The Laws of Fruitfulness

And I'm going to read today out of Psalm one,

verse three, Psalm one, verse three. I hope that

you have been meditating on this entire psalm

and even challenging yourself to not just meditate,

but even memorize portions of it or the whole

thing. If you're up for the challenge, not too

long of a psalm, but but it'll bless your life.

It'll strengthen you. And in verse three, it

says he shall be. Like a tree planted by the

rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in

its season. Everybody say fruit. Whose leaf also

shall not wither and whatsoever he does shall

prosper. Amen. I'm going to speak for a few moments

today about the laws of fruitfulness. The laws.

In week one, we looked and we talked about soil.

It was all about soil, where you are planted.

Week two was all about seeds and roots and what

grows beneath. But today, we are moving from

roots to fruit. You cannot see the roots. But

you can taste and see its fruits. And healthy

roots should always produce fruit. Should always

produce fruit. And this is why a farmer does

not need to command an apple tree to produce

apples. He doesn't have to go up to an apple

tree and declare, you're going to produce apples.

Because if the seed is planted in good soil and

receives the right care, it will naturally produce

what it is. It's the law of nature. And the same

is true spiritually. You do not have to command

fruit into existence. In your life, you don't

even have to pray for fruit. I know that sounds

a bit odd to hear, but you shouldn't even have

to pray for fruit. Because if your roots are

deep and healthy, fruit is inevitable. Fruit

ought to come. In fact, there are some who are

erroneously. praying for fruit instead of addressing

their roots. We're praying for things that our

roots cannot sustain. But the purpose of a tree

is fruit. And since you and I, as God's people,

are trees of righteousness, as we have read in

Isaiah, the planting of the Lord. God's purpose

for our lives is to bear spiritual fruit. Somebody

say amen. You need to know that God designed

you to bear fruit. Each and every one of us.

He's called us to bear fruit. If you want to

know what your purpose is in life. Why God saved

you. sanctified you, transformed you is so that

you could produce spiritual fruit. I know that

there are lots of ways in which we can talk about

our purpose, our individual unique callings and

passions and desires that are very tailored to

who you are as an individual. But by and large,

we are all called to that primary calling of

producing spiritual fruit. Now, God can see our

roots because God sees what is growing beneath.

He's got x -ray vision. He's got vision that

allows Him to see us in our private, personal,

dare I say, secret lives. There are no secrets

with God. Amen. But the world, can only see your

fruit. The world cannot see your roots. They

only see your fruit. You can tell them all you

want about your roots. I've got good roots. And

all they'll hear is what you can say, but they'll

only know you by what they see on the outside.

And if we are to be true witnesses of Christ,

who have been converted and transformed by the

power of the gospel, by the power of God, then

our fruits, what we produce, should confirm our

confession. And if ever there is a contradiction

between what we confess with our mouth and what

we produce in our life, That ought to cause us

to go back to the word, back to an altar, back

to a place of God reforming, reshaping, developing

us because there ought to never be that contradiction.

We have to be consistent in who we say that we

are. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 7 that

you will know them by their fruits. You will

know them by... He didn't say by what they say.

Come on, somebody. He didn't say by who they

know or how well they perform in front of others

or in the church even. By how dutiful they are,

how religious they are in the temple. No. He

said you're going to know that they are who they

say they are by their fruits. Somebody say fruits.

That's it. That's what it comes down to. Our

fruits. So at some point, there must be an outward

sign of an inward change. If the tree is healthy,

it's going to produce fruit. Those fruits will

eventually appear on the branches. And without

announcing itself, an apple tree doesn't have

to put a sign in front of it that says, I'm an

apple tree. In case you didn't know. He doesn't

have to say. He doesn't have to announce to the

world. An apple tree doesn't put a bumper sticker

on its car that says, I'm an apple tree. You

will know it's an apple tree by its fruit, by

its conduct, by its demeanor, by the way that

it produces the fruit, you'll know. And that

is the power of a true witness of Christ, church,

is that it doesn't matter what we say. Our actions

speak louder. than words. Amen. Why don't we

give God a hand of praise for that? Amen? Praise

God. According to Galatians 5, the fruit of the

Spirit is love, joy, peace, long -suffering,

kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,

and one of my personal favorites, self -control.

But the Bible also speaks of other types of fruit,

not just these that we've heard about, possibly,

but the Bible also talks about the fruits of

repentance, fruits worthy of repentance, fruits

of righteousness, and even the fruit of our speech,

the fruit of our speech, and talks about the

fruits of our labor. Amen. The reward that we

receive for the honest hard work that we put

forth. He even talks about the fruit of our praise.

Amen. The praise as the fruit of our lips and

thanksgiving. These are all fruits. And I'm not

going to today examine every one of them. You

can through your own Bible reading and your own

study. Examine the types of fruit. We're not

going to do an inspection of all the fruits.

But just know that there are various fruits,

various outworkings or expressions of faith that

say to our neighbor, to our family members, to

others who we are. Jesus said that the branch

cannot bear fruit of itself. Unless it abides

in the vine, neither can you unless you abide

in me. So one of the reasons why we don't have

to inspect and look at every one of these fruits,

sometimes people go, how can I grow in joy if

I just got to grow in more joy? So this week

I'm going to work on the joy fruit. Next Sunday,

next week, I'm going to work on the self -control

fruit. Let me tell you something. Let me unlock.

And make it real simple for you today. You don't

have to work on your fruits. If you work on getting

planted and rooted, the fruit will take care

of itself. Amen. He said, just abide in me. Because

every one of these fruits are all attributes

of Christ. They're all characteristics of Christ.

So if we just focus on... The planting of our

lives. Focus on nourishing and growing as a believer.

These fruits are going to come. And they're going

to flourish in our lives. But I want today, before

I conclude this message, I want to share with

you three laws. I call this message the laws

of fruitfulness. And there are three for your

consideration, for your study, for your growth

today that I want... To guide you with three

laws, three spiritual laws of fruitfulness. The

first law is this. Is that fruit exists for others.

Someone say others. Say it again. Others. You

know that trees don't eat their own fruit. They

don't eat their own fruit. They exist to feed

others. But a fruitless tree exists only for

itself. Think about a fruitless tree for a moment.

That was in its DNA created to bear fruit, but

is fruitless. Think about that tree. Think about

it in your mind for a moment. It stands there.

A fruitless tree stands there very proudly, almost

like a statue or a monument. And since it has

nothing to really offer, what it thrives on is

attention. A fruitless tree, the only thing that

really keeps it going is waiting to be noticed,

appreciated for its beauty. It stands there with

its lush green leaves, outstretched branches.

And the only thing it can really, the only value

that it really brings is the value of bringing

attention to itself and saying, look at how wonderful

of a tree I am. And so it gets its 15 seconds

of fame, I guess. It gets a like. It gets a love.

It gets a click. It gets a follow. But that's

about it. Doesn't get much. Maybe like a compliment,

you know. Wow, what a. What a great tree you

are. Huh? But I want you to understand that as

glorious, as lovely, as green, as beautiful as

that tree might be, without fruit, it does nothing

to feed and to nourish the lives of other people.

God is not impressed with fruitless trees. No

matter how lovely, how holy, how wonderful they

appear on the outside. Hear me today, church.

God is not impressed with fruitless trees. So

much so that when Jesus once saw a fig tree full

of leaves, but without fruit, the Bible says

he cursed it. Think of that. Why would Jesus

curse a perfectly well -manicured, polished green

tree? Like, what's wrong with that? In the eyes

of man, it looks like something you might put

in the front yard, something to beautify. God's

not interested in just having beautiful fixtures

in his temple. Oh, my God, I might just preach

today. Hallelujah. God's not interested in just

having beautiful fixtures in his family. No,

that's not what he wants. And so he cursed the

tree. And what he was teaching his disciples

is that through this object lesson, he teaches

them that appearance without fruit is just empty

religion. It helps no one. It might be beautiful.

It might be attractive. It might generate some

compliments, some likes. People might be impressed

by what they see and what they hear. But at the

end of the day, nobody is being fed. Nobody's

coming to Christ. Nobody is being nourished.

No one's being ministered to in a real, personal,

genuine way because there's all leaves and no

fruit. And so Jesus, the most cursed people in

the world are not those that are practicing witchcraft.

They're not those that are worshiping the devil.

They're not those that are practicing evil and

darkness. The most cursed people in the world

are those that have all green and no fruit. Jesus

never cursed the prostitute. He never cursed

the wind. But he cursed a perfectly well manicured

tree because it was all branches and leaves and

it served no godly purpose. Now that might have

just blown somebody's mind for a second. You

say, wow. You mean I could be in a state of,

well, possibly. If we don't pay attention to

what God is calling us to do, the fig tree looked

alive, but it produced nothing. And it was a

picture that Jesus was drawing of the Pharisees,

a sect of religious hardliners. I mean, these

people were hardliners. They dotted every I,

crossed every T. If I could say it in the 21st

century, they were like the apostolic of apostolic.

I mean, they had it down. They were. Polished,

they were. I mean, you couldn't find anything

wrong with these people because they spent all

of their time perfecting their image, but no

fruit. They weren't helping anybody. And eventually,

they themselves were cursed. You see, why is

this principle so important today, church? I'll

tell you why. It's because people cannot eat

leaves. They're hungry for fruit. People can't

eat leaves as beautiful as it might be. Oh, look

at that wonderful person. Look at how sparkly

clean they are with all of that beauty and all

of that holiness and all that. Hey, that's wonderful.

But nobody can eat from that tree. It looks impressive

from a distance. And it creates the appearance

of life. Hey, it looks like they got it all together.

Man, things must be going well. They must be

blessed. They must be prosperous. When you take

a closer look, you'll see. That it's just branches.

Oh, it may look like it's got life in it. They

rustle in the wind and they cover the branches

with color. But they cannot satisfy hunger. I'm

here to tell you today, church, in a spiritual

sense, God is not looking for a church that only

has activity. Hey, we can have a lot of activity.

How many know we can make a lot of noise, right?

We can make a lot of noise. We can do it with

or without a microphone. We can run all kinds

of programs in our church. We can have excellent

presentation. Good for here. Good for online.

I mean, we can really make ourselves a spectacle

and say, well, we really got it going on here.

But that's not going to feed hungry people if

there is no fruit. People are not looking just

for the, they're not just looking for wind in

the breeze of the leaves. They're not just looking

for activity. They're looking for something that's

going to satisfy their soul. They're looking

for truth. Transforms for love that heals, for

power that sets them free, and for grace that

restores. Let's give God a hand of praise today.

Hallelujah. That's what they're looking for.

Leaves attract attention. And you'll know that

someone is a leafy Christian is when they stop

getting the attention, they start revealing their

true nature. But when you're producing fruit,

you don't care about the attention. Because that

fruit is changing people's lives. We're not just

called to look the part, church. We're called

to bear fruit. Somebody say fruit. So the first

law is that fruit exists for others. Number two

is that fruit takes time. Someone say it takes

time. Psalm 1 tells us that the tree brings forth

fruit in its season. Why in its season? Because

fruit cannot be rushed. It's a process. Somebody

say, it's a process. It's a process that works

in conjunction with the cycles and the seasons

of nature. Ecclesiastes 3 .1 says it this way,

to everything there is a season, a time for every

purpose under heaven. And it goes on to talk

about there being a time to plant, a time to

pluck what has been planted. But something we

should be aware of is that if you pluck the fruit

while it's still green, And unripe, if you try

to take the fruit from a tree that is not ripe

yet, it has no flavor. It's bitter. Some of the

source of the sourness in people's lives and

the bitterness is not because God doesn't love

them and doesn't want to use their life. It's

because they try to pluck fruit from a tree that

wasn't ready. And instead of going back into

the... into the lab instead of going back into

the process you got bitter because someone didn't

believe in you or someone didn't give you the

opportunity you got sour with people but that

would have never happened if you simply waited

for your season oh my god I think I'm gonna have

to go listen to this live stream next week just

to encourage myself because I can't I gotta tell

you sometimes I myself have gotten a little bitter

and say wait a minute You need to take your time.

God's not done yet producing the fruit that he

needs to in your life. It takes time. Fruit will

be ripe for the picking in the right season.

An apple tree has got everything it needs to

produce that fruit to feed others, but it cannot

rush ahead of the season for producing. All the

while that's getting ready, you must understand

that God works in seasons. Some might say he

works in seasons. I've had to learn this lesson,

church, throughout my life at different points.

And I began, as I was preparing and meditating

over this, I started thinking about the different

times where I had to remember and learn about

the seasons of God. And I do remember. Early

on in my writing ministry, for everyone knows

that I write books and I've written a few. But

very early on in that journey, I went through

a period where I felt like my time, my talent

was being wasted. Because guess what? I thought

I was this great writer, but nobody wanted to

read it. I couldn't get an audience. I tried

so many different ways, you know. websites and

all kinds of, I mean, whoever would bother, I

would, you know, I'd want them to read, but I

went through a period where I felt like I wasn't

making any progress, that part of my ministry

wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't producing. But

you know what I did? I just kept writing. I wrote

books that nobody read. Because I realized that

you don't show, you don't get ready when it's

time to get ready. You've got to be ready. And

you have to stay active. You've got to stay working

and developing and nourishing and growing. And

so that's what I did. Behind closed doors, I

was working and working. And probably around

that point where I felt like maybe this is not

for me. Maybe I just need to move on to something

else. Out of nowhere, my wife's a witness. It

was a very... Very fragile time in our life,

in our marriage. A lot of things, lots of changes

were happening. And then out of nowhere, I get

a call from a publisher that had no idea was

even paying attention to me. Out of nowhere,

and offered me a job to write full -time as a

writer. And I mean full -time, like with benefits

and everything. Praise God. It came out of nowhere.

I wasn't looking for it. I didn't know. It just

completely out of nowhere. I knew it was God.

I knew it was God in that moment. But I was reminded

of just how God works. And the greater blessing

for me is that I was producing fruit now that

was being plucked in the form of books and curriculum.

It was being spread to places and the people

that I could have never reached on my own. No

matter how much money I would have pumped into

a marketing campaign. How much money I would

have pumped into a promotional campaign. And

how many doors I would have knocked on. And how

many people I would have begged. Free copies

of my... None of that would have done what a

God moment could do in my life. And I've come

to tell somebody, it's the same with you. As

long as you're not worried about who gets the

credit. As long as you're not worried about who

gets the attention. As long as you're not worried

about anything except for God to be the glory.

And people be nourished and encouraged. then

when God says your season has come, you better

get ready because God's about to show you his

power and his glory. I've come to tell somebody

today, just continue to be fruitful, continue

to work, continue to serve, and watch God do

the rest. Come on, give God some glory today.

I had to live out this love. and remind myself

what the Bible says in Galatians 6, 9, and let

us not grow weary in doing good. For in due season

we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Your fruit

may not appear today, but if you stay planted,

this is what God... It's saying to the church,

this is what the Holy Ghost is saying to you.

You may not see fruit right away. It may not

appear today. But if you stay planted, someone

say planted your fruit, your season will come.

It will come. And for those who feel, well, I'm

already in my season. Do you think God can do

even greater than that? I don't know about you,

but I'm not satisfied. Say, well, God's blessed

me. Well, I serve the God of the overflow. Oh,

hallelujah. I believe that he's got more where

that came from. I believe that God owns the cattle

on a thousand hills. I believe that God's got

treasures laid up in store for me. I believe

that there is a reward. I believe that he is

a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Does anybody else believe that? And so, hey,

we've got to go from season to season, from glory

to glory, from faith to faith. See the wonders

of God unlocked in our life. And it's going to

happen when we recognize the season that I'm

in. And some of you might be a little discouraged

right now. Say, well, I'm not seeing any productivity.

I'm not seeing anything come. I have put in the

time. I put in the effort. I put in the I've

dedicated myself. I've been I've been preserving

myself and all of it. And when is it going to

come? Hey, you just hold on, my brother and sister.

You just keep the faith. Come on. I come to tell

somebody, keep the faith today and keep believing

and keep working. and keep striving and keep

producing that fruit and you'll watch one day

just the right thing at the right time. God's

going to say, now is your time for a harvest.

Now is your time. I'm believing not just for

you, I'm believing for this church. We are planted

right here in Mountain View and God is going

to give us a harvest. God is going to give us,

I believe in the name of, if we just stay planted

in the things of God. And the test for us in

this season is to wait on the Lord as our church

goes through its own seasons and its own cycles.

I'm going to tell you something. I've been the,

I was the founding, by the grace of God, the

founding pastor of this church. When we planted.

I have seen different seasons. I've seen the

seasons. I've seen the cycles. And all through

it, I have seen the hand of God. I've seen him

move and I've seen him demonstrate his goodness,

his faithfulness in my life. And one of the things

that God has been speaking to me lately into

my spirit is that the best is still yet to come.

Come on, clap your hands and give God praise

for that. How many of you believe the best is

still yet to come? And we haven't seen the greatest

that God has. We haven't seen the best. We're

going to fill up that baptism tank. Don't you

worry. We haven't filled it up in a while. Don't

you worry. God's got souls that he's going to

give. God's got people that he's going to restore.

God's got family that he's going to bring. But

what you and I have got to do is remain planted

and rooted in the things of God, in the house

of the Lord. Hallelujah. And watch what, does

anybody believe with me here today? Does anybody

join with me in faith today? God is going to

do it. So for you and I today, church, us and

our family as a church that we are, what we've

got to do is remain planted. And just let the

seasons take place. Let the seasons unfold. And

we're going to see. Amen. We'll look back on

these days and we'll say, wow, look at what the

Lord has done. Hallelujah. Oh, when I think about

the Lord and all that, we're going to look back.

But we got to be patient and wait on him. Amen.

Let us not grow weary in well -doing. Don't get

tired. I mean, we do get tired, but, you know,

pick yourself up. Amen. Revive yourself. Don't

quit. Someone say, don't quit. Don't walk away

from your tree because it hasn't produced fruit

yet. You keep watering. You stay close to the

water. You keep nourishing, and you watch what

God's going to do. Law number three is that fruit

comes in different measures. Before I close today,

I want to tell you that fruit comes in different

measures, different increments, different scales.

Fruitfulness. Somebody needs to know this. Fruitfulness

is not identical for everyone. It's not identical

for everyone. In the kingdom of God, fruit develops

and increases over time. Just as a tree does

not produce a full harvest the moment it begins

to grow, you might call that overnight success,

overnight growth. Doesn't happen in the natural

world. And most times it won't happen in the

spiritual world either. Spiritual fruit must

mature progressively. And it will produce at

different levels of fruitfulness. Jesus taught

this principle in John 15. He was talking about

the vine and the branches. And he describes,

if you want to study this on your own, I don't

have time right now. But in a nutshell, he talks

about just the levels, the progression of fruit.

And he says that in his example that there's

a no fruit level where you're just not producing

anything. And then he talks about some fruit.

And then more fruit. And finally, much fruits.

God describes that there are levels of fruitfulness.

And so it's important to realize that as long

as you're growing, as long as you're producing,

it doesn't matter the size of the fruit, the

scale of the fruit. What matters is that what

you produce is true and genuine. Amen. Hallelujah.

It ought to deepen and multiply over time though.

It shouldn't stay that way forever. But this

is an important spiritual principle I pray that

every one of you gets in your life today. This

same principle appears in the parable of the

sower in Mark 4. There Jesus taught that those

who receive the word of God and allow it to take

root and bear fruit in their lives, it will come

out in different ways. Watch this. The Lord said,

but these are the ones sown on good ground. That's

why it's so important to be in good ground. You're

in good ground today. Hallelujah. Amen. But these

are the ones sown on good ground. Those who hear

the word. How many of you heard the word today?

I said, how many of you have been hearing the

word? And accept it. Are you accepting the word?

Amen. Amen. And bear fruit. So if you hear the

word, you accept the word into your heart, you're

going to bear fruit. But watch the levels of

fruitfulness here. He said some thirtyfold, some

sixty, and some a hundredfold. Jesus... to the

same body but we're not all going to produce

the same measure of fruit in our lives that's

not to discourage you actually that's to encourage

you why so that you never fall into the comparison

trap of comparing your level of fruit with your

neighbor's level of fruit is still through. I

wrote every message by this Friday night at the

general convention. I don't water it down. I'm

like, well, there's only going to be probably

like 10 people. I'm going to preach a 10 people

message today. The devil is a liar. Start producing

and ministering at the level we're getting. right

there where you are, just begin to connect with

Jesus and with God. God has spoken to you today.

The word of the Lord has gone forth into your

life. Now the question is, what are you and I

going to do with this? The danger is not delayed

harvest. It's going to come. The danger is uprooting

yourself before your season arrives. Don't uproot

yourself before heart has come before you see

the answer and the hallelujah, the fulfillment

of Jesus, the fruition of God's blessing and

his word in your life. Stay planted in the word

of the Lord. Stay planted in prayer.