In coming TO CHRIST JESUS, our LORD and SAVIOUR, we HAVE died TO the world WITH HIM, and ARE NOW SPIRIT!!!
THE SPIRIT ALTERS the natural person into the SPIRITUAL being which IS our TRUTH of being CREATED IN HIS LIKENESS, and IS the PROCESS OF our being Sanctified/Consecrated FOR HIS HOLY use! It IS an ongoing TRANSITION which SEES us ever maturing, ever growing, ever developing ACCORDING TO HIS WILL, and WAYS, despite that we are NOT yet perfected, but which we WILLINGLY adapt to, and succumb to as we look forward TO completion, or fruition!!!
WHEN we repent, we AGREE to CHANGE, to advancing, to producing, FOR HIS GLORY, and the BLESSED HOPE for our souls!!!
MATTHEW 3: 8...
“Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;
To make application to the souls of the hearers, is the life of preaching; so it was of John's preaching. The Pharisees laid their chief stress on outward observances, neglecting the weightier matters of the moral law, and the spiritual meaning of their legal ceremonies. Others of them were detestable hypocrites, making their pretenses to holiness a cloak for iniquity. The Sadducees ran into the opposite extreme, denying the existence of spirits, and a future state. They were the scornful infidels of that time and country.
There is a wrath to come.
It is the great concern of every one to flee from that wrath. God, who delights not in our ruin, has warned us; he warns by the written word, by ministers, by conscience. And those are not worthy of the name of penitents, or their privileges, who say they are sorry for their sins, yet persist in them. It becomes penitents to be humble and low in their own eyes, to be thankful for the least mercy, patient under the greatest affliction, to be watchful against all appearances of sin, to abound in every duty, and to be charitable in judging others.
Here is a word of caution, not to trust in outward privileges. There is a great deal which carnal hearts are apt to say within themselves, to put aside the convincing, commanding power of the word of God. Multitudes, by resting in the honours and mere advantages of their being members of an outward church, come short of heaven. Here is a word of terror to the careless and secure.
Our corrupt hearts cannot be made to produce good fruit, unless the regenerating Spirit of Christ graft the good word of God upon them. And every tree, however high in gifts and honours, however green in outward professions and performances, if it bring not forth good fruit, the fruits meet for repentance, is hewn down and cast into the fire of God's wrath, the fittest place for barren trees: what else are they good for? If not fit for fruit, they are fit for fuel.
Observe here, the outward church is Christ's floor, Isa 21:10. True believers are as wheat, substantial, useful, and valuable; hypocrites are as chaff, light and empty, useless and worthless, carried about with every wind; these are mixed, good and bad, in the same outward communion. There is a day coming when the wheat and chaff shall be separated. The last judgment will be the distinguishing day, when saints and sinners shall be parted for ever.
In heaven the saints are brought together, and no longer scattered; they are safe, and no longer exposed; separated from corrupt neighbours without, and corrupt affections within, and there is no chaff among them. Hell is the unquenchable fire, which will certainly be the portion and punishment of hypocrites and unbelievers. Here life and death, good and evil, are set before us: according as we now are in the field, we shall be then in the floor.
JOHN 15: 8...
"My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
Jesus Christ is the Vine, the true Vine. The union of the human and Divine natures, and the fullness of the Spirit that is in him, resemble the root of the vine made fruitful by the moisture from a rich soil. Believers are branches of this Vine. The root is unseen, and our life is hid with Christ; the root bears the tree, diffuses sap to it, and in Christ are all supports and supplies. The branches of the vine are many, yet, meeting in the root, are all but one vine; thus all true Christians, though in place and opinion distant from each other, meet in Christ. Believers, like the branches of the vine, are weak, and unable to stand but as they are borne up. The Father is the Husbandman. Never was any husbandman so wise, so watchful, about his vineyard, as God is about his church, which therefore must prosper. We must be fruitful. From a vine we look for grapes, and from a Christian we look for a Christian temper, disposition, and life. We must honour God, and do good; this is bearing fruit. The unfruitful are taken away. And even fruitful branches need pruning; for the best have notions, passions, and humours, that require to be taken away, which Christ has promised to forward the sanctification of believers, they will be thankful, for them.
The word of Christ is spoken to all believers; and there is a cleansing virtue in that word, as it works grace, and works out corruption. And the more fruit we bring forth, the more we abound in what is good, the more our Lord is glorified. In order to fruitfulness, we must abide in Christ, must have union with him by faith. It is the great concern of all Christ's disciples, constantly to keep up dependence upon Christ, and communion with him. True Christians find by experience, that any interruption in the exercise of their faith, causes holy affections to decline, their corruptions to revive, and their comforts to droop. Those who abide not in Christ, though they may flourish for awhile in outward profession, yet come to nothing. The fire is the fittest place for withered branches; they are good for nothing else. Let us seek to live more simply on the fullness of Christ, and to grow more fruitful in every good word and work, so may our joy in Him and in his salvation be full.
There are 74 BIBLE references to bearing fruit, and 89 verses concerning bearing bad fruit. IF we have studied, learned, and embraced HIS WORD, we KNOW that we have a choice, and that there is reward for the diligent, and consequence for those who ignore THE TRUTH, in which case it is NOT HIS pleasure to find anyone in the wrong, however, EVERY single one HAS before them, options; this HE has set into practice FOR the sake of SINCERE allegiance TO HIM, or not! It is fitting that in HIS LOVE, GRACE, and MERCY, HE GIVES us the alternative, THAT those who turn to HIM, have done so in honesty, and reverence...
ANYTHING we do, we SHOULD aim to do in the best of our knowledge, understanding, and ability, albeit that is not always the case, but SHOULD be, and so, all the more when it comes to our walk with THE LORD *GOD* ALMIGHTY! *GOD* used particular examples, such as Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Isaiah, and many more, all the way through to the Apostles, and Disciples, to point us in the right direction, and to learn from! One common denominator connecting these examples was their FIDELITY TO THE LORD, and yah, their lives WERE changed in the process of coming closer to HIM...
While we are challenged, while we may trip, and stumble, IF we HAVE CHOSEN to walk with THE LORD, we ARE on the right PATH, and HE SHALL enable us, endow us, enrich us, empower us, and encourage us along THE WAY! It ISN'T easy to walk the walk, yet it IS THE most optimizing decision, and action possible! One day; HIS DAY; everything which has NOT assented TO HIM, and HIS WILL, shall find it's end forever, WHILE HIS KINGDOM, and it's citizens SHALL LIVE SHARING IN HIS GLORY, evermore! The choice doesn't seem too complicated to me, although I KNOW that the world surely shrouds much of THE TRUTH involved, which IS WHY we MUST be informed, knowledgeable, and understanding OF HIM, LOVE, and HIS WILL...
Each hour, each day, each week HE GIVES us, may we be all the more enlightened, AND all the more inspired TO take HIM to those endangered; the unknowing, and the lost; THIS IS our work, and our privilege, IN HIS NAME! BLESS THE LORD *GOD*, PRAISE HIM ALWAYS, WORSHIP HIS HOLINESS, GIVE THANKS, REJOICE IN HIM, and HONOUR HIM in EVERY way, EACH day, FOR HIS GLORY, and PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!!!
LWINSOR © 2017
BIBLICAL, and/or other references marked BOLDLY IN COLOURS
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