Love in God's Family - 7

Finally - A Taste of Heaven

David’s Psalm says that where Christians are living like this, with Spirit-filled concern for each other, there the Lord has commanded a blessing, life forevermore.

As we cherish, nurture, practise, grow and celebrate the brotherly and sisterly affection we have for each other, we are experiencing ‘forevermore life’ (eternal life) here and now. We taste the good things now that will form the very basis of our daily experience when the earth and heavens are renovated. Heaven will include rich, transparent, caring relationships with all God’s people and with the Father, Son and Spirit, too.

Therefore:

§ You who are still hanging around the door of your Father’s house – come in. Be reconciled to him through Jesus and take your place as his son or daughter – one of our brothers or sisters.

§ You who have already been born anew into the family of God. Seek the filling of the Holy Spirit to make your life drip with the dew of kindness, prayer, sharing, Bible encouragements, spiritual work done for and with your brothers and sisters.

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honour.

Love in God's Family - 6

The next illustration David uses about fellowship is that it is Like Dew falling on a Mountain

The dew that falls on a mountain drenches the leaves and grasses and gently drips down, filling streams and watering valleys – bringing growth and fruitfulness. So, the gentle rain of the Holy Spirit brings life to the entire Church family. It is the same Spirit that trickles down from person to person producing life and fruitfulness.

The picture is similar to the oil on Aaron, the high priest. There is a trickle down of the blessing. The mountains mentioned (Hermon) feed the Jordan River, the life-blood of Israel.

Brother and sister affection in Christ is about sharing the anointing of the Holy Spirit with one another. It includes the use of the spiritual gifts and the kind deeds the Spirit helps us to do for one another. In this way, the Spirit is shared and our fellowship is deeply satisfying and provides a taste of the love the Father, Son and Spirit share.

Acts 2.42ff describes the early church experience of this fellowship:

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Picture the believers enjoying these things together:

§ Studying the Word of God and learning together and from each other

§ Sharing fellowship by meeting each others’ needs, sharing experiences, helping those in trouble, facing challenges together, celebrating milestones.

§ Breaking bread together – eating together and in particular sharing the Lord’s Supper – ministering to the Body of Christ – worshipping together.

§ Praying together – seeking God’s help and advice with and for each other.

Acts 4.23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

“‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed’—

27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Love in God's Family - 5

The oil anointing everything in the Temple was a picture promise that God would pour out his Holy Spirit on Christ who would fulfil everything that was symbolised by the Temple activities.

Then, when Christ was given to the world, he came in a human life that was anointed by the Holy Spirit – without measure. In other words he was man ‘filled up’ with the Spirit of God.

Finally, by his death and resurrection, Christ formed the Church – his body - the Body of Christ, which is the community of believers. Again, the Holy Spirit was involved. He anoints everyone who joins the Church so that the Body is made up of Spirit-filled people. Christians submit to his anointing for every action and activity (just as the Temple arrangements were anointed with oil in the Old Testament). This especially includes FELLOWSHIP (that brotherly unity that David referred to in his Psalm).

Fellowship in the Church, therefore, is not merely people being nice and friendly. It must be a Spirit-filled experience beyond just human feelings. We share in the same unity that the Holy Spirit and Jesus and the Father experience together. It is good and pleasing. Our Christian fellowship with each other must be Spirit-filled. It is the only way to satisfy (please) God. It will please him like a father overseeing the happy interactions of his family is satisfied. When God is satisfied, we will experience that pleasure, too.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity. It is like the precious oil on the head, running down on the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running on the collar of his robes!

Love in God's Family - 4

Oil Poured Out

Go now to the first illustration David uses to glorify brotherly love. He describes some aromatic (perfumed) oil being poured onto the turban of the high priest and running down the sides of his face, through his beard and dripping onto the collar of his robe.

Where did he get that idea from? It is not from his own imagination. He is describing something from the Temple. Something that was done at the Temple that had a symbolic meaning. The Temple worship in the Old Testament is an incredibly rich source of illustrations that help us understand more about what Christ did to put us right with God.

The oil in this Psalm is a reference to the oil of consecration which was used to anoint the high priest (Aaron was the original high priest) and everything else used in the Temple worship.

Exodus 30.22ff The Lord said to Moses, “Take the finest spices: of liquid myrrh 500 shekels, and of sweet-smelling cinnamon half as much, that is, 250, and 250 of aromatic cane, and 500 of cassia, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, and a hin of olive oil. And you shall make of these a sacred anointing oil blended as by the perfumer; it shall be a holy anointing oil. With it you shall anoint the tent of meeting and the ark of the testimony, and the table and all its utensils, and the lampstand and its utensils, and the altar of incense, and the altar of burnt offering with all its utensils and the basin and its stand. You shall consecrate them, that they may be most holy. Whatever touches them will become holy. You shall anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that they may serve me as priests. And you shall say to the people of Israel, ‘This shall be my holy anointing oil throughout your generations. It shall not be poured on the body of an ordinary person, and you shall make no other like it in composition. It is holy, and it shall be holy to you. Whoever compounds any like it or whoever puts any of it on an outsider shall be cut off from his people.’”

Clearly this was very special oil. However, it specialness did not come from the particular substances in the recipe, but the fact that it was God’s recipe and he gave it a unique purpose.

It was not to be used at weddings, or for personal use. It was only used in association with the Temple worship. This is because it symbolised the holiness of God. To be holy means to be separate and pure. This oil is a reference to the Holy Spirit.

§ As the oil was a unique blend – so the Holy Spirit is unique – he is God – he is inimitable! He can’t be substituted with mood music, lighting effects or great acting.

§ It was highly aromatic – it gave off a beautiful smell which pervaded the entire Temple – so the Holy Spirit is not able to be contained and controlled – he moves and spreads his influence wherever he wills.

§ It was sweet smelling – it was an extremely pleasant smell – so the Holy Spirit is a beautiful influence. He brings joy!

§ It was a holy, consecrating oil – it set apart everything it touched as something to be used for God’s purposes only – so the Holy Spirit sets apart what he touches – He ENables us to serve God.

There is also a lot here for us to learn about how the Holy Spirit and Christ work together to bring about salvation for God’s people – because the oil touched all the different aspects of the Temple worship. This shows that the Holy Spirit is essential to the existence and all the activities of Christians and the Church.

§ This oil anointed the tent of meeting – that represents the Temple: the Body of Christ in New Testament thought – the Church. Notice that the entire Temple from the outside to the smallest interior detail – even a cup – was anointed with the special oil representing the Holy Spirit.

§ This oil anointed the ark – the box which represented the point at which God and the High Priest met to avert God’s wrath and establish fellowship between God and his people: the gospel.

§ The oil also anointed:

§ The table and utensils – referring to fellowship

§ The lampstand and utensils – referring to God’s light and guidance

§ The altar of incense - referring to prayer and praise.

§ The altar of burnt offering – referring to repentance and faith in Christ’s cross work

§ The basin – baptism and the daily the washing of our lives from worldly contamination

Nothing in the Temple could be used (including the priests!) without the anointing of the Holy Spirit – he set them apart for God’s purposes. Neither can any activity of the Church be carried out acceptably to God without the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Just as the participants in the Temple had to act under the supervision of the Holy Spirit – so we must act in that way as participants in the Body of Christ.

So David’s use of the picture of the oil flowing down when the high priest was anointed, represents the Holy Spirit at work.

Brotherly love is like the oil flowing, because the oil not only has a beautiful aroma, but it means that the Holy Spirit is present to do his work. Brotherly love is evidence that the Holy Spirit is among us.

People often want evidence of the Spirit’s presence in people crying out and falling to the ground. There may be times when the Spirit will come with full conviction and shake people up. But there is also a gentle experience of the Spirit’s presence in the regular experience of brother and sister affection within the Church family.

Brothers and sisters living together in unity refers to the Church family. It describes what we experience and should pray and grow to experience more fully and more regularly.

Love in God's Family - 3

Brothers in Unity is Beautiful

David describes the relationship between believers as a family relationship – brothers living together in harmony. He says that it is good and pleasant.

An interesting factor in sibling relationships is that there is a third party in the background that is the reason for the relationship; namely the parents. The common affection for our parents and the common life we have inherited from them is what makes brother and sister relationships unique. In God’s family it is even more crucial, because God our father and Jesus, our elder brother, stand behind the relationships we enjoy with our brother and sister Christians.

How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity.

It is good and pleasant because the relationship between Christians flows out of the relationship between the Father, Son and Spirit. The unity in the Church derives its meaning and pleasure from the unity of the Godhead. This is where its goodness and pleasure comes from.

John 14. ¹⁸I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." ²²Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?" ²³Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

Love in God's Family - 2

Psalm 133

This Psalm uses picture language to describe brotherly affection. The first illustration comes from something that used to happen in the Old Testament temple. The second illustration is a picture from nature.

The message of this Psalm can be summed up like this:

One of the strongest evidences that God is blessing the church is the quality of fellowship (the brotherly and sisterly affection) that they experience. And that particular blessing is a taste of what eternal life is like.

David says believers living in fellowship or unity is a good and pleasant thing to experience (v1).

He says it is like this (V2) and Like that (v3a) and then he explains why it is so good (V3b): For there the Lord has commanded a blessing. Where? Where believers are living together in support and affection and service of each other. In that situation you are witnessing a blessing ordered by God. And that blessing is described as: life forevermore. In other words, where you are seeing Christians in warm brother and sister fellowship, you are seeing eternal life at work.

When you taste brother and sister affection, you are experiencing a taste of the quality of life in the new world. Heaven (the renewed earth) will be a world of beautiful relationships. And isn’t it true that even in this sin-damaged, death over-shadowed world, loving relationships are the most satisfying thing?

The aims of these studies are:

1. To attract you into God’s family if you are still only an observer of it, or a visitor to it.

2. To motivate our church to an increasing measure of brotherly love towards our fellow Christians.

3. To understand the essential role that the Holy Spirit has in producing brotherly and sisterly affection.

Love in God's Family

The New Testament has a lot to say about the love, affection, respect and protectiveness that Christians have for each other as brothers and sisters in God’s family. That is the theme of today’s teaching.

Here are a few NT passages:

Romans 12.10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honour. There is only one competitive element in the Christian life: to outdo others in showing them love!

Hebrews 13.1 Let brotherly love continue. It’s momentum must be carried on. It must not grow stale or slacken. New ways of showing affection for each other must continually be brought out and constantly renewed.

1 Peter 1.22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God. We were born again SO THAT we could have hearts that are considerate and affectionate towards our brothers and sisters. We are born again into a family – God’s!

1 Peter 3.8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. We were called into faith in Christ so that we could be channels of God’s blessing (and in doing so be blessed ourselves). Brotherly and sisterly love is one of the most significant of these channels.

2 Peter 1.5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Brotherly and sisterly love is part of our fruitfulness. We must bear THAT type of fruit as evidence that Christ is at work in us.

These three apostles have said that brother and sister affection is vital evidence that Christ is alive and working in the Church. Brotherly and sisterly love is something to be highly prized, fostered, celebrated and massively increased.

5. Four Categories

Matthew 13 the Parable of the Sower

The seed is well broadcast – thrown out widely. No one can complain that the Word of God is not made available to them. Some of what is sown falls into soil that is ready and well-prepared and a crop springs up. It is our aim for our hearts to be that soil. Therefore we need to know HOW to be well-prepared for the reception of God’s Word and what fruit God wants to grow in us.

First, consider again how widely the Word of God is spread. You might think that it is too widely spread – especially if so much of it falls on paths, rocky ground and weed-filled lives.
But, from God’s point of view, none of the seed goes to waste. It does his work. Even the seed that lands on the path – the word that goes into the ears of hardened, world-minded people and then is snatched away by the Evil One before it can even disturb their attitude. Even that seed does its work. Certainly that seed does that hard heart no good at all, because it never finds its way in. But even seed on the path is not without a result. Listen and learn from Isaiah 55.
55:1 “Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.

6 “Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call upon him while he is near;
7 let the wicked forsake his way,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
God says that his word will not return to him empty, but it shall accomplish the purpose for which it was sent out. Even the word that lands on the path, the rocky ground or weedy soil, accomplishes God’s purpose – by making those hearers responsible for their actions.
Warning
No one will ever be able to say, “Well I didn’t know that I had a rebellious heart that was against God; otherwise I would have said sorry to God and made peace with him.” They won’t be able to say that, because they DID receive the rainfall grace of God falling on their lives and they DID have his word scattered like seed on them. The fact that they did not turn their faces towards God and repent – or even pay attention – proves that they are rebels and are responsible for their disobedience.

Like the child who is warned to use the pedestrian crossing and look both ways, but doesn’t let that warning register in his mind – doesn’t consider it important advice, but continues to dash across in front of cars. When he is hit, he is thoroughly responsible for the consequences. He was warned. So the Word of God, even when it is not received properly accomplishes this purpose: We were warned.

Motivational
But the Word of God going out onto the path, the rocky and the weedy soil hearts, has another very worthy purpose. It has a motivational purpose – to urge the good soil hearts to receive ALL the seed they can - to make up for the loss of growth from the poor grounds. Do you feel that? Do you feel the extra motivation to receive and grow God’s good things in your life, when you look around and see the number of people who are wasting their seed? Doesn’t it motivate you to want to give a 100 fold return rather than a mere 30 times return on all that God has sown in your life?

In these ways, God’s word does not return to him void, even when it falls on paths and rock and thorny ground. He is rendering those hearers responsible – that is one fair return for his word, and he is motivating good hearers to receives even more! Jesus said that to those who are receiving what he gives them, to them more shall be given – but from the one who doesn’t use what is given, even what he has is taken away from him and given to those who are using what was given to them.
Verse 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.

That is the first point about the good soil. The sad example of the bad soils is designed to make YOU more fruitful. Everytime you see someone neglecting God’s Word – increase you own openness to receive MORE. Remember the story of the woman of Tyre: Matthew 15.21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” 23 But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” 24 He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” 25 But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” 26 And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” 27 She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” 28 Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.
She noticed that many Jews were neglecting and wasting the word and miracles that Jesus brought to Israel and she, an outsider, wanted to sweep up and take in what they were wasting!
Secondly, notice WHY the good soil is called ‘good’. This is the heart that hears the Word of God properly. One of the good things about this soil that makes it ready to receive the message of God, is that is nothing else there! It is just soil. No rocks, no weeds, no thorns, no hardened path. It is not even good soil because it already has a crop growing. It is good soil because it is bare, loosened soil open to be sown with the message. God’s Word takes root in a heart that is like cleared ground – ready for whatever God will sow. There is nothing else competing with his Word; it has room to take over and flourish. The problem with all the other three soils was that there was something already in place that was refusing to make room for the Word.

As you offer your heart to God this morning, or at any time, you must submit to God’s mowing, weeding and breaking up. Expose the roots of all your secrets and wrong wants to the light. Be repentant. Your willingness to have your soil ploughed and turned over is what makes it good soil for growing God’s Word. In fact this is the first sign that the Spirit of God is working in your heart: That you are willing to have your life cleared of the rocks and weeds that work against fruitfulness. Your life must be unsettled, your self-confidence shaken, so you can be settled in Christ and get your confidence from him. Hosea 10.11,12
I will put Ephraim to the yoke;
Judah must plow;
Jacob must harrow for himself.
Sow for yourselves righteousness;
reap steadfast love;
break up your fallow ground,
for it is the time to seek the Lord,
that he may come and rain righteousness upon you.

That is the second point about good soil. Good soil is bare ground – loosened and cleared of everything that competes against the good things Christ will plant there. Pray with David: Search me O God and know my heart, test me and know my thoughts; and see if there be ANY grievous way in me and lead me in the everlasting way!

Thirdly, the good soil represents the person who not only hears but understands the Word of God. This is the person who comprehends the word. Comprehension is an interesting word. It means to take in – but it also means to master or take over. When we speak about a comprehensive change, we mean a wide-ranging, total change. The good heart is taking in, totally embracing and enveloping the Word of God that is given to it. Good soil is that which allows its particles to move apart and make room for the seed to slip in and nestle into its dirt so it can take root and grow. It takes over and becomes the most important thing. No one looks at a beautiful, fruitful vege garden and says, “Nice dirt!” They say, “What an amazing crop of vegetables.” The fruit surpasses the soil. Contrast the loose soil with the path (the hard heart) - that soil is not pliable and willing to move apart and let the seed find root.

You are good soil when you are making room for God’s Word. You are letting your self-centred, wrong ideas crumble so that the Word of God can settle into your thinking and into your life. Understanding God’s Word means that:
 You understand its origin – where it comes from – this is the Word of GOD – not just the opinions of men. Therefore you pay full attention to it – often!
 You understand your need of it. You agree with its judgements about you and you see that it matches your helpless condition exactly.
 You understand its focus which is to make a big deal about Christ (to magnify him) – and that his will not yours is properly your biggest concern in life.
 You understand its purpose and work – which is to transform you into Jesus’ likeness – so that your life truly reflects his character.
 You understand its gravity – that to ignore it or let it be snatched away from you means total loss for you – you are starving yourself to death.
 You understand its value- that it introduces you to Jesus Christ the highest treasure and the source of all deep joy and deep satisfaction for which you crave.

That is the third point about the good soil. It is a heart that has had its eyes open to recognise the highest value and importance of God’s message to humanity.
I pray that God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts opened. Ephesians 1.17,18 … that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Fourthly, we have spoken about the fruit as if we all know what it is – and we all have a general idea. Now we need to find out more about what fruit you see when a person is hearing the Word of God, agreeing with it, making room in his heart for it and understanding what God is saying to him through it.

Matthew 3.8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. These were John the Baptist’s words to people who came to him wanting baptism. He suspected that they were not genuine, so he makes the reasonable demand that they give evidence by the way they are living, that they are sorry for their past sins. This means giving them up! How can a man say he is sorry for using prostitutes if he keeps using them? How can a woman say she is sorry for ripping off her employer if she continues to take cash out of the till? How can a young person say he is sorry for disrespecting his mother, if he continues to shout in her face?
Jesus said: Matthew 7.16,17 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. The first fruit that you will see coming out of good soil, are the fruit in keeping with repentance. There will be a match between the apologies and the new behaviours. If new life has taken root, you will gather some lovely edible fruit from that life. If there is no new life, you will continue to be scratched by thorns and turned off by rotten or bitter fruit. (Crab apple tree).
Following repentance you will see purity, motivated by love, growing out of the heart that is hearing, understanding and receiving God’s Word – the good heart. Listen:
Philippians 1.9-11 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.
Filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. That is the fruit that that God wants your life covered in! He wants every branch weighed down with that fruit. Look closely at what Paul prays for those Christians at Philippi:
He wants their lives to be bursting with love. Not just any kind of love – in other words, not just a burst of emotion. He wants their love to be coloured with knowledge and discernment. That is, love that knows what God wants and is wisely able to apply it in all the circumstances of life. With that kind of wise, thoughtful love, he expects them to make EXCELLENT choices – that you may approve what is excellent. This fruit is the talk, actions, body language, advice, help, decision making that is always choosing, affirming and giving the green light to what is excellent. And what is excellent? The way of Christ – living as Christ lived.

When a person is blossoming with more and more of Christ’s love, that person is acting wisely and making superb (excellent) choices which display the purity and guilt-free life of Jesus. THAT is the point. These fruits of righteous living ARE the life of Jesus growing through that person. If you abide in me you will bear much fruit! The result? That Christ-life in you brings glory and praise to God the Father, Son and Spirit. The goodness of God is seen and celebrated in YOUR life.

That is the fruit God wants to produce. He wants to do that on the bus, in the supermarket, in the middle of family crisis, in your home group, in your acts of kindness, in your personal life, in and through every fibre of your being. He wants you to be a further display of the best and highest good: His own Self.

Now, let’s come to the most well-known spiritual fruit shop - Galatians 5 – which contains all the premium spiritual fruit that Christ wants to reproduce in your life through his Spirit in your inner being.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
These fruit are the same thing we met in Philippians; ‘the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God’. They are what the Spirit of God reproduces in your will, your mind, your words and your actions that prove that Christ has come to live in your heart by faith.
Where once your life produced envy, depression and anxiety – the Spirit produces love, joy and peace.
Where there was frustration, bitterness and deception – the Spirit produces patience, kindness and goodness.
Where there was growing disloyalty, aggression and ill-discipline – the Spirit produces faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
The cross of Christ has cancelled the condemnation that stood against us because we have left all our wrong at that place of judgment and are ruled no longer by our passions and desires but by the Spirit of Christ.

That is the fourth point about the good soil. That soil is the heart in which God produces special kinds of fruit that can’t be generated by human effort, because they are spiritual works produced in us by the Spirit of God.

Finally, it is exponential (constantly increasing) growth that God intends and that we should expect for our spiritual fruitfulness. The minimum return expected is 30 times what was planted - and 100 times is a better goal.
How can your accelerate the growth in your spiritual fruitfulness? The answer is more of God’s Word, more deeply planted, more often. The biggest reason for stunted growth is that you are not hearing, understanding and receiving enough of God’s Word.

Luke 8.15 As for the seed in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.

4. Four Categories

Matthew 13 the Parable of the Sower

This week it is shallow people that Christ is warning.

So, Matthew reports Jesus’ parable about a sower of wheat or barley. Jesus was illustrating the purpose of his mission. He said that he was like a farmer sowing seeds so that he could reap a harvest. He said that he was sowing his message (the Word) very widely so that he could reap a productive harvest. Jesus is not just going through the motions. He is gathering people from every generation, nation and place to share in his eternal kingdom. That harvest is people – people who are bursting with spiritual life and godliness - people who will live forever in his kingdom. But the parable contains a very strong warning that not every person who hears his message receives it successfully. The variable is the condition of our hearts.

Jesus Christ has been sowing in your life for some time, now. He has been sowing the very information, witnesses, advice, examples, wisdom and help that you need for a life that pleases God; a life that he can bless. His seed has been falling into your life; the information that will let you know who he is and what God has in mind for you; and how you can access it. Are you aware of this? What has the seed of his message produced in your life? What has been your response?

OUT goes the seed – flung widely so that it lands on your heart. It gets in through your ears and eyes. You both hear and see the word of Christ. You hear it from the Bible and you see it in the lives of some people. It lodges in your mind having entered through what you have heard spoken or read or seen in the lives of Christ’s followers. Your heart must decide what to do with it.

It is possible that your heart is like the seed that falls on rocky soil. This is not soil that has stones in it.

It is ground make up of a layer of hard rock with a thin deposit of soil across it; the sort of ground that if you got a spade and tried to dig a hole, it would penetrate only a few centimetres and stop dead, jarring your arms. We sometimes meet that kind of ground when we go camping. You simply cannot get your tent pegs hammered into it. A thin layer of soil conceals a solid sheet of rock just below the surface. This is the ground Jesus is using to describe some hearts. You must hear him out and check that it is not your heart he is describing.

Jesus says that people like this give initial acceptance to his word. That is, they seem to be going along with his message and accepting it with some enthusiasm. Like seeds sown on shallow soil, they spring to life quickly in the mild weather, but when the sun gets stronger, the soil dries out and the plant shrivels up for lack of roots.

Some people don’t have much soil. There is only a thin covering of soil over the bedrock of a hard, and disobedient heart. God’s common grace has provided a certain brightness of personality and intelligence that others may respond to. But scrape away those qualities deposited there by means of a helpful upbringing, a good education, kind parents and other evidences of God’s rainfall grace, and you hit rock. Just below the surface of reasonableness and friendliness there is rebellion.

Remember, about a year ago we learned together about God’s rainfall grace and his saving grace. Rainfall grace is the blessing that God sends like rainfall on the lives of all people. Here is an excerpt from that earlier study:

God shows common or indiscriminate grace to all people – the evil and the good. Sunrise and rainfall demonstrate this. When the sun rises and warms the land, it does so not only for those who trust God but it also rises on those who reject, disbelieve and even actively hate him. When the rain falls, it does not fall only on the land of the good, it falls indiscriminately upon every place. Good and evil both benefit.

Every day, God treats humankind with common grace, such as: protection from accidents; medicines to put off diseases and delay death; technologies that will help people to work more efficiently; police to come and arrest the violent trouble-maker; a man diving into a river and saving a drowning child; a loved one travelling safely home from across the world; food in the cupboards to feed your children; an accident that prevents a robber from making it to your home; a well-run school that gives your children a helpful education; … and it is God who gives to a writer or film-maker or philosopher the brief lightning flash insights into the truth about the human condition.

In all these ways, the good that is delivered to the world comes by God’s grace and often in spite of the blindness or rebellion of the instruments God uses to deliver it. But God’s intent is the same: that we should know he is gracious and that he invites us to make peace with him through repentance.

But know this: common grace itself saves no one! It is merely an invitation or an awakening to repent and trust God. It is not an end in itself. It is no good to have a happy, pain-free, convenient life for 40 or 60 years and then cave in through death and fall down into everlasting judgement for refusing to make peace with God. In fact, I imagine that the recollections of God’s common grace enjoyed briefly in this life, will be a fearful mental affliction on those who come into the hell of God’s unending disapproval and judgement.

We must accept common (rainfall) grace in the right way. Take it as an invitation to be reconciled to God. Take it as an imperfect taste of the blessing he will lavish on you in Jesus Christ – an eternity of ever-increasing joy, satisfaction and love.

The reason why it is important to understand about God’s common or rainfall grace here is that this is the reason for the layer of soil over the hardness in people’s lives. God’s generous blessing creates a layer of useful soil in people’s lives. It is what makes people friendly and restrains them from many destructive things. But it is not sufficient to transform a person. The hard heart has to be broken up in repentance by God’s saving grace so that we can receive the word of Christ implanted deeply in our hearts.

This category of person, who has a shallow layer of manners and good upbringing over a heart that is in rebellion towards God, responds readily to certain things about the Christian life. They may like the music; they may enjoy the social aspect of Church culture. Their naturally positive and outgoing disposition takes on Christian things with enthusiasm – joy even. They can see that being a Christian adds a helpful dimension to a person’s life and they would like to have that, too.

Judas Iscariot was like this. A shallow man with a superficial layer of cooperation and friendliness. He initially received the message of Jesus with joy. He liked Jesus’ positive talk about a new kingdom and was thrilled by the excitement of miracles and healings. But he was shallow. Beneath his thin soil of receptivity and enthusiasm was a rebellious and rock-hard heart. When the heat came on, he turned traitor and betrayed Jesus for money.

Jesus describes how shallow people receive his word. He identifies the problem as ‘having no root in him or herself’. Although this kind of person briefly shows some Christian characteristics, it is not going deep. It is not touching the ‘self’ – the heart of the person. It is not being received by the true self of that person. He has no root in himself. The roots of Christ’s word have not pushed deep into the heart of the person and found a place to live and grow. It is all superficial outward display; just nice words or manners.

For a time, persons in this category go along with Christian activities taking what they can out of them to feel better about themselves. Then something dramatic happens: The sun comes out. Not just a warm, comfortable, mild sunlight, but hot and scorching. The heat comes on. It happens like this: An issue or set of circumstances arise which make it not longer comfortable to be identified as a Christian. Trouble (tribulation) and attacks (persecution) come against the person ‘on account of the word’ and he ‘immediately falls away.’ What does this mean?

The sun (representing testing and judgement through troubles and trials) serves a purpose – the same purpose it serves for every Christian – but for the shallow person it has a very different result. The sun in the parable represents the testing process that must occur. The testing of God is designed to prove the genuineness and the worth of your faith. The degree of ‘heat’ and its duration is wisely and justly prepared by God. The scorching sun will not kill the deeply rooted plant. In fact, the heat, when combined with deep, well-watered soil will make a plant flourish beyond imagination! However, the scorching sun will quickly expose the faith that has no root.

Here are verses that describe this testing process:

1 Peter 1.6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The testing (the scorching sun) is designed to prove your faith is the real thing. It is designed to encourage you, make you very strong and extremely fruitful. It is not designed by God to crush you! True, Satan will have a go at using God’s tests as temptations. God tempts no one to sin. But you can be very, very certain that Satan will tempt you to deny your faith in Christ and blame God when trouble hits. The scorching sun of trouble is also designed to expose non-faith, in the hope that you will abandon your self-generated ‘Christian’ living and deeply receive Christ himself.

So, the sun does its scorching work to see if there are any roots to your faith. When the outer tips of your life are scorched and shrivel under the heat of trouble or attack, will your roots be deep enough to sustain you during these periods of trial? Will your faith prove to be genuine? And when the trial ceases, as it surely will, will your life quickly spring up again into new and more flourished growth and fruitfulness?

Will the moisture that has settled on your life evaporate under the heat of testing - or are you watered from within? It is not good just receiving the droplets of the Spirit as overspray from other Christian’s lives? What Christ wants for you is that you are like a tree firmly planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in season and its leaf does not wither (Psalm 1).

As God spoke through Jeremiah (17.7-8):

7 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose trust is the Lord.
8 He is like a tree planted by water,
that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

This is a powerful illustration of strength, resilience and fruitfulness. And it makes plain where that capacity comes from: the stream of water.

Then in Jeremiah 17.9,10 God says, ‘The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick; who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and test the mind to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.’

See here why God must test our lives with scorching heat. We are so easily deceived by fruitless bushiness that might satisfy us or impress others, but has no productive worth. We must prove to be rooted and grounded in Christ. To have roots that draw up the water of his life so we consistently bear fruit that pleases God.

John Piper commenting on Psalm 1 says:

If you delight in the Word of God and meditate on it day and night you will yield your fruit in season. You will be a fruitful person. O for more fruitful people! You know them. They are refreshing and nourishing to be around. You go away from them fed. You go away strengthened. You go away with your taste for spiritual things awakened. Their mouth is a fountain of life. Their words are healing and convicting and encouraging and deepening and enlightening. Being around them is like a meal. This is the effect of delighting in the Word of God and meditating on it day and night. You will yield fruit in season.

We all need to be and want to be deep-rooted, fruitful people.

The sun has come up very strongly on some of you. Its scorching heat is testing your roots. Without roots in Christ, you will shrivel up. It is time to drive your roots deep into Christ. Pay attention to your inner life. Let Christ’s word into your heart where it can take root and grow up. It is what you do at the level of your roots that matters.

Remember, the sun represents God’s glory – in particular, his righteousness. His righteousness will never shake hands with evil – rather he exposes it. The reason why the display of his righteousness - including his exposure of corruption, and judgement of evil, sin and its results such as sickness and accident – scorches us, is that we are insufficiently watered by his Spirit and his Word. The deeper our roots are and the more they stretch towards the water of life – the more our heads will be lifted up to celebrate his glory and bathe in its brightness and warmth. The more fruit we will bear that feeds and blesses our people.

Therefore, if you fear that your Christian experience is planted in shallow soil, call on God to crack open your hard and disobedient heart and to slip his word in there and grant you faith to receive it. Let the roots of that word go deep into your self – into your heart so that the Spirit of God can water it and get some entirely new attitudes growing up fruitfully in you.