The Fruit of Kingdom Life

 

Glory to God!

The Kingdom of God is advancing and the increase of Christ's rule and reign will never end because the zeal of the Lord will accomplish this (see Isaiah 9:6,7). The Father is passionate and zealous to fulfill His purposes on earth. Nothing will hinder the advancement of God's Kingdom! The passion and the power that is behind the advancement of God's Kingdom is the same zeal that is behind the Father's desire for His children to produce the fruit of His Kingdom. Just as Jesus was consumed with the zeal of the Lord in clearing the temple to restore Kingdom order and honour, so the Father wants us to participate in His zeal to see His Kingdom established on earth as it is in heaven as we produce the fruit of His Kingdom. Hallelujah!

Having looked at the motivation (why?) and the method (how?) for fruitfulness last week as we studied John 15, yesterday we examined what the fruit is that God has called and appointed us to bear (Click here to listen to the sermon entitled: The fruit of Kingdom Life). Each of the following branches of Kingdom Life require particular seed to be sown in order to produce the fruit of the Kingdom. Each branch is based on Jesus' commands to the Church and will produce the fruit of His Kingdom as we remain in Christ and obey Him.

Spiritual: a people who depend on God, live for God and are governed by Him.
Jesus' command: "Remain in me." John 15:4
Seed: praying, studying God's Word, worship, being led by the Holy Spirit, faith, etc

Relational: a people who are committed to one another in love.
Jesus' command: "Love one another as I have loved you." John 15:12
Seed: reconciliation, forgiveness, connecting, caring, being a significant part of the Church, etc

Maturing: a people who are growing in their knowledge of God, in Christ-likeness and love.
Jesus' command: "Go and bear fruit." John 15:16
Seed: studying God's Word, applying God's Word, renewal of the mind, etc

Healing: a people of hope who bring restoration.
Jesus' command: "Heal the sick." Matthew 10:8
Seed: accepting, listening, caring, ministering the healing power of Jesus, speaking truth and hope into people's lives, encouraging, exhorting, etc

Serving: a people who sacrificially help others.
Jesus' command: "Wash one another's feet." John 13:14
Seed: serving in the church, helping others, meeting needs in Jesus' Name, etc

Generous: a people who give beyond expectation.
Jesus' command: "Freely you have received. Freely give." Matthew 10:8
Seed: giving beyond the tithe, being merciful, being gracious, giving beyond with one's time and energy, etc

Outward-focused: a people who reach out to the unsaved and needy.
Jesus' command: "Be my witnesses." Acts 1:8
Seed: testifying about Jesus, feeding the hungry, visiting prisoners, clothing the poor, etc

Creative: a people who celebrate their gifts for God's glory.
Jesus' command: "Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Matthew 5:16
Seed: using one's gifts to glorify God, dance, literature, music, art, etc

Multiplying: a people who influence with, birth and establish God's Kingdom wherever they are.
Jesus' command: "Go and make disciples." Matthew 28:19
Seed: teaching, mentoring, church planting, leadership training, initiating, etc

As we remain in Jesus and seek to be a spiritual, relational, maturing, healing, serving, generous, outward-focused, creative and multiplying people both individually and corporately, we will produce the fruit of God's Kingdom and be part of the establishing and advancing of God's Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Hallelujah!

Preparing for Fruitfulness

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Glory to God!

This will be a year of abundance as we apply God's Word to our lives!

The Lord has been speaking to us about sowing seed and fruitfulness. Two Sundays ago Alexander shared a message entitled What is your increase strategy? which you can listen to here. Alexander looked at the principles related to having an effective strategy for increase and showed us the following:

• Know the state of your assets (seed) - what has God given you to produce with? (Proverbs 27:23-27)
• Know your environment (soil) - understand your location, season, and the conditions (Matthew 13:1-9)
• Know God's vision for your life (harvest) - what will the fruit be that God wants you to produce? (Jeremiah 29:11)
• Make wise choices - learn to be an investor (delayed gratification) rather than a consumer (instant gratification)

• God gives specific seed for specific fruit.
• God will use what you already have.
• For a continuous supply of fruit you have to continue to sow.
• Pay more attention to the seed than to the fruit.
• Fruit grows constantly, not suddenly.

Yesterday we studied John 15:1-17 as Richard spoke to us about Fruitfulness, which you can listen to here. In his message, Richard showed us the following:

The Motivation for Fruitfulness (Why should we be fruitful?)

• The believer is created in Christ to be fruitful.
• Jesus has chosen and appointed us to be fruitful.
• The Father is at work in our lives to make us fruitful.
• Fruitfulness glorifies the Father.
• Fruitfulness demonstrates that we belong to Jesus and are His followers.
• Fruitfulness influences the effectivity of our prayers.
• Fruitfulness leads to joy.

The Method for Fruitfulness (How are we to be fruitful?)

• We must depend on Jesus and remain in Him.
• We must know the will of Jesus - His Word must remain in us.
• We must do the will of Jesus.
• We must pray according to God's will and in Jesus' name.

The Nature of the Fruit (What is the fruit?)

• The fruit that we are to produce is the manifestation of God's nature - His love, joy, peace, etc
• Fruitfulness is the manifestation of the disciple's obedience to God.
• Fruitfulness is the manifestation of being like Jesus and doing His works.

We praise God for His revelation to us and for His passion to make us fruitful for His glory!

A Year of Abundance!

Glory to God!

"2016. Sow what?!" was God's Word to us last Sunday which you can listen to here. In his message, Richard spoke to us about sowing and reaping and showed us how God wants us to pay attention to what we sow and how much we sow. This is what we noted:

• Every person sows either to please self or to please God and will reap what s/he sows. Gal. 6:7,8
• Sowing to please the Spirit does not come naturally as the desires of the flesh and the desires of the Spirit are in conflict with one another. Gal. 5:17
• The Spirit is willing but the body is weak, and so the believer must learn to overcome the weakness of the body to sow to please the Spirit and to reap fullness of life.
• Just as Jesus "learned obedience" and overcame his emotions, his will and his physical tiredness in Gethsemane to do the will of the Father, so the believer needs to learn to overcome the flesh and sow to please the Spirit. Mat 26:36-46
• If we want to reap generously, we must sow generously. 2 Cor 9:6
• As stewards of what God entrusts to us, whether finances, gifts, responsibilities, relationships, time, etc, we are expected to use these wisely.
• Jesus teaches us that we must sow to invest wisely before He returns. 
• Jesus calls us to sow in order to be ready (Mat 25:1-13), in order to multiply what He gives us (Mat 25:14-30) and in order to bless those in need (Mat 25:31-46).
• All three parables in Matthew 25:1-46 deal with stewardship and the consequences of wise investment whether for ourselves, for others or for God's Kingdom.
• Generosity is commended because it reflects the heart of the Father.
• If we are to reap a harvest of righteousness, the fruit of sowing to please God, we need to consider what we want to reap with regard to: our relationship with God, our relationship with others, the lost, the needy, the church, work, etc.
• Nothing will change unless we sow the right seed and sow it abundantly!
• The assurance we have as we seek to sow generously to please the Spirit this year is the following:

"Each man should give what he has decided to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Cor 9:8

We praise God for His revelation to us and for the assurance of abundance this year as we sow generously! Hallelujah!