"Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.
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Discipleship Training Course Come… Follow Me!
Lesson 33: "Be Fruitful...and Multiply":
Part 2: Nurturing the plant:
Review
In the last lesson, we began to look at God's desire for His
children to be fruitful.
We saw...
1. The areas open to
fruitfulness; relationship with the Holy Spirit, the mind, righteous
action, spiritual gifts, fellowship with fellow believers;
2. The necessary
ingredient of His power flowing through the believer;
3. The need to increase
in divine wisdom.
In this lesson the theme of fruitfulness will consider...
1. How the Father keeps
us fruitful by pruning away the parts that do not bear fruit;
2. The nurturing of the
Christian life so that fruitfulness is the goal;
3. How to grow despite
difficulties by using them.
Our objective is...
to understand the way God deals with us; to produce fruit for His
kingdom from within us.
1. Jesus teaches on fruit-bearing.
John 15:1-17
"I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every
branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to
you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you
abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides
in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do
nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a
branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the
fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide
in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for
you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so
you will be My disciples. As the Father loved Me, I also have loved
you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will
abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and
abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that
My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is
My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved
you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down
one's life for his friends. You are My friends if you do
whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants,
for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called
you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made
known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and
appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit
should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give
you. These things I command you, that you love one another.
a Pruning away
fruitlessness
Matthew 3:10
And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every
tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the
fire.
b. Identifying the fruit
Matthew 7:16-20
You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn
bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good
fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot
bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every
tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
2. The parable of the talents.
Matthew 25:14-30
For the kingdom of heaven is like a man travelling to a far country,
who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And
to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to
each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey.
Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them,
and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received
two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and
dug in the ground, and hid his lord's money.
After a long time the lord of those servants came and any of you lacks
wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without
reproach, and it will be given to him. settled accounts with
them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five
other talents, saying, 'Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I
have gained five more talents besides them.'
His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you were
faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.
Enter into the joy of your lord.'
He also who had received two talents came and said, 'Lord, you
delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents
besides them.'
His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have
been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many
things. Enter into the joy of your lord.'
Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew
you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering
where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and
hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.'
But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant,
you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not
scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the
bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with
interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him
who has ten talents.
3. Nurturing the fruit-bearing
plant.
a. The key to
fruitfulness is faith.
1 Corinthians 2:9-16
But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have
entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for
those who love Him." But God has revealed them to us through His
Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man
which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the
Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the
world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things
that have been freely given to us by God. These things we
also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy
Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But
the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for
they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all
things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But
we have the mind of Christ
Father's intention is that you know Him by faith.
Colossians 1:10
that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being
fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Jeremiah 17:7-8
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the
LORD. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat
comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year
of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.
b. The key to lasting,
fruitful faith is integrity.
1 John 3:20-23
For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows
all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have
confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from
Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are
pleasing in His sight.
c. Removing the
obstacles to fruitfulness.
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear
involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
1 Peter 5:5, 6
Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all
of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
"God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble." Therefore
humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you
in due time, James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all
liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But
let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a
wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not
that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a
double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
Enemies of fruitfulness
1. Fear
2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and
of a sound mind.
Hebrews 13:6
So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can
man do to me?"
2. Pride
Psalm 138:6
Though the LORD is on high, Yet He regards the lowly; But the proud He
knows from afar.
3. Inconsistency
Matthew 23:3, 4
"Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but
do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do.
For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's
shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their
fingers.
Romans 2:21-23
You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who
preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You who say,
"Do not commit adultery," do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols,
do you rob temples? You who make your boast in the law, do you
dishonour God through breaking the law?
4. Learning to grow despite
difficulties.
a.
Discouragement.
Psalm 9:9-10
The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of
trouble. And those who know Your name will put their trust in
You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.
Psalm 27:5, 6
For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the
secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high
upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies
all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His
tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD.
Psalm 30:5
For His anger is but for a moment, His favour is for life; Weeping may
endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.
Psalm 34:4, 19
I sought the LORD, and He heard me, And delivered me from all my
fears...Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD
delivers him out of them all.
b. Competition!
Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
c. Stress.
James 1:2-4
My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let
patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God,
who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given
to him.
d. Gossip.
Proverbs 18:8
The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, And they go down into
the inmost body.
Proverbs 16:28
A perverse man sows strife, And a whisperer separates the best of
friends.
James 3:6
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set
among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the
course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.
Philippians 4:7
and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard
your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
e. Personal Hurts.
Proverbs 18:14
The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness, But who can bear a
broken spirit?
1 Peter 5:7
casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Malcolm Vine, Cornerstone Ministries. September 2004.
To contact the Bible School email: bibleschool@cornerstoneministries.org.uk
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