Fruitfulness /

TEN Fruitfulness Foundation Text— You did not choose me, but I chose you to 30 and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will

Sive you whatever you ask in my name. —Jn 15:16

God's purpose in our salvation is that we should bring forth fruit. A husbandman plants the vine for the sake of the grapes it will bear; the farmer plants his apple orchard in order to gather fruit. A fruitless Christian life is an impossibility.

I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he trims clean so that it will be even more fruitful.—Jn 15:1-2 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. —Lk 3:9

Many are apt to think far more of being saved, than of being fruitful. But God does not separate these things; to be saved ts to be fruitful, and to be fruitful is to be saved.

Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.

So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?"

120 / The Open Secret "<Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and Pil dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.""—Lk 13:6-9 (Heb 6:7-8)

No matter how good an outward appearance our lives may make, no matter how clear our doctrines, nor how great our activities, unless we "bear fruit" we cannot be acceptable to God. And the fruit he desires is character. It is to be right even more than to do right. Of course the doing will follow the being, but the vital point is the being. Most people have too much reversed this order, and have made the doing the vital thing; limiting the meaning of fruit-bearing to service, so much work done, so many meetings held, so many sermons preached or prayers prayed, such and such results accomplished. But God's primary idea of fruit is Christ-likeness.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.—Gal 5:22-23 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

—Phil 1:9-11 (Rom 8:29; Eph 5:9) People may do much wonderful so-called Christian work, and yet in it all bear not one single "fruit of righteousness" that will be "to the glory and praise of God."

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.—Jas 3:17-18 (Mt 7:16-20)

Some Christians have what is sometimes called a "public gift," and can speak or pray in a meeting to great edification; but they go home to be cross to their families, and bitter

Fruitfulness / 121 towards their acquaintances, and fault-finding, and malicious, and full of self. They have great outward results apparently, but they have not as yet the very first and most vital of all the "fruits of the Spirit," which is love; and consequently all the rest, grand as they may seem, profit them nothing.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

—1 Cor 13:1-3 Israel was a spreading vine; / he brought forth fruit for himself. /

As his fruit increased, / he built more altars; / as his land prospered, / he adorned his sacred stones.—Hos 10:1

To bring "forth fruit for himself" means simply that self is the center and end of all the work. To bring glory to self, to gain advantage for self, to secure future rewards for self, to exalt self in some way, this is the secret end and aim of such service.

Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.

—Mt 12:33-35 In the very nature of things it is impossible for an "evil man" to bring forth good things; for, even though we do not knowit and surely do not intend it, yet it is nevertheless an inexorable fact that "out of the overflow of the heart" the life will be lived.

We cannot "put on" in spiritual things. If our tree is corrupt, our fruit will be corrupt also, no matter how much we may try to train it up or make it appear well.

122 / The Open Secret No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.

For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

—Lk 6:43-46 If the fruits of the Spirit, which are love, and gentleness, and meekness, and long-suffering, are not seen in a man's life, then the Spirit cannot be there either, for where the Spirit is, his fruits must necessarily be manifest.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers!

Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

—Mt 3:7-10 Even to have "Abraham as our father" will not save us, neither will any other outward relation or position. Nothing but the fruits of the Spirit can come from the Spirit; and without these fruits, no one can claim to be walking in the Spirit, let their outward activities or eminence in the church be what they may.

Since they hated knowledge / and did not choose to fear the Lord, / since they would not accept my advice / and spurned my rebuke,

/ they will eat the fruit of their ways / and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.—Prv 1:29-31 The "fruit of their ways" may look like goodly fruit to the eye of flesh, but the soul that is compelled to "eat" of it, will find itself starved as to its true inner life.

I the Lord search the mind / and try the heart, / to give to every

Fruitfulness / 123 man according to his ways, / according to the fruit of his doings.—Jer 17:10 (RSV) Man may judge by outward appearances, but the Lord

"searches the heart," and gives to each one of us according to the fruit he finds there.

We who are Christian workers need especially to realize this. We need to understand that no amount of preaching or praying, or singing, or weeping, or groaning will do, instead of being gentle, and meek, and long suffering, and good. A great many people want to work for the Lord, but do not want to be good for him; but it is the goodness he cares for, far more than the work. If you cannot do both, choose the being good, for it is infinitely more important.

I will sing for the one I love / a song about his vineyard: / My loved one hada vineyard / ona fertile hillside. / He dug it up and cleared it of stones / and planted it with the choicest vines. / He built a watchtower in it / and cut out a winepress as well. / Then he looked fora crop of good grapes, / but it yielded only bad fruit.

/ "Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of Judah, / judge between me and my vineyard. / What more could have been done for my vineyard / than I have done for it? / When I looked for good grapes, / why did it yield only bad? / Now I will tell you / what I am going to do to my vineyard: / I will take away its hedge,

/ and it will be destroyed; / I will break down its wall, / and it will be trampled. / I will make it a wasteland, / neither pruned nor cultivated, / and briers and thorns will grow there. / I will command the clouds / not to rain on it." / The vineyard of the Lord Almighty / is the house of Israel, / and the men of Judah / are the garden of his delight. / And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; / for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

—Is 5:1-7 We must see to it that the fruit we bring forth in our lives does not partake of the nature of "wild grapes," which set the teeth of all with whom we live in our everyday lives, on edge.

There are alas! too many such Christians to be found, even sometimes among those who are pillars in the Church.

124 / The Open Secret Their vine comes.from the vine of Sodom / and from the fields of Gomorrah. / Their grapes are filled with poison, / and their clusters with bitterness.

—Dt 32:32 (Jer 2:21) How then does this "good fruit" come? There is only one way in which it can come. It grows from the seed God plants.

He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

Again he said, "What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade."—Mk 4:26-32 (Mk 4:2-8) Fruit does not come by effort, but by growth. It unfolds from within. There must be first a good inward life, before there can be good outward fruit. What would we think of a farmer who should make an orchard by beginning at the apples; and should collect bushel after bushel of excellent fruit, should tie these on branches, and fasten the branches to tree trunks, and then fasten the trunks to the roots, and finally plant the trees thus made, in the ground? And yet this would not be more foolish than it is to try to begin the Christian life at the works end instead of the character end.

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even

Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith: —Mt 6:27-30 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.—Mt 7:18

Fruitfulness / 125 Notice the word "cannot" in this passage. It does not say will not, but cannot. It expresses an impossibility, in the very nature of things. No outward "putting on" therefore will avail anything in the matter of fruit bearing. The tree itself must be good, or the fruit it bears "cannot" be good, try as hard as we may.

Some people always walk on spiritual stilts when before others. If they are riding in a railway car, they take out their

Bibles in order to look pious; when they write a letter, they try to put in some expressions that will show their religion; they interlard their conversation with pious ejaculations. They can never afford to be natural in the presence of others, for fear they should not be considered as religious as they really are.

They do their works to be "seen by men," and they do indeed have their reward. Man sees and praises; but God sees and condemns.

Be careful not to do your "acts of righteousness" before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your

Father in heaven.

So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

But when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.—Mt 6:1-5 A man can never be more than his character makes him. A man can never do more nor better than deliver or embody that which is his character. Nothing valuable can come out of a man that is not first in the man. Character must stand behind and back up every thing, the sermon, the poem, the picture, the book. None of them is worth a straw without it.

126 / The Open Secret Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither cana salt spring produce fresh water.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such "wisdom" does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

Character then is the essential thing. What is in the heart, and what comes out of the heart are the only realities in life.

And if we fail to see this, we are yet, as our Lord has said, without understanding. In the very nature of things a fig tree cannot bear both figs and thistles, and neither likewise can blessing and cursing be the fruit of the same spirit.

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

—Mt 6:24 (Rom 6:20-22) What then is the secret of true fruit-bearing?

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

Iam the vine; you are the branches. Ifa man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my

Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.—Jn 15:4-8

Fruitfulness / 127 Here again we have the inexorable nature of things, "No branch can bear fruit by itself." Try as hard as we may, no fruit is possible unless we remain in Christ. Other things are possible; wonderful works perhaps, eminent service, great benevolences, but not the "fruit of the Spirit." This fruit cannot come from any other source than from the indwelling

Spirit.

"T will be like the dew to Israel; / he will blossom like a lily. / Like a cedar of Lebanon / he will send down his roots; / his young shoots will grow. / His splendor will be like an olive tree, / his fragrance like a cedar of lebanon. / Men will dwell again in his shade. / He will flourish like the grain. / He will blossom like a vine, / and his fame will be like the wine from Lebanon. / O

Ephraim, what more have I to do with idols? / I will answer him and care for him. / I am like a green pine tree; / your fruitfulness comes from me." / Who is wise? He will realize these things. /

Who is discerning? He will understand them. / The ways of the Lord are right; / the righteous walk in them, / but the rebellious stumble in them.—Hos 14:5-8 (Rom 7:4-5; Is 27:6)

"Your fruitfulness comes from me," not from anything of the flesh, not from our own activities, not from anything of self in any way, but from God alone. And he alone can perfect his own fruit.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he trims clean so that it will be even more fruitful.—Jn 15:2

It is the husbandman's business to prune and purge the vine in order to make it fruitful. And we must accept all the storms and sorrows of life as the purgings necessary to make us bring forth more fruit. To an inexperienced eye the trimming and cutting of the gardener often seem ruthless, and we cry out to him to spare the vine. But in the autumn, when the rich clusters of fruit are hanging from the same vine, we acknowledge his wisdom and applaud his skill. And in our soul life we may similarly be tempted sometimes to question the wisdom or the

128 / The Open Secret goodness of the Divine Husbandman, when he sees it necessary to cut off our most flourishing branches, or to trim our life ofits dearest joys. But the Husbandman knows what is best for his vine and we must leave it all to him.

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.—2 Cor 4:17

And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, / and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, / because the Lord disciplines those he loves, / and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." / Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.—Heb 12:5-11

What then must we do if we would bring forth "much fruit?"

1. We must abandon ourselves to the Lord and trust him perfectly.

But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, / whose confidence isin him. / He will be like a tree planted by the water / that sends out its roots by the stream. / It does not fear when heat comes; / its leaves are always green. / It has no worries ina year of drought

/ and never fails to bear fruit.—Jer 17:7-8 (Ps 1:1-4) 2. We must receive the truth and believe it; and must keep on steadfastly believing it, against all seemings.

This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God.

Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they cannot believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who

Fruitfulness / 129 receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root.

They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away.

The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

—Lk 8:11-15 (Dt 7:12-14; Lv 26:14-15, 20) 3. We must submit ourselves to God's will, and must obey his voice.

If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit. Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.—Lv 26:3-5 (Dt 28:2-5, 11)

4. We must die as to the self-life, and must be alive only to the indwelling life of Christ.

Itell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

—Jn 12:24-25 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.—1 Pt 2:24 (Rom 7:5-6) In order to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, we must live in the Spirit, and must die to all that is of the flesh. If we would bear fruit to God, we must cease to bear fruit to self.

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.—Gal 5:24-25 (Eph 4:22-24)

While however the primary sense of fruit-bearing is character, there is also a fruitfulness in service that follows

130 / The Open Secret as the outcome of this inward life.

Fruit always covers a seed, and a new growth will therefore invariably follow in the wake of all fruit-bearing. The fruit is simply the wrapping which is around the seed; and if your fruit-bearing is real, and not fictitious, there will be sown by your living, seeds of life in the world around you that will spring up in wondrous fruitfulness in the hearts of others.

For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy ofthe Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.—Col 1:9-10

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.

—Heb 13:15 (Ez 34:26-27; Zec 8:12-13) Does your fruit cover a seed of good? Is there so much sweetness, and gentleness, and meekness, and love, in your daily living as to be a seed of blessing in the hearts of your family, and friends, and neighbors? Or does your life sow seeds of hatred, and anger, and all unlovely and un-Christlike things?

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.—Gal 6:7-9 There is no more solemn fact in all the universe than this, that what a man sows that shall he also reap. And the only escape from it is to be found in the rooting out of the seed which has been sown to the flesh, and the planting of a new crop. We must begin to bring forth fruit unto God and from God only, that is those divine fruits of the Spirit whose seed will spring up in blessing for all around us.

Fruitfulness / 131 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.—Mt 5:16

You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.—1 Cor 6:20 (2 Cor 3:3) It may well be that our Divine Husbandman is seeking fruit at this very moment from many of the trees of his planting, and is finding none, in spite of a great outward show of greenness and vigor.

The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry.

Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. —Mk 11:12-13

Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the Scriptures: / "The stone the builders rejected / has become the capstone; / the Lord has done this, / and it is marvelous in our eyes?' /

"Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away/ from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.

—Mt 21:41-43 (Jude 1:12) From many an active Christian has the kingdom been taken, to their great surprise; but the secret of it, if looked for, would be found in this simple fact, that that Christian has not been producing its fruit.

But let ws be among the number of those whose fruit shall be so truly "the fruit of the Spirit" as to be always to the praise of God's glory.

You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride; / you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain. / Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates / with choice fruits, / with henna and nard, / nard and saffron, / calamus and cinnamon, / with every kind of incense tree, / with myrrh and aloes / and all the finest spices. / You are a garden fountain, / a well of flowing water / streaming down from Lebanon.—Sg 4:12-15 (Ps 92:12-14) And let us be content with whatever purging or pruning our

Divine Husbandman may see to be necessary for our perfect-

132 / The Open Secret ing, anxious only to "lay up pleasant fruits" for our beloved, that he may see of the travail of his soul in us and be satisfied.

Awake, north wind, / and come, south wind! / Blow on my garden, / that its fragrance may spread abroad. / Let my lover come into his garden / and taste its choice fruits.—Sg 4:16

I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; / I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. / I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; / I have drunk my wine and my milk.—Sg 5:1

The mandrakes send out their fragrance, and at our door is every delicacy, / both new and old, / that I have stored up for you, my lover.—Sg 7:13

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