless — her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her. Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and — shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee! And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him” (Gen 17:17-19).
This was a drastic redirection of perspective for Abraham. He realized that God would never permit any other source of fruitfulness apart from Himself. True fruitfulness could not be combined with any human, fleshly effort. Abraham had at first laughed at this in Gen 16:17… Sarah laughed when she first heard it in Gen 18:12… But when Isaac was born in Gen 21, it was God and all heaven that were doing the laughing! (Isaac = “laughter”). Interesting to note that Abraham had to “cast out” the bondwoman and her son, Ishmael, because Ishmael was mocking Isaac! Abraham’s focus had been transformed and even years later, when God tested Abraham’s true focus, by asking him to offer up Isaac on the altar, Abraham neither questioned nor delayed in doing exactly what God demanded: “And Abraham rose up early in the morning…” (Gen 22:3).
While it is true,“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Mat 7:20; 12:33; Luke　6:44), nevertheless, the focus must be upon a relationship and not the fruit! In the parable of the vine and branches, it is clear that Jesus’ focus is upon this key phrase: “Abide in Me”.
Taken Up, Not Taken Away
Now returning to the parable, there is something that truly has helped redirect my focus. John 15:2 had always challenged me. Up until recently, reading John 15:2 (“Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away…”) always caused me to tremble inside. With everything in me, I long to be fruitful for my Savior; but with that longing, I always find myself wondering if perhaps God just might decide that it is “Taking Away” time due to the lack of fruitfulness. The New International Version comes across far more judgmental, “He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit…” In fact many Bible commentaries group John 15:2 together with John 15:6 which states: “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned” (NASB). Cut off, dried up, thrown away and burned – Whew! How frightening is that!
Recently, while while browsing through Strong’s Concordance and Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon, I was totally shocked to discover that the words “take away” (“cut off” in NIV) is the Greek verb, “airo” which has the following meaning:
“to take up, to lift, to raise up, to elevate, to raise upwards from the ground, to bear, to take upon one’s self and carry what has been raised”
“Airo” is used in Matthew 11:29, “Take My yoke upon you…”; and in Matthew 4:6, “He shall give His angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Below are some of the places where the same word, “airo,” has been translated in this way:
Matthew 4:6, “He shall give His angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” — “en sus manos llevaron”
Matthew 11:29, “Take My yoke upon you…” — Tomad mi yugo sobre vosotros”
Matthew 16:24, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” — tome su cruz y sígame.
John 5:8, “Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” — Levántate, toma tu camilla y anda.
John 5:9, “…and took up his bed, and walked” — tomó su camilla y echó a andar.
John 5:10, “day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed” — y no te es permitido cargar tu camilla.
Acts 4:24 , “that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord” — unánimes alzaron la voz a Dios
Rev 10:5, “And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven” — levantó su mano derecha al cielo
 
It is a “taking up” – not a “taking away”! Suddenly, John 15:2 takes on an entirely new meaning! Rather than cutting off and throwing away a barren branch, our Heavenly Gardener and Vinedresser actually takes up this barren branch in His arms. Studying a bit more, I discovered that in a vineyard, it would be a rare occasion for the gardener to chop off a branch. Quite the contrary, when a branch does not appear to be bearing fruit, the concerned gardener will pick that branch up out of the dirt, clean it off, and water it. Then he will prop it up and fasten it in just the right position so that it can receive the full sunlight it needs to be able to bear fruit once again. How awesome is that!
Upon a closer view, I could now see a huge difference between John 15:2 and John 15:6. In verse two, Jesus says that the barren branch is “in Me”; but in verse six, Jesus says, “If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch…” The branch in verse six has disconnected itself and lost all vital connection to the vine. It has no more life. It is withered, dried up, and consequently only good for one thing: fuel for a fire!
The Choice Vine (Israel) produces ‘Stink Berries’!
It is verse six that happened with the Israelites. They were definitely not barren or unfruitful! Their problem is that they did not “abide” — “Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith…” (Rom 11:20). [Note: “And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in:for God is able to graft them in again!” – Rom 11:23] The Psalmist tells this story about Israel’s Vine and Planting:
“Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt:thou hast cast out the heathen, and planted it.
Thou preparedst room before it, and didst cause it to take deep root, and it filled the land.
The hills were covered with the shadow of it, and the boughs thereof were like the goodly cedars.
She sent out her boughs unto the sea, and her branches unto the river.
Why hast thou then broken down her hedges, so that all they which pass by the way do pluck her? (Psalm 80:8-12)
Isaiah sings a song that gives us a clue as to what really took place:
“Now will I sing to my well- beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well- beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein:and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes” (Isaiah　5:1-2)
Interestingly, the term “wild grapes” is also translated as “sour grapes”. The actual words in the Hebrew language is “stinkberries”!!
So what happened to Israel? They were a “choice vine” and “wholly a right seed” (Jer 2:21-22), when God brought them out of Egypt. God’s original purpose was state once they came to Mount Sinai:
Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep — my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. (Exo 19:5-6).
The key phrase for this covenant God was making with Israel is, “Hear my voice!” So many Christians just assume that God’s purpose was to give written laws to Israel. No!! The Ten Commandments were SPOKEN from the mountain! God wanted them to hear His voice, not read about it in a book! BUT—the people went backwards instead of forward. They told Moses to go up, because they did not want to hear God speaking out loud any more – “we’ll die” – it was too much for them! They told Moses, “Just tell us what God wants us to do, and we will do it. They made the terms for the covenant and it was based on their ability to obey. Where did that take them? “Stink Berries”! With all they knew (or thought they knew) about God, they were the ones who crucified the very Word of Life who came to save us!
A New Marriage Covenant
The New Covenant, which Jesus was teaching His disciples about during that last night before His crucifixion, was based upon something entirely different. It was a covenant based on exactly what God has always intended – a relationship with Him and hearing His voice! A Covenant is a marriage relationship (not a contract which has conditions!). Romans 7 describes this marriage relationship and how we enter into it.
First of all, we are born into this old covenant bondage which Paul refers to as the “law of sin and death”. As with all covenants, it is “till death do we part” – so the only way we could ever be released from that covenant is if one of the spouses dies! Well our “husband” will NEVER die, so that only leaves one possibility: We must die! This is what Jesus came to do. He came and died in our place, was buried, and resurrected. When we come to Christ as a sinner, bound as in marriage by the law of sin and death, we are united with Jesus in death and then, through water baptism, we are united in his burial so that by the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, we can be united raised with him. The Old Covenant is broken and we are now free to marry Christ:
“Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”
We could say that when we first come to Christ, we are hearing Him propose to us. In Water Baptism, we are responding with our “Yes, I do!” Then in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, we receive that downpayment or “wedding ring” of covenant. Oh, and by the way, perhaps we can refer to speaking in tongues as, our intimate “marriage language”!
Grafted In
One more truth really causes this new perspective on John 15:2 to be appreciated much, much more: We are not originally grown from this vine! We have been adopted! We have been transplanted! We have been grafted in!
“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree [olivo silvestre], wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree” (Rom 11:17).
To begin grafting, both vine and branch must be cut skillfully and deeply enough to allow the branch to be inserted snugly into the vine while the sap is still flowing. The surgical procedure of being grafted into Christ, the True Vine, is a process that was extremely costly for our Heavenly Gardener. The kind of cut required and inflicted upon the Vine was extremely deep – all because of our depraved state! Isaiah tells us: “He was wounded for our transgressions…Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him…” (Isaiah 53:5,10) What a wonderful Savior!
When we come to Christ, the Holy Spirit uses the sharp two-edged sword of the Word to work skillfully upon us so that we can be perfectly inserted into this wounded Vine. Paul used this expression:“I am crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20). We are crucified with Christ, buried with Him in water baptism, and then raised up to walk in “newness of life” (see Rom 6:3-4; Col. 2:12) by the “glory of the Father” in the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Once the branch is grafted into the vine, it needs to be bound tightly there until the life of the vine heals the wound and unites the branch to itself. This begins the “abiding” that Jesus spoke about. Now here is an important truth we must understand: Scripture says that we are a wild branch plucked from a wild plant and “grafted contrary to nature” (Rom　11:17-24). Therefore, being originally of totally foreign and incompatible composition (see Rom 5:10; Eph 2:1-3; Col 1:21), there is no way that we could ever adapt ourselves to the divine DNA of the True Vine. No gardener would ever consider grafting two totally incompatible plants; but our Gardener is no ordinary gardener! He promised that if we “abide” in Him, we would bear fruit. This ability to “abide” in the Vine is certainly nothing we can learn on our own. Due to this absolute incompatibility, it takes a supernatural ability to “abide” – one which only the Holy Spirit can teach. This is exactly what John tells us in his epistle:
“As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. Now, little children, abide in Him…”
(1 John 2:27-28 NASB)
The “Abiding” Life
Throughout John chapters 14, 15, and 16, Jesus explains to those eleven disciples about the important work of the Holy Spirit. He tells them that the Holy Spirit would soon take up residence in their lives and they would enter into an new kind of life – an “abiding life” – a life within a life:
“At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you” (John 14:17,20).
This is precisely why Christ commanded the disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received the “Promise of the Father” (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4-5) referring to the Baptism in the Holy Spirit which they experienced on “that day” of Pentecost (Acts　2:1-4). Peter’s explanation of “that day” was: “This Jesus hath God raised up…Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear” (Acts 2:32-33).
This is a kind of teaching that no human, no pastor, no church, no other earthly organization could ever possibly teach us. Unfortunately, as humans so accustomed to living under the Old Covenant “tell-me-what-to-do-and-we-will-do-it”, churches and ministries that lose the presence of God and the anointing, so easily fall back into Old Covenant work. Pastors burn out trying to “teach” and “train” members of their church, only to find that there is more of the old nature left manifested than ever! Rules, regulations, program after program, struggles to produce “fruit”. But what is the end result? Stink Berries!
The Holy Spirit is called the “Comforter,” “Helper,” “Standby,” “One Called Alongside To Help,” which is what “Paracletos” (the Greek word) actually means. The Holy Spirit is the “anointing” which teaches us all things!
“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you:and I will take away — the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put — my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in — my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them” (Eze 36:26-27).
“But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put — my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man — his neighbor, and every man — his brother, saying, Know — the Lord:for they shall all know — me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord” (Jer 31:33-34).
“…but thine eyes shall see — thy teachers: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:20-21).
…Spiritual maturity has nothing to do with years or dates. It is all about growth in relationship.
…Living by EVERY WORD that proceeds out of the mouth of God! (Not out of a book!)
God doesn’t want to just “change” us … He wants a total EXCHANGE!
The “Implanted” Word (James 1:21
Water into Wine! – John 2:21
(1) A Transformation!
(2) Had to do with a wedding – First thing on Jesus’ mind (Gen to Rev – WEDDING!)
Some Final Promises
When we reflect upon the cost and complexity of process that our Heavenly Gardener undertook in order to graft us into the Vine, how could anyone come to the conclusion that He could so quickly dispose of a branch upon which He has lavished so much tender love? The unfruitful branch may truly deserve to be cut off, thrown away, and cast into the fire; but for any branch at least showing willingness to abide, our loving and patient Heavenly Father will surely persist in doing everything possible to ensure that this branch, regardless of its barrenness, is tenderly cared for until it is so united with the Vine that it produces fruit unto maturity! And not only the Gardener, but the Vine Himself, “ever liveth to make intercession” in order to be “able also to save them to the uttermost” (Heb 7:25).
As we long and yearn to glorify God by yielding fruit unto maturity, what a comforting and encouraging revelation this truly becomes! Listen to how Isaiah describes the Lord’s loving care of His vine:
“In that day sing ye unto her, A vineyard of red wine. I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day”
(Isaiah 27:2-3).
Looking out upon our branch, it is so easy to become discouraged by areas of unfruitfulness. And to make things worse, the devil, the accuser of the brethren, is quick to remind us by pointing a gnarly finger at what we perceive to be barren areas on our branch! Nevertheless, let’s no longer concern ourselves with fruit, but rather with our loving and supernatural union with Jesus, our Vine, our Divine Source! Let’s choose not to focus on the lack of our ability, but rather upon the abundance of provision and tender loving care our Heavenly Gardener is taking “every moment” to ensure that even in our “old age” we will be “full of sap and very green,” bringing forth mature fruit all for His glory!
“Planted in the house of the Lord, They will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still yield fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and very green, to declare that the Lord is righteous…” (Psalm 92:13-15)