Hymn 283, Romans 6:21,
"What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now
ashamed? For the end
of those things is death. But now being made free from sin,
and become servants
to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end
everlasting life." Fruit
comes after a season. Life is a season, and at the end of life,
I am going to
fit into one of these verses. At season's close, I will either
have fruit unto
death or fruit unto eternal life. Jesus Christ came to the
world, not to build
a better religion, not to bring a philosophy or an ideology,
no, the Master
came to bring salvation to mortal man. We share many benefits
on life's
journey. This convention is unique in this State, there is not
any other
gathering in this State that could relate to the good feeling
we have in being
together. This works without organization. It is the most
organized unorganized
thing in this world. But Jesus did not shed His blood just to
give us a
convention. The bread and wine is unique. No gathering could
gather without unity
of a common doctrine. But these things are all complimentary
to salvation, the
main issue is salvation. We hear the words often,
"Nothing matters but salvation." These words were written by a
man on the brink
of eternity. Fruit is not fruit until it is fully developed.
In the growth
stage, there is the prospect of fruit, there is the potential,
but it is not fully
developed. We do not take the harvest until the crop is
developed. It is not really
fruit until then. We could have a garden, and we do not pick
the peas until
they are ready, we wait till they are developed. We may have a
flower garden,
and we do not pick the buds. Conventions, meetings, and
meditation are to help
us to develop, and that is what we have in the second verse.
Ye have your fruit
unto holiness. God gives the experiences of life that produce
natural fruit. It
takes all kinds of weather, the winter, the summer. We may
have the potential
to produce fruit for eternity, but not become fully developed.
We may accept
the truth, we may believe the truth, but the fruit may not
develop. We need to
go on unto perfection, to have full growth. We may pick an
apple off the tree
when it is green, and it is bitter. It is not perfect till it
is fully grown. Hebrews 6, "Wherefore
leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on
unto perfection."
We do not disregard the principles. We would not be in this
tent today if we
did not have the principles of the doctrine of Christ. Noah
had the teachings
of God, but he also had the ark. When the floods came, there
was comfort. That
is so today, we could have the teachings, but if we didn't
have the ark we
would have nothing. When you build a building you do not pull
the foundation
up, but you build on it. You do not sit on the foundation and
say that it is
solid, if it was a cold wet day, or a hot sunny day, you do
not sit there and
say it is a good foundation. We need to leave the principles
and go on to
perfection, not go through the same things again, that is not
necessary. In Hebrews 5, it tells us
of some who had to be taught again, they had not developed,
they needed to
learn the principles again. Sometimes religious people come to
the door, and we
respond with the doctrine, and we may win an argument. But it
would be far better
if we could tell them that we have something far better, God
has changed our
nature. That would be far more convincing. Hebrews 5, "Ye are
become such as
have need of milk and not of strong meat. But strong meat
belongeth to them
that are of full age, even those who by reason of youth have
their senses
exercised to discern both good and evil." When we are young, our
parents tell us
not to touch the fire. We know that parents have to be careful
for their
children until the child develops so that the child can
discern between good
and evil. As the child develops into adulthood, it is fully
grown and can
discern. In God's kingdom, it is a wonderful thing if we can
discern between
good and evil, to have a conviction, a discernment to know
right from wrong. We
need to leave the principles and go on unto perfection. This
does not mean that
we are angelic, ready for a glass case, but there is
development. We have known
a family who have a child whose body has not developed, the
parents do not
consider the child to be a burden, but it is. The child cannot
discern, and the
parents are constantly helping the child. People who develop
are not a burden
to themselves or others. They have a conviction. In the parable of sowing
seed, there is simple teaching. Jesus did not speak to
entertain people, but
spoke a message that would go to the heart. After He had
spoken, everyone could
say, "I can understand that." There is only one way to turn seed
into fruit, you
must have a seed bed. You could have the best seed bed, but no
fruit until
there is the process. The seed is the word of God, and it will
produce what is
eternal to everlasting life. There are some things grown by
hydroponics, where
they pipe the nutrient to the plant. We had some strawberries
grown that way,
and they were tasteless. There is nothing like the seed bed of
the hearts of
people. The thorns grow in the best ground. Years ago, a man
bought some virgin
land that was covered with thorns, and he considered that if
this land could
grow that, it could grow better things. It was heavy soil, and
the thorns
thrived. Jesus spoke of the heart's soil that was choked with
cares and riches
and pleasures. The seed was there but it struggled against the
weeds. The weeds
beat it, and brought forth no fruit. There was nothing wrong
with the quality
of the soil, but the weeds had not been dealt with. We have a
definite
conviction, we say amen to the message of the gospel, but
there could be the
danger of the weeds preventing the seed from developing. If
Jesus was in the
meeting today, He would tell us the same things. It would be
wonderful to have
Him here on the platform and then I could be sitting down
there. He would not
speak any profound statement, but He would help us to see the
possible, the
potential of the seed being sown in a seed bed. Unless we deal
with the weeds,
we cannot bring forth fruit to perfection. It is possible to
have a
garden covered with weeds, and it would be a garden or orchard
in name only. One time, a lady was
pulling out weeds after the rain, she pulled them out by the
roots. The roots
had been feeding on the seed bed. She did not pull out just
the tops, but
pulled them right out. Convention is the best place for us to
remove the weeds
completely. Here we have the softening influence coming into
our hearts, and if
we pull the weeds out by the roots, they will not bother us
anymore. It will
allow the right thing to develop. Jesus speaks of the cares of
life being a
weed, He does not mean that we should not have a house or farm
or work, but
putting time into things that have no value. This struggle to
win, this
competition to reach the top, keeping up with the Joneses, we
could struggle
and put our energies into the cares of this life, and the things of the kingdom are
choked out, bringing
forth no fruit. The weed of riches, we have to be practical.
We come and stay
in your home, this convention could not be here without money.
Money is not
evil; it is the love of money that is evil. We could strain
every nerve to get
what we want, not what we need. There is the deceitfulness of
riches, and if we
are convicted we need to deal with this. The pleasure of this life
is another weed. Recently, a man came to talk with us. His
family are not all
brought up. He had spent more time in seeking wealth and
ambition than in being
with his family. He had been counselled in the past, and he
said there was no
harm in it, and there wasn't any harm in it in one sense. But
things have not
gone right and now, after many years, he had to say that his
values had changed.
He realised that there was harm in it. He now has lots of
regrets and a past
that he cannot alter. The pleasures of this life only satisfy
for this life,
there is pleasure in the fun, the exciting things, there is no
doubt, but when
the fun is finished there is no joy. Joy comes through
experience, through
sacrifice. Then we have the honest and good heart in Matthew
13, who heareth
the word and understandeth it. We cannot make any use of it if
we do not
understand the word. Understanding comes through submission
and surrender. We
could have all the wisdom of the world, but it is only the
person who
surrenders their life, who is affected by the spirit of God,
that has more
understanding of this kingdom. It is not mere knowledge, for
these things are
hidden from the wise and prudent, and revealed unto babes.
When there is total
submission, then we get understanding, and the seed is in the
good ground. Proverbs 24 speaks of the
field of the slothful, all grown over with thorns and weeds. I
saw and
considered and received a message. This was a vineyard by
profession, by name,
but there was no fruit. It lacked understanding. Solomon had
the same spiritual
perception. He had the same understanding as Jesus taught.
These things give
confirmation that this is a spirit inspired book. The slothful
person is more
interested in something else. The person who is sitting down
is more interested
in talking. Real understanding comes from surrender. The field
of the slothful
was all grown over with thorns and the wall was broken down,
no separation.
Wonderful when there is the right influence in the home life,
because the
children are exposed to strong influences at school, at
university, at work,
but there is no greater place where we can combat the wiles of
the devil then
having a strong relationship in the home, a strong
relationship in the marriage
bond, in the family bond. I was staying in a home once, and the young girl came home and said there were going to do a certain thing at school. The mother did not say yes or no, but she said, "We will see what your father says when he comes home." I listened when he came home and he handled it well. She put her case to her father, and he just said, "We don't do that." He said, "We plan to do something else that day. You will have more pleasure if you come with us." On Saturday they all went off, there was a strong influence in that home. Your home is a vital place, keep it strong. You children are very fortunate, we take a lot for granted, when you come home from school in the afternoon, your mother meets you and gives you something to eat, and the man who comes home at night is your father. There are a lot of insecure people in the world, and it is bringing tragedy for the future. We do not need to be a victim of sin, but we can be victors, servants to God, free from sin. We have the casting vote, whether we are servants to ourself or the world, or whether we are free and bring fruit unto holiness, and the end, eternal life. The funeral service does not take care of eternity. |