Christian Fruitfulness

By Octavius Winslow
 

"He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful!" John 15:2

It is the will of God that his people should be a fruitful people. "This is the will of God, even your sanctification;" the sanctification of a believer including all fruitfulness. He will bring out his own work in the heart of his child. He will show that where grace dwells, it is productive of good fruit. Never does He take his child in hand with a view of dealing with him according to the tenor of the covenant of grace, but that dealing results in a greater degree of spiritual fruitfulness.

Now, when the Lord afflicts, and the Holy Spirit sanctifies the affliction of the believer—are not these among the costly fruit of that discipline?

In the first place, self has become more hateful. This, God declared, should be the result of his dealings with his ancient people Israel, for their idolatry, "They shall loathe themselves for the evils which they have committed in all their abominations." And again, "Then shall you remember your ways, and all your doings wherein you have been defiled: and you shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for all your evils that you have committed." And when the Divine compassion was drawn forth, this is described as having been the state of his beloved people, "No eye pitied you to have compassion upon you: but you were cast out in the open field to the loathing of your person." And this is no small fruit, the result of God's covenant dealings with the soul—it is one of the useless branches which He prunes away.

To loathe self on account of its sinfulness, to mortify it in all its forms, and to bring it entirely into subjection to the Spirit of holiness—are indeed no small triumphs of Divine grace in the soul, and no mean effects of the sanctified use of the Lord's dispensations. That must ever be considered a costly means that accomplishes this blessed end.

This unmortified self in the believer, is one of the most deadly enemies of his soul; it shows itself in a thousand ways, and wearing a thousand disguises. It is often difficult to detect the under-current working of the principle; for, frequently where suspicion of its existence is most lulled to rest—there it is most rife and powerful.

Self-confidence as in Peter,
self-boasting as in Hezekiah,
self-righteousness as in Job,
self-deception as in Balaam
—in how many numberless ways may this hateful, ruinous principle discover itself! And how much "deceivableness of unrighteousness" is in it—is only fully known to Him who solemnly declares, "I, the Lord, search the heart!"

Beloved reader, in your heart and in mine, the principle of this sin exists, and who can search it out, and root it out, but the Holy Spirit? "If we through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, we shall live."

Is your covenant God and Father chastening you now? Pray that this may be one blessed result, the abasement of self within you, the discovering of it to you in all its modifications and deformity, and its entire subjection to the cross of Jesus.

Blessed pruning, if the tendency and the effect are:
to lay you in the dust before the Lord,
to cause you to loathe yourself,
and to go softly and humbly all your days!

Let the believer be aware how he despises what little fruitfulness the Lord the Spirit may have given him. Many who read this little tract, may close it with deep mourning over their barrenness; they may think their fruit nothing but leaves, and their religion nothing but profession. But stay, dear reader—it is a mercy for you to know that the Lord does not regard your estimate of a fruitful state; else, were the Lord to judge and condemn as we do ourselves, were He to despise his own work as we too frequently do, it would indeed go hard with us.

But He does not so judge His redeemed people. That which we have often thought unworthy of his notice, He has looked down upon with the fondest complacency and delight. And when at the close of a sermon, or the reading of a book, or on retiring from the throne of grace—we have hung our heads, and blushed to lift up our faces towards Him, exclaiming "Lord, I am vile, do not look upon me, for I am black!" He has beheld the fruit of his own Spirit—costly, fragrant, and precious in his sight.

See, then, that you despise not what the Lord has wrought for you.

Any desire of the heart for Christ,
any secret brokenness,
any godly sorrow over indwelling sin,
any feeble going out of self and leaning on Jesus
—is the gracious work of the Holy Spirit in the soul, and must not be undervalued or unacknowledged.

A truly humble view of self, is one of the most precious fruits of the Spirit. It indicates more real fruitfulness, perhaps, than any other state of mind. That ear of corn which is the most full of grain, hangs the lowest. That bough which is the most heavily laden with fruit, bends the nearest to the ground.

Just so, it is an unequivocal mark of great spiritual fruitfulness in a believer, when:
tenderness of conscience,
contrition of spirit,
low thoughts of self, and
high thoughts of Jesus
—mark the state of his soul.

"Who has despised the day of small things?" Not Jesus.

But, dear reader, rest not here; blessed as it is to know your barrenness, and to mourn over it, it is still more blessed to press forward towards a deeper and more spiritual acquaintance with Christ, the source of all real fruitfulness. Too many rest in a mere deploring of their barrenness; they will ingenuously acknowledge their state, freely confess it before God, and yet meet them when you will, this is always their posture, and this their confession. One seems to mark in them:
no advance,
no striving after higher spiritual attainments,
no crucifixion of known sins,
no mortification of besetting sins—the surrender of that which feeds as a worm upon the root of their religion.

There seems just enough life and consciousness to detect the secret declension of the soul, but not enough to arrest its progress!

But, reader, that this should not be your case, seek an increasing knowledge of Christ—here lies the grand secret of a growing, fruit-bearing Christian. "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine. No more can you bear fruit, unless you abide in Me."

There is a perpetual proneness to seek our fruitfulness from anything but a close, spiritual, and constant dealing with the cross of Jesus. But as well might we expect the earth to clothe itself with verdure, or the tree to blossom, and the blossom ripen into fruit, without the sun's genial warmth—as to look for fruitfulness, in a regenerate soul, without a constant dealing with the Lord Jesus Christ. For, just what the sun is in the kingdom of nature, Jesus the Sun of righteousness is in the kingdom of grace—the blessed source of all its verdure, fragrance, and fruitfulness.

Let all your expectations be centered here. No real good can come to you, no healing to your spirit, no fruitfulness to your soul, from a perpetual living upon convictions of sin, legal fears, or transient joys. The Divine life can derive no nutriment from these. But live upon the sin-atoning blood of Jesus. Here is the fatness of your soul found; this it is that heals the wound, wins the heart, and hushes to repose every fear of condemnation. This it is that enables a poor sinner to look fully at God, feeling that justice, holiness, truth, and every Divine perfection are on his side.

It is the blood of Jesus, applied by the Spirit, that moistens each fibre of the root of holiness in the soul, and is productive of its fruitfulness. This it is that sends the warm current of spiritual life through every part of the regenerate man, quickening the pulse of love, and imparting a healthy and vigorous power to every act of obedience.

And when the spiritual seasons change, for it is not always spring-time with the soul of a child of God, when the summer's sun withers, or the autumnal blast scatters the leaves, and winter's fiercer storm beats upon the smitten bough—the blood and righteousness of Christ lived upon, loved, and cherished, will yet sustain the Divine life in the soul!

And in due season, the spring blossom and the summer fruit shall again appear, proving that the Divine life of a believer is "hidden with Christ in God." Then shall it be said of you, as was said of the Church by her Beloved: "Look, the winter is past, and the rains are over and gone. The flowers are springing up, the season of singing birds has come, and the cooing of turtle-doves fills the air. The fig trees are forming young fruit, and the fragrant grapevines are blossoming. Rise up, my darling! Come away with me, my fair one!" Song of Songs 2:11-13

Then let your heart respond, "Awake, O north wind! Rise up, south wind! Blow on my garden and spread its fragrance all around. Come into your garden, my love; taste its finest fruits!" Song of Songs 4:16

Thus shall you be "filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God!"