The Trees of Righteousness Blossoming and Bringing Forth Fruit

Philippians 1:11. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.

The blessed apostle in this chapter makes a solemn prayer to God for the Philippians; and among the rest, he puts up two rare petitions for them.

That they might be sincere (verse 10).

That they might be fruitful, in the words of the text: being filled with the fruits of righteousness. Where is observable:

The matter: being filled with fruits.

The manner of production: by Jesus Christ.

The end: which are to the glory and praise of God.

Doctrine: that Christians should above all things endeavor after fruitfulness. The saints are called trees of righteousness (Isaiah 61:3); these rational trees must not only bring forth leaves, but fruit — being filled with the fruits of righteousness. There are two things to be inquired into.

1. How a Christian brings forth fruit. 2. What is the fruit he brings forth.

How a Christian brings forth fruit. He brings forth fruit in the vine; by nature we are barren — there is not one good blossom growing on us. But when by faith we are engrafted into Christ, then we grow and fructify (John 15:4): as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can you except you abide in me. Jesus Christ is that blessed root which shoots up the sap of grace into his branches. The Pelagians tell us we have sufficiency of ourselves to bring forth good fruit; but how improper is this? Does not the root contribute to the branches? Is it not of Christ's precious fullness that we receive (John 1:16)? Therefore it is observable Christ calls the spouse's grace his grace (Song of Solomon 5:1): I have gathered my myrrh with my spice — Christ says not your myrrh, but my myrrh. If the saints bear any spiritual fruit, they are beholden to Christ for it; it is his wine, it is his myrrh (Hosea 14:8): from me is your fruit found.

What that fruit is which a good Christian brings forth. It is: 1. Inward fruit. 2. Outward fruit. 3. Kindly fruit. 4. Seasonable fruit.

A Christian brings forth inward fruit: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith (Galatians 5:22). This fruit is sweet and mellows, growing under the Sun of Righteousness; this is that ripe fruit God delights to taste of (Micah 7:1).

The fruit of good discourse (Proverbs 15:4): a wholesome tongue is a tree of life. Gracious speeches fall from the lips of a godly man as fruit from a tree.

The fruit of good works (Colossians 1:10); God will say at the last day: show me your faith by your works (James 2:18). A true saint does all the good he can, honoring the Lord with his substance; he knows he is to be in the world but a while, therefore lives much in a little time and crowds up a great deal of work in a little room. It was Christ's speech not long before his suffering (John 17:4): I have finished the work which you gave me to do. How can they be said to finish their work who never yet began a good work?

A Christian brings forth kindly fruit; the godly man brings forth his fruit (Psalm 1:3) — that is, he brings forth fruit proper for him to bear. What is this kindly and proper fruit? When we are good in our callings and relations. In a magistrate, justice is kindly fruit (Deuteronomy 16:19); in a minister, zeal (Acts 17:16); in a parent, instruction (Deuteronomy 4:10); in a child, reverence (Ephesians 6:1); in a master, good example (Genesis 18:19; Ephesians 6:9); in a servant, obedience (1 Peter 2:18); in a husband, love (Ephesians 5:25); in a wife, submission (Ephesians 5:22); in a tradesman, diligence (Exodus 20:9); in a soldier, innocence (Luke 3:14). I shall never believe him to be good who does not bear kindly fruit. A good Christian but a bad master, a good Christian but a bad parent, does not sound well. That minister can no more be good who wants zeal than that wine is good which wants spirits; that magistrate can no more be good who wants justice than that pillar is good which is not upright. That child can no more be good who does not honor his parent than a traitor can be said to be loyal. When Absalom rose in rebellion against his father, the mule which he rode (as if she were weary of carrying such a burden) resigned up her load to the great thick oak, and there left him hanging by the head between heaven and earth, as neither fit to ascend the one nor worthy to tread upon the other.

Let Christians be persuaded to bring forth proper and genuine fruit and shine forth in their relations; consider:

He who is not good in his relations goes under the just suspicion of a hypocrite; let a man seem to be a penitent or zealot, yet if he bears not fruit proper to his station, he is no tree of righteousness but some wild degenerate plant. There are some who will pray, hear sermons, discourse well — this is good; but what means the bleating of the sheep? They are not good in their relations; this discovers they are unsound. A good Christian labors to fill his relations and to go through all the parts of religion, as the sun through all the signs of the zodiac. I like not those Christians who, though they seem to be traveling to heaven, yet leave the duties of their relations as terra incognita, which they never come near.

The excellency of a Christian is to bring forth proper fruit; wherein lies the goodness of a member in the body but to discharge its proper office? The eye is to see, the ear to hear; so the excellency of a Christian is to bring forth that fruit which God has assigned him. What is a thing good for which does not do its proper work? What is a clock good for that will not strike? What is a ship good for that will not sail? What is a rose good for that does not smell? What is that professor good for who does not send forth a sweet perfume in his relation? The commendation of a thing is when it puts forth its proper virtue.

Not to bring forth suitable fruit spoils all the other fruit which we bring forth. If a man were to make a medicine and should leave out the chief ingredient, the medicine would lose its virtue; if one were to draw a picture and should leave out an eye, it would spoil the picture. There are many to whom Christ will say at the day of judgment, as to the young man (Luke 18:22): yet you lack one thing. You have prayed, fasted, and heard sermons, yet you lack one thing — you have not been good in your relations.

Relative graces do much beautify and set off a Christian; it is the beauty of a star to shine in its proper orb. Relative grace does bespangle a Christian.

A good Christian brings forth seasonable fruit (Psalm 1:3): he that brings forth fruit in his season. Everything is beautiful in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11); that may be good at one time which at another may be out of season. There is a great deal of skill in the right timing of a thing; duties of religion must be performed in the fit juncture of time.

Christian duties that relate to our neighbor must be observed in their season.

Our reproving others must be seasonable; reproof is a duty — when we see others walk irregularly, like soldiers that march out of rank and file, we ought mildly yet gravely to tell them of their sin (Leviticus 19:17). But let this fruit be brought forth in its season.

Do it privately (Matthew 18:15): go and tell him his fault between you and him alone.

Do it when you see him in the best temper, not when his passions are up; that were pouring oil on the flame. But when his spirit is meekened and calmed — you put the seal on the wax when it is soft and pliable; there is a time when men's spirits are more flexible and yielding. Now is the fittest season to stamp a reproof upon them, and it is likeliest to take impression. When Abigail reproved Nabal, it was in the right season — not when he was in wine, but when he was in his wits and was fit to hear a reproof (1 Samuel 25:37).

Another season for reproof is in the time of affliction; affliction tames men's spirits, and now a word of reproof spoken prudentially may work with the affliction. A bitter potion is not refused in case of extremity of pain; affliction opens the ear to discipline (Job 36:10).

Our comforting others must be seasonable (Proverbs 15:23): a word spoken in due season, how good is it? When we see one fallen into sin and with Peter weeping bitterly, oh now a word of comfort will do well. The Corinthian, being deeply humbled, the apostle calls for oil and wine to be poured into his wounds (2 Corinthians 2:7): you ought rather to comfort him, lest perhaps such an one should be swallowed up of sorrow. When the soul is wounded for sin, now bring the mollifying ointment of a promise; display the glory of God's attributes — his mercy and truth to the sinner when the spirit is broken. A word of comfort spoken in season is the putting of a dislocated joint back in; this is to bring forth seasonable fruit, when we give wine to those that are of a heavy heart. Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul (Proverbs 16:24). Job's friends pretended to comfort him, but instead of pouring oil into the wound, they poured in vinegar.

Duties of religion that relate to God must be performed in their season.

Mourning for sin is a duty; God loves a contrite heart (Psalm 51:17); how powerful with God is the weeping rhetoric that a poor sinner uses! But yet there is a time when mourning may not be so seasonable; when God has given us some eminent signal deliverance and this mercy calls aloud to us to rejoice, but we hang our harps upon the willows and sit weeping — this sadness is fruit out of season. There was a special time at the feast of tabernacles when God called his people to rejoicing (Deuteronomy 16:15): seven days shall you keep a solemn feast to the Lord your God, and you shall surely rejoice.

Now if the Israelites had sat heavy and disconsolate at that time when God called them to rejoicing, it had been very unseasonable — like mourning at a wedding. When we are called to thanksgiving and we mingle our drink with tears, is not this to be highly unthankful for mercy? God would have his people humble, but not ungrateful. It is the devil's policy either to keep us from duty, or else to put us upon it when it is least in season.

Rejoicing is a duty (Psalm 33:1); but when God by some special providence calls us to weeping, now joy is unseasonable. This is that which God complains of (Isaiah 22:12): in that day did the Lord of Hosts call to weeping, and behold joy and gladness. Oecolampadius and others think it was in the time of King Ahaz, when the signs of God's anger like a blazing star did appear; now to be given to mirth was very unseasonable. The Lord says (verse 14): surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till you die. In the Hebrew it is a concise form of an oath — as if God had said: I swear it shall not by any prayer or sacrifice be expiated. The fruit of joy must be brought forth in its season.

Reading the Word is a duty (John 5:39), but this fruit must be brought forth in its season. To read at home when the Word is a-preaching, or the sacrament celebrating, is unseasonable — nay sinful. As Hushai said (2 Samuel 17:7): the counsel is not good at this time. One duty is to prepare for another, but not to jostle out another; fruit must put forth seasonably. The great God who has appointed the duties of his worship has appointed also the time. God enjoined a set time for the Passover (Numbers 9:2-3): let the children of Israel keep the Passover at his appointed season. Had the people of Israel been reading the law at home or praying in the time of the Passover, it had not been in season, and God would have punished it for a contempt (verse 13): the man that forbears to keep the Passover, even the same soul shall be cut off. If when public ordinances are administered any person, whether out of pride or sloth, shall stay at home, though he may have his private devotions, yet he brings forth fruit out of season; and let that man know he shall bear his sin.

Let all the trees of righteousness bring forth seasonable fruit; in prosperity be thankful, in adversity be patient. To everything there is a season (Ecclesiastes 3:1); the Psalmist says God appointed the moon for her seasons (Psalm 104:19). If the moon should shine at noon-day or the sun at midnight, this were not in season; so it is in spiritual things.

To excite to seasonable fruit, consider:

The seasonableness of a thing puts a value and preciousness upon it; there are certain meats which we eat when they are in season, and if they be out of season we care not for them. We value a seasonable kindness — else it is worth nothing; duties of religion performed in their season are glorious.

Creatures by the instinct of nature observe their season (Jeremiah 8:7): the stork in the heaven knows her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane. Pliny says they observe the season of changing their climate. And shall not Christians observe their seasons — when to mourn, when to rejoice? Let not the stork and turtle outwit them.

Duties of religion not well timed are dangerous; a strong purgation may sometimes be good, but to give it out of season when nature is spent and between fainting fits may kill the patient. Snow and hail are good for the ground when they come in their season; but when the corn is ripe, a storm of hail would do hurt and be like a flail to thrash the corn out of the ear. Mourning in a time of joy, private duties in time of public ordinances, is as unseasonable as snow and hail in harvest, and will prove no less prejudicial.

Use 1. This shows us who is a Christian in God's calendar — namely the fruit-bearing Christian. As soon as the sap of grace is infused, it puts forth itself in evangelical fruit. No sooner was Paul converted but he became a plant of renown — he brought forth rare fruit: humility, faith, heavenly-mindedness; he was one of the most fruitful trees that ever God planted in his vineyard. The jailer, when God had changed him from a wild tree to a tree of righteousness, brought forth sweet and generous fruit; how kindly did he use the apostles — he set meat before them and washed their wounds (Acts 16:33-34); he who was before their jailer became their nurse and physician. It is impossible for a man to be engrafted into Christ, who is so full of juice and succulency, but he must be fruitful. He who is a branch of this tree, though before he were like Aaron's dry rod, yet now he blossoms and brings forth almonds.

Use 2. Here is an indictment against three sorts.

Such as bring forth no fruit (Hosea 10:1): Israel is an empty vine. O how many unfruitful hearers are there — who evaporate into nothing but froth and fume, being like those ears which run out all into straw! They give God neither the early fruit nor the latter. There are many Christians like arbors covered only with the leaves of profession; they may be compared to the wood of the vine which is good for nothing (Ezekiel 15:2). He who has not the fruits of the Spirit has not the Spirit; and he who has not the Spirit of Christ is none of Christ's (Romans 8:9); and if he be not Christ's, whose is he then? I fear the sin of this age is unfruitfulness; never more laboring in God's vineyard, and yet never less fruit. Instead of the fig-tree and pomegranate, we have abundance of barren willows; ministers say they fear they spend their labor in vain. Many are perverted, few converted; Satan never had such a harvest in England as of late years; but how few are savingly wrought upon? They are as the gleanings after vintage. This is a lamentation and shall be for a lamentation. To the unfruitful Christian let me say four things.

Unfruitfulness is a shame; barrenness of old was counted a great shame. For a tree in winter to be fruitless is no great wonder; but in the spring and summer to be without fruit is a reproach to the tree. So in the winter of ignorance and popery to have less fruit was less culpable; but in the spring-time of the gospel, when the Sun of Righteousness has shone so gloriously in our horizon, now to be without fruit is a reproach not to be wiped away. Men think it a shame to want an eye or a limb; but it is a greater shame to want fruit.

What account can the unfruitful Christian give to God? God will come with this question: where is your fruit? A godly man dies full of fruit (Job 5:26): you shall come to your grave in a full age, like a shock of corn. The unfruitful Christian comes to his grave not as a shock of corn, but as a bundle of straw, fit only for the fire. It is good to bethink ourselves what answer we shall give to God for our barrenness. The Lord has planted us in rich soil; he may say to us as to his vineyard (Isaiah 5:1): my beloved has a vineyard in a very fruitful hill — he fenced it and planted it with the choicest vine, and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. Hilly places are judged the fittest for vines to grow in (Psalm 80:10); there the sun comes best and is of more force for ripening the grapes.

In a fruitful hill — in the Hebrew it is the horn of the son of oil, or the son of fatness, that is, a very fat rich soil. So may God say to us: I have planted you in a hilly place; you have been higher than the nations round about you; you have been even lifted up to heaven with ordinances. The sunbeams of mercies and Zion's silver drops have fallen upon you; but where is your fruit? Your enjoyments are great, but what are your improvements? Whom God finds without fruit, he leaves without excuse.

They that do not bring forth good fruit shall never taste of the fruits that grow in heaven. Heaven is the garden of God, the paradise of pleasure where the most rare and delicious fruits grow; there are fruits that the angels themselves delight to feed on. It may be said of those celestial fruits as in Song of Solomon 4:13: your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits — camphire, spikenard, saffron, calamus, and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense, myrrh, and aloes. How aromatic and fragrant are those fruits which grow in the heavenly Jerusalem! Now, if you do not bring God your fruit, you shall never taste his fruit; you who do not bring forth the fruits of righteousness shall never taste the fruits of paradise. Oh, present Christ with your sweet spices — give him your myrrh (Song of Solomon 5:2), your spiced wine with the juice of the pomegranate (Song of Solomon 8:2). Your myrrh, that is, repentance — this, though bitter to you, is sweet to Christ. Those who have no myrrh or wine to give God shall never feed upon the tree of life which bears several sorts of fruit (Revelation 22:2).

Think of the heavy doom which will be passed upon the unfruitful person (Matthew 25:30): cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. This man had not embezzled his talent, but because he did not trade with it and bring forth fruit, therefore he is sentenced. God will condemn men as well for hiding their talents as for spending them; as well for not bearing figs as for bearing thorns. Let unfruitful Christians look to it; if God should not cut down unprofitable branches, he should be untrue in his word, for he has said (Matthew 3:10): every tree which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down.

It reproves those who bring forth evil fruit; they are not trees of the garden but of the wilderness. Their hearts are a fruitful soil for sin — they bring forth pride, malice, superstition. Some of their hellish and bitter fruits are mentioned (Galatians 5:20-21): adultery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, seditions, heresies. These are wild grapes (Isaiah 5:2), grapes of gall (Deuteronomy 32:32), fruit unto death (Romans 7:5); these are trees of the devil's planting. Let not that man say his heart is good who bears such fruit; one may as well say, though the crab bears sour fruit, it has a sweet root. Bad fruit shows a rotten heart; the fruit indicates the tree (Luke 6:44).

It reproves those who bring forth good fruit but to a bad end (Hosea 10:1): Israel is an empty vine; he brings forth fruit to himself. A man had as good bring forth no fruit as bring forth fruit to himself.

What is it for one to bring forth fruit to himself?

When all the good he does is for the magnifying of himself, the worm of pride gets into his fruit and spoils it. Prayer is good; but when a man prays only to show his parts, this is to bring forth fruit to himself. Some pride themselves in their humbling confessions — which is as if Benhadad's servants had been proud when they came before the king with ropes upon their heads (1 Kings 20:31). Works of mercy are good, but when a man gives alms not so much to feed the poor as to feed his pride, now he brings forth fruit to himself, and this fruit is worm-eaten. God will say to all such self-seekers as he once said to the people of the Jews (Zechariah 7:5): when you fasted and mourned, did you at all fast to me, even to me? Sinners, did you not bring forth fruit to yourselves?

Use 3. Let this exhort us all to fruitfulness; how happy were it if it might be said of us as of Joseph (Genesis 49:22): Joseph is a fruitful bough. We love to see everything fruitful; if there be a tree in our orchard, though with never such fair leaves, we value it not unless there be fruit. Oh let the precious grapes and figs we bear evidence that we are trees of God's planting. God cares for no trees that are only for shade — he loves fruit. Arabia is called Felix because of the sweet fruits that grow there — frankincense, and other perfumes and spices. That Christian may be entitled Felix, happy, who has the sweet fruits of the Spirit growing in his heart. The heathens had a custom of dedicating their trees — the oak to Jupiter, the laurel to Apollo, the olive to Minerva; but certainly, if we would dedicate a tree to the God of heaven which he should accept, let it be a tree filled with the fruit of righteousness. Christians should be like the pomecitron which, as naturalists say, bears fruit at all times of the year; when some of its fruit falls off, other fruit begins to mellow, and when that mellows, other fruit does but begin to blossom — it is never without fruit. This is the emblem of a good Christian; he is never without fruit, either blooming in his affections or fructifying in his conversation.

That I may persuade Christians to fruitfulness, I desire them to weigh these five things.

Fruit is that which God expects from us; we are his plantation. Who plants a vineyard and eats not of the fruit thereof (1 Corinthians 9:7)? Let us not be as Pharaoh's kine, which devoured the fat and yet still were lean; let us not be still devouring sermons and yet never the fatter.

Fruitfulness is one of the best distinctive characters of a Christian (Proverbs 12:12): the root of the righteous yields fruit. Fruitfulness distinguishes a saint from a hypocrite; the hypocrite is all for show and pretense — he has fair leaves, but the root of the righteous yields fruit. Fruit can no more be separated from faith than moisture from the air; it is the very definition of a branch in Christ — it bears fruit (John 15:2). As a man differs from a beast by reason, and a beast from a plant by sense, and a plant from a stone by vegetation; so a good Christian differs from a hypocrite by fruit. Fruitfulness puts a difference between the sound tree and the hollow tree.

But may not hypocrites bring forth fruit?

They do not bring forth fruit in the vine; they bring forth in the strength of parts, not in the strength of Christ.

Hypocrites bring forth something like fruit, but it is not the right fruit.

The fruit they bear is not so sweet; the crab may bear fruit as well as the pearmain, but this excels in sweetness. The hypocrite may pray and give alms as well as a child of God, but there is a difference in the fruit. The fruit of the regenerate is mellow — it is sweetened with faith, it is ripened with love. The hypocrite's fruit is sour and harsh — he brings forth not pomegranates but crabs, not figs but wild grapes.

The seeming fruit of hypocrites dies and comes to nothing (John 15:6): he is cast forth as a branch and is withered. The hypocrite's fruit is like the grass upon the housetops, which withers before it grows up (Psalm 129:6; Matthew 13:6).

Fruitfulness adorns a Christian; the fruit adorns the tree; a fruit-bearing Christian is an ornament to religion. The more fruitful the branch, the more fair to look on (Jeremiah 11:16): the Lord called your name a green olive tree, fair and of goodly fruit. A dead tree, as it is unserviceable, so it is uncomely. A Christian decked with the fruits of righteousness is beautiful and glorious. The fertile Christian is compared to the lily for beauty and fairness (Hosea 14:5). O, would you be fair in God's eye? Then spread your branches; send forth your spices as aromatic trees in Lebanon.

Fruitfulness is a good evidence to show for heaven; the fruits of love, humility, and good works are (as Bernard says) seeds of hope, signs of predestination, the happy presages of future glory. The righteousness of faith is always accompanied with the fruits of righteousness. He that can show good fruit goes, like a ship laden with jewels and spices, full sail to heaven.

God delights in his fruitful trees; when his garden flourishes he will walk there. He who curses the barren tree will taste of the fruitful tree (Song of Solomon 5:1): I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice.

It exhorts those who do bear fruit to bring forth more fruit; do not think you have fruit enough, but bring forth further degrees of sanctity (John 15:2): every branch that bears fruit, he purges it that it may bring forth more fruit. Grace is like the morning light which increases more and more to the full meridian of glory. Christians should be like that ground in the parable which brought forth some sixty, some a hundredfold (Matthew 13:8). He who has a little gold labors to increase it — and is not grace more precious than gold? Some Christians have a little fruit and think that is well; like trees that have an apple or two growing on them to show that they are of the right kind (Isaiah 17:6): two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough. They are like the church of Philadelphia which had a little strength (Revelation 3:8) — so they have a little faith, a spark of love. Christ chides a little faith (Matthew 14:31); Christians should increase with the increase of God (Colossians 2:19). The apostle prays for the Philippians that their love might abound yet more and more (Philippians 1:9).

Now that I may press Christians who have fruit to bring forth more fruits of patience, humility, love, etc., consider:

This is the end why we have new cost laid out upon us — that we should bring forth more fruit. The Lord is still manuring us; not a week, not a day, but he is at new cost with us, he rains down golden showers. And why is God at all this charge with us, but that we may bring forth more fruit?

The more fruit we bring forth, the more glory we bring to God (John 15:8): herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit. Though it is a blessed sight to see any fruit, I would not discourage such as bear but two or three olive berries — it is a sign they are not dead trees. The ground in the parable which brought forth more sparingly, Christ calls it good ground (Matthew 13:8). If the husbandman sees a thin ear with but a little corn in it, yet he is glad to see some and carries it into the barn. So though you are a thin ear — you have not so much grace as others — God will not reject you; if there be any fruit, God will accept it. He that gained but two talents had his 'Well done, good and faithful servant' (Matthew 25:22). Though you have less fruit growing on you, you are too good a tree to be made fuel — you shall be transplanted into paradise. But I say you should not rest in small beginnings; labor to put more oil in the lamp and increase your stock of grace. The more fruit you bring forth, the more glory God has; though the lowest degree of grace may bring salvation to you, yet it does not bring so much glory to God. It is observable in the text: when the apostle had said, filled with the fruits of righteousness, he adds, which are to the glory and praise of God. It is a praise to the husbandman and commends his skill when the plants in his orchard thrive; so when the plants of righteousness flourish, this is to the praise of God's glory. It is the highest end of the creature to bring glory to God; better lose our lives than lose the end of our living.

The fuller we are of fruit, the more we are like Christ, who was full of grace and truth (John 1:14); he received Spirit without measure (John 3:34). This tree of life was ever bearing, and he brought forth several sorts of fruit — wisdom, righteousness, sanctification. The more we are filled with the fruits of righteousness, the more we resemble the Sun of Righteousness. We were elected to this end — to be made like Christ (Romans 8:30); and then are we most like this blessed vine when we bear full clusters.

The more fruit a Christian brings forth, the more will Christ love him. Now, says Leah, will my husband be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons (Genesis 29:34). When we bear much fruit, now will Christ's heart be joined to us. If Christ builds a nest of comfort, it is in those trees which fructify most. Though the Lord Jesus does accept of the truth of grace, yet he commends only the degrees of grace (Matthew 8:10): I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel; he sets a trophy of renown upon that faith. Christ will pardon a weak faith — he will honor a great faith. It was not a sparkle of love Christ commended in Mary Magdalen, but love flaming (Luke 7:47): she loved much. Christians, would you be as that beloved disciple who leaned on the bosom of Jesus? Would you have much love from Christ? Let him have much fruit from you.

Bearing much fruit will usher in abundance of comfort into the soul in these two exigencies.

In the hour of temptation; Satan will be sure to besiege the weakest Christian; all his darts fly that way. A strong temptation may overcome a weak faith; but a flourishing faith stands like a cedar and is not blown down by the wind of temptation. A strong faith can stop the mouth of the devil that roaring lion (1 Peter 5:9).

Store of fruit will give comfort in the hour of death; a little grace may keep us above the danger of death, but degrees of grace will keep us above the fear of death. O what joy will it be on the deathbed when a Christian can bring his sheaves full of corn! When he can show his five talents that he has gained by trading! When there is not only a drop or two of oil, but his lamp full of oil! What though the devil shows God our debts, if we can show him our fruit — O how sweet will death be! It will not be destruction but deliverance; death, like a whirlwind, may blow down the tree of the body, but it cannot blast the fruit of our graces. The trees of righteousness carry their fruit with them (Revelation 14:13): their works follow them. The Christian who abounds in holiness may say as Simeon (Luke 2:29): Lord, now let your servant depart in peace. He who bears but a little fruit departs in safety; but he who bears much fruit departs in peace.

Consider what need we have to be still putting forth more fruit; our graces are yet in their non-age. Indeed in heaven this doctrine will be out of season; we shall not need to hear it — then we shall have done growing, having arrived at our full stature; then our light shall be clear and our love perfect. But while we live here, there is something lacking in our faith (1 Thessalonians 3:10); therefore we need to increase the stock of grace and bring forth more fruit. Our grace is eclipsed with sin; our faith is full of unbelief. Now as when the sun is eclipsed, it is by degrees getting out of the eclipse and shines brighter and brighter till it recovers its perfect luster; so it must be with us — we must be getting out of the eclipse till we arrive at our perfect luster in glory.

He who does not increase to more fruitfulness will soon be on the losing hand; he who has not more faith will quickly have less. Not to progress is to regress (Revelation 2:4): you have left your first love. It is with grace as it is with fire; if it be not blown up and increased, it will soon decay. Though a Christian cannot lose the seed of grace (1 John 3:9), yet he may lose the actings of grace and the comfort; therefore bring forth more fruit. No sooner does a Christian begin to stand still, but you may perceive him going backward.

The more your fruit is increased, the more your glory will be increased; he whose pound gained ten was made ruler over ten cities (Luke 19:16-17). If you would have your crown hung full of jewels, let your boughs be hung full of fruit.

Use 4. The last use is of direction; I shall lay down some means to fruitfulness.

Be sensible of unfruitfulness; many might have been fruitful in grace if they had not thought themselves so already. He who thinks himself fruitful enough is barren enough; be sensible of your wants. It is better to complain than to presume.

If you would be fruitful, remove those things which will hinder fruitfulness.

Cherishing any secret lust in the heart; sin lived in is like vermin to the tree, which destroys the fruit. Grace cannot thrive in a sinful heart; in some soils plants will not grow. The cherishing of sin is the withering of the fruit.

The love of riches; the cares of the world choked the seed (Matthew 13); the love of sin poisons the fruit, the love of riches chokes it. This is like a blast upon trees — it destroys the precious fruits of godliness. Love not the world (1 John 2:15).

The third means to fruitfulness is weeping for sin; moisture helps germination in trees; holy tears do water the trees of God and make them more fruitful. Mary Magdalen — a weeping plant — how fruitful was she in love to Christ? Moist grounds, as your marshes, are more fertile; the soul that is moistened and steeped in tears is most fruitful. Never did David's graces flourish more than when he watered his couch with tears. When a plant has been pricked whereby it lets forth gum or tears, it is fuller of fruit and the fruit is sweeter. That Christian who has been pricked at heart for sin, whereby he lets forth plenty of tears, bears the sweetest fruits of grace.

If you would be fruitful, often apply the blood of Christ and the promises.

Apply the blood of Christ; naturalists say that blood applied to the root of some trees makes them bear better. Sure I am, the blood of Christ applied to the heart makes it flourish more in holiness. None are so fruitful as a believer (2 Timothy 1:12): I know whom I have believed — there was the applying of blood to the root of the tree; and how fruitful was Paul in zeal, love to Christ, and heroical courage (2 Corinthians 12:15)! He who believes Christ died for him never thinks he can do or suffer enough for Christ. When we read and pray, we do but water the branches; when we believe, we water the root of the tree and make it fruitful.

Apply the promises; husbandmen have an art to comfort the spirits of the root to make the tree bear better. Apply the promises — these are for comforting the spirits of a Christian, and then he puts forth fruit more vigorously. It is an experiment in nature that the root of the pine tree watered with wine causes it to flourish; the promises are as wine to water the trees of righteousness, whereby they spread and augment more in grace. Ever preserve the spirits of the tree if you would have it bear; a pensive dejected soul is less fruitful. But when through the promises a Christian's heart is cheered and comforted, now he is enriched with pleasant fruits — camphire and spikenard and frankincense; he is like a tree laden with fruit.

Another means to fruitfulness is humility; the low grounds are most fruitful (Psalm 65:13): the valleys are covered with corn. The humble heart is the fruitful heart. It is observed in some countries, as in France, that the best and largest grapes are made from the lower sort of vines; the largest and fairest fruits of the Spirit grow in a lowly Christian (1 Peter 5:5): God gives grace to the humble. Paul calls himself the least of saints, yet he was the chief of the apostles. The Virgin Mary was low in her own eyes (Luke 1:48), but this lowly plant bore that blessed vine which brought the fruit of salvation to the world.

If you would be fruitful in grace, be much in good conference (Malachi 3:16): then they who feared the Lord spoke often one to another. There is an observation concerning the sympathy of plants; some plants will bear better near other trees than when they grow alone, as is seen in the myrtle and olive. This holds true in divinity; the trees of righteousness, when they associate and grow near together, thrive best in godliness. The communion of saints is an excellent means for fruitfulness; Christians increase one another's knowledge, strengthen one another's faith, clear one another's evidences. When the trees planted in God's orchard stand at a distance and grow strange one to another, they are less fruitful.

If you would be fruit-bearing trees, be near the waters of the sanctuary (Jeremiah 17:8): he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, that spreads out her roots by the river; her leaf shall be green, nor shall she cease from yielding fruit. The Word preached will not only make us knowing Christians but growing Christians. Ministers are compared to clouds (Isaiah 5:6); their doctrine drops as the rain and makes the trees of God fruitful. Those who sit under these silver drops are like that flock of sheep (Song of Solomon 4:2) whereof every one bears twins and none is barren among them. A Christian can no more be fruitful without ordinances than a tree without showers.

Lastly, if you would fructify apace, go to God and desire him to make you fruitful; God is called the husbandman (John 15:1), and he has an art above all other husbandmen. They can plant and prune trees, but if they be dead they cannot make them bear; God can make the barren tree bear — he can put life into a dead tree (Ephesians 2:5). It is not Paul's planting, but the Spirit's watering that must give the increase.

Pray to God to make you fruitful though it be by affliction; oftentimes God makes us grow in grace this way (Hebrews 12:11): no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. The bleeding vine bears best; it is an observation that the pulling off some of the blossoms of a tree makes the fruit fairer, the reason being that the sap has the less to nourish. Some writers say they have known a tree, by having too many blossoms, blossom itself dead. The notion holds true in a scriptural sense; God by pulling off some of the blossoms of our outward comforts makes us bring forth fairer fruit. Some have so blossomed in prosperity that they have blossomed themselves into hell. It is an ancient experiment that the planting of some tender trees near the west sun does them hurt and parches the fruit, the sun being so extremely hot; too much prosperity, like the west sun, does Christians much hurt and parches all good affection (Jeremiah 22:21). Oh, pray to God that he would make you fruitful though it be by bleeding. Say as Luther: Lord, wound where you will, prune and cut me till I bleed, so that I may have my fruit unto holiness and my end everlasting life (Romans 6:22).

Philippians 1:11 — "Having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."

In this chapter the apostle Paul offers a heartfelt prayer to God for the Philippians. Among his requests, he makes two especially noteworthy petitions.

That they might be sincere (verse 10).

That they might be fruitful — expressed in the words of the text: "having been filled with the fruit of righteousness." In these words, notice:

The substance: filled with fruit.

The source: through Jesus Christ.

The purpose: to the glory and praise of God.

Doctrine: Christians should above all things pursue fruitfulness. The saints are called "trees of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:3). These spiritual trees must not only produce leaves, but fruit — being filled with the fruit of righteousness. Two questions need to be addressed.

1. How does a Christian bear fruit? 2. What is the fruit he bears?

How does a Christian bear fruit? He bears fruit by remaining in the vine. By nature we are fruitless — not one good blossom grows from us on our own. But when we are grafted into Christ through faith, we grow and bear fruit (John 15:4): "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me." Jesus Christ is the blessed root that sends the sap of grace up into His branches. The Pelagians tell us we have enough within ourselves to produce good fruit — but how wrong they are. Does not the root feed the branches? Is it not "from His fullness" that we have all received (John 1:16)? Significantly, Christ calls the bride's grace His own grace (Song of Solomon 5:1): "I have gathered my myrrh with my spice" — Christ says not your myrrh, but my myrrh. If the saints bear any spiritual fruit, they owe it entirely to Christ. It is His wine, His myrrh (Hosea 14:8): "From Me comes your fruit."

What is the fruit a good Christian bears? It is: 1. Inward fruit. 2. Outward fruit. 3. Fitting fruit. 4. Timely fruit.

A Christian bears inward fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faith (Galatians 5:22). This fruit is sweet and ripens under the Sun of Righteousness. It is the ripe fruit that God delights to taste (Micah 7:1).

There is the fruit of wholesome speech (Proverbs 15:4): "A soothing tongue is a tree of life." Gracious words fall from a godly person's lips the way ripe fruit falls from a tree.

There is the fruit of good works (Colossians 1:10). At the last day God will say: show me your faith by your works (James 2:18). A true saint does all the good he can, honoring God with what he has. Knowing he will be in the world only a short while, he lives intensely — packing a great deal of work into a small amount of time. Not long before His suffering, Christ said (John 17:4): "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do." How can people be said to finish their work who have never yet begun any good work?

A Christian also bears fitting fruit — the godly person brings forth his fruit (Psalm 1:3), meaning the fruit that is appropriate for him to bear in his particular station. What is this fitting and proper fruit? It is being faithful in our callings and our relationships. For a magistrate, justice is fitting fruit (Deuteronomy 16:19); for a minister, zeal (Acts 17:16); for a parent, instruction (Deuteronomy 4:10); for a child, reverence (Ephesians 6:1); for a master, good example (Genesis 18:19; Ephesians 6:9); for a servant, obedience (1 Peter 2:18); for a husband, love (Ephesians 5:25); for a wife, submission (Ephesians 5:22); for a tradesman, diligence (Exodus 20:9); for a soldier, integrity (Luke 3:14). I will never believe someone is truly godly if he does not bear this kind of fitting fruit. "A good Christian but a bad master" or "a good Christian but a bad parent" — these phrases simply don't fit together. A minister cannot be truly good if he lacks zeal, any more than wine can be good if it has lost its strength. A magistrate cannot be truly good if he lacks justice, any more than a pillar can be called sound if it leans. A child cannot be truly good if he does not honor his parents, any more than a traitor can be called loyal. When Absalom rose in rebellion against his father, the mule he was riding — as though weary of carrying such a burden — left him hanging by his head in a great oak tree, suspended between heaven and earth, neither able to ascend the one nor worthy to walk upon the other.

Let Christians be encouraged to bear proper, genuine fruit and to shine in their various relationships. Consider:

A person who is not faithful in his relationships rightly falls under suspicion of hypocrisy. A man may appear to be repentant or devout — but if he does not bear fruit fitting to his station, he is no tree of righteousness. He is a wild, stunted plant. Some will pray, attend sermons, and speak well of religion — and that is good. But what about the bleating of sheep? They are not faithful in their relationships. This reveals something unsound in them. A good Christian works to fill every role he holds and to move through every area of godly responsibility, the way the sun moves through every sign of the zodiac. I have little use for Christians who appear to be traveling toward heaven, yet treat the duties of their relationships as unexplored territory they never go near.

The excellence of a Christian is shown by bearing the fruit that fits his particular position. A member of the body shows its worth by performing its proper function. The eye is for seeing, the ear for hearing. In the same way, a Christian's excellence lies in bearing the fruit God has appointed for his station. What good is anything that does not do what it is made to do? What good is a clock that won't strike? A ship that won't sail? A rose that gives off no scent? What good is a professing Christian who gives off no sweet fragrance in his relationships? A thing proves its worth when it exercises its proper function.

Failing to bear fitting fruit undermines all the other fruit we produce. If a doctor were compounding a medicine and left out the key ingredient, the medicine would lose its healing power. If a painter were drawing a portrait and left out one of the eyes, it would ruin the picture. There are many to whom Christ will say at the day of judgment, as He said to the rich young man (Luke 18:22): "One thing you still lack." You have prayed, fasted, and heard sermons — yet one thing you lack. You have not been faithful in your relationships.

Relational faithfulness greatly adorns a Christian. It is the beauty of a star to shine in its proper orbit. Being faithful in one's relationships makes a Christian sparkle with genuine grace.

A good Christian brings forth timely fruit (Psalm 1:3): "Who yields his fruit in his season." "He has made everything appropriate in its time" (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Something good at one time may be entirely out of place at another. There is real skill in knowing when to do something. Religious duties must be carried out at the right moment.

Christian duties toward our neighbors must be observed in their proper season.

Our reproving others must be timely. Rebuke is a duty — when we see others walking in a disorderly way, like soldiers out of rank, we should gently but earnestly point out their sin (Leviticus 19:17). But this fruit must be brought forth at the right time.

Do it privately (Matthew 18:15): "Go and show him his fault in private."

Do it when the person is in a calm state of mind, not when his emotions are running high. That would be like pouring oil on a fire. When his spirit has quieted and softened — that is when to press a rebuke home. A seal is pressed into wax while it is soft and yielding. There are moments when people are more open and receptive. That is the best time to press a reproof on them — it is most likely to leave an impression. When Abigail rebuked Nabal, she chose the right moment — not when he was drunk, but when he was clearheaded and able to receive correction (1 Samuel 25:37).

Another fitting time for reproof is when someone is going through hardship. Suffering softens a person's spirit, and a word of correction spoken wisely at that point may work together with the affliction. A bitter remedy is not refused when the pain is severe enough. Affliction opens the ear to discipline (Job 36:10).

Our comforting others must also be timely (Proverbs 15:23): "A word spoken at the right time — how good it is!" When we see someone who has fallen into sin and is weeping bitterly like Peter — that is the moment for a word of comfort. When the Corinthian was deeply humbled, the apostle called for oil and wine to be poured into his wounds (2 Corinthians 2:7): "You should rather forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow." When the soul is broken over sin, bring the soothing medicine of a promise. Open up God's mercy and faithfulness to the sinner whose spirit is crushed. A word of comfort spoken at the right time is like setting a dislocated joint back in place. This is bearing timely fruit — giving encouragement to those whose hearts are heavy. "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul" (Proverbs 16:24). Job's friends claimed to bring comfort, but instead of pouring oil into his wounds, they poured in vinegar.

Religious duties that relate to God must also be performed in their season.

Mourning for sin is a duty. God values a broken heart (Psalm 51:17). The weeping prayer of a repentant sinner is powerful with God. Yet there are times when mourning is not the most fitting response. When God has given us a remarkable deliverance and that mercy calls loudly for rejoicing — if instead we hang our harps on the willows and sit in sadness, that grief is fruit out of season. God set apart the Feast of Tabernacles as a special time for His people to rejoice (Deuteronomy 16:15): "Seven days you shall celebrate a feast to the Lord your God. You shall surely rejoice."

If the Israelites had sat in gloom and misery at the very time God called them to rejoice, it would have been deeply out of place — like mourning at a wedding. When God calls us to thanksgiving and we mix our drink with tears, are we not being deeply ungrateful for His mercy? God wants His people to be humble, but not ungrateful. It is the devil's tactic either to keep us from our duties altogether, or to push us toward them at the worst possible time.

Rejoicing is a duty (Psalm 33:1). But when God by some specific circumstance calls us to weep, joy is out of place. This is precisely what God rebukes in Isaiah 22:12: "On that day the Lord God of armies called you to weeping and mourning — but behold, joy and rejoicing." Oecolampadius and others believe this was during the time of King Ahaz, when signs of God's judgment were clearly visible. To be given to celebration at that moment was gravely out of season. God says in verse 14: "Surely this iniquity will not be forgiven you until you die." In the Hebrew, this is a forceful oath — as if God declared: I swear it, this will not be expiated by any prayer or sacrifice. The fruit of joy must be brought forth in its season.

Reading the Word is a duty (John 5:39), but this fruit too must be brought forth at the right time. To sit reading privately at home while the Word is being preached or the Lord's Supper is being celebrated is out of season — indeed, it is sinful. As Hushai said (2 Samuel 17:7): "The counsel is not good at this time." One duty should prepare the way for another, not crowd it out. Fruit must appear in its proper season. The great God who has appointed the duties of His worship has also appointed the times. God set a specific time for the Passover (Numbers 9:2-3): "Let the sons of Israel observe the Passover at its appointed time." If the Israelites had been reading the law at home or praying privately during the time of the Passover celebration, it would have been out of season — and God would have treated it as contempt of His ordinance (verse 13): "That person shall be cut off from his people." If a person, whether out of pride or laziness, stays home when public worship is being held — even if he maintains private devotions — he is bearing fruit out of season. Let him know that he will bear the weight of that sin.

Let all trees of righteousness bear timely fruit. In prosperity, be thankful. In hardship, be patient. "There is an appointed time for everything" (Ecclesiastes 3:1). The Psalmist says God appointed the moon for her seasons (Psalm 104:19). If the moon were to shine at noon or the sun at midnight, it would be out of order. The same principle applies in spiritual things.

Consider this to encourage the bearing of timely fruit:

Timeliness gives a thing its value and worth. There are foods we enjoy in season that we have no interest in out of season. We value a kindness shown at the right moment — without that timing, it counts for little. Religious duties performed in their season are truly glorious.

Even animals instinctively observe their seasons (Jeremiah 8:7): "Even the stork in the sky knows her seasons; and the turtledove and the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration." Pliny notes that they keep to their schedule of changing climates. Should Christians not also observe their seasons — knowing when to mourn and when to rejoice? Let us not be outpaced in wisdom by the stork and the dove.

Religious duties performed at the wrong time can cause harm. A strong purgative may sometimes be beneficial, but given at the wrong time — when the patient is already weakened and barely conscious — it may kill him. Snow and hail are good for the soil when they come at the right time. But when the grain is ripe, a hailstorm would damage the crop and beat it from the stalk. Mourning in a time meant for joy, or private devotion during times of public worship, is as out of place as a hailstorm at harvest — and no less damaging.

Application 1. This shows us who, in God's accounting, is a true Christian — namely, the fruit-bearing Christian. As soon as the sap of grace is infused, it shows itself in spiritual fruit. The moment Paul was converted, he became a remarkable plant — he produced extraordinary fruit: humility, faith, and a heavenly-mindedness. He was one of the most fruitful trees God ever planted in His vineyard. The jailer, once God had changed him from a wild tree into a tree of righteousness, brought forth sweet and generous fruit. How kindly he treated the apostles — setting food before them and washing their wounds (Acts 16:33-34). The man who had been their jailer became their nurse and caregiver. It is impossible for a person to be grafted into Christ — who is so full of life and vitality — and not become fruitful. Whoever is a branch of this tree, though he may have been like Aaron's dry rod before, will now blossom and bear fruit.

Application 2. Here is a charge against three kinds of people.

First, those who bear no fruit (Hosea 10:1): "Israel is a luxuriant vine." He gives fruit for himself. How many fruitless hearers there are — who produce nothing but empty talk, like grain stalks that run all to straw! They give God neither early fruit nor late fruit. Many Christians are like trellises covered only with the leaves of outward profession. They may be compared to the wood of a grapevine — which is good for nothing (Ezekiel 15:2). Whoever lacks the fruit of the Spirit lacks the Spirit. And whoever lacks the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him (Romans 8:9). And if he does not belong to Christ — whose is he? I fear that the sin of this age is fruitlessness. Never has there been more labor in God's vineyard — yet never less fruit. Instead of fig trees and pomegranates, we find an abundance of barren willows. Ministers say they fear their labor is going to waste. Many are drifting further away, few are being genuinely converted. Satan has reaped a great harvest in recent years — but how few are truly and savingly changed? They are like gleanings after the vintage. This is a grief, and it ought to be mourned. To the fruitless Christian, let me say four things.

Fruitlessness is a disgrace. Barrenness in the old covenant was considered deeply shameful. For a tree to be without fruit in winter is no surprise. But to be fruitless in spring and summer is a reproach to the tree. In the dark winter of ignorance and Roman Catholic error, less fruit was less surprising. But in the springtime of the gospel — when the Sun of Righteousness has shone so brilliantly over us — to be fruitless is a disgrace that cannot be wiped away. People consider it a shame to be missing an eye or a limb. It is a far greater shame to be missing fruit.

What account will the fruitless Christian give to God? God will come with this question: where is your fruit? A godly person dies full of fruit (Job 5:26): "You will come to your grave in full vigor, like the stacking of grain in its season." The fruitless Christian comes to his grave not like a sheaf of grain but like a bundle of straw — fit only for the fire. It is wise to consider now what answer we will give to God for our barrenness. The Lord has planted us in rich soil. He may say to us what He said of His vineyard (Isaiah 5:1): "My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. He dug it all around, removed its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. And He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones." Hillsides are considered the best ground for vines. The sun reaches them fully and is more effective for ripening the grapes.

"A fertile hill" — in the Hebrew it is literally "the horn of the son of oil" or "son of fatness" — meaning extremely rich, productive soil. So God might say to us: I have planted you on a hillside. You have been placed higher than the nations around you. You have been lifted up almost to heaven with the abundance of gospel ordinances. The sunshine of God's mercies and the refreshing dews of Zion have fallen on you — but where is your fruit? Your blessings are great. But what have you done with them? Those whom God finds fruitless, He leaves without excuse.

Those who do not bring forth good fruit will never taste the fruit that grows in heaven. Heaven is God's garden, paradise filled with pleasure — where the rarest and most exquisite fruits grow. There are fruits there that even the angels delight to enjoy. It might be said of those heavenly fruits as in Song of Solomon 4:13-14: "Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates with choice fruits, henna with nard plants, nard and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, with all the trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes." How richly fragrant are the fruits that grow in the heavenly Jerusalem! If you do not bring God your fruit, you will never taste His fruit. Those who do not bear the fruit of righteousness will never taste the fruits of paradise. Present Christ with your sweet offering — give Him your myrrh (Song of Solomon 5:2), your spiced wine with the juice of the pomegranate (Song of Solomon 8:2). Your myrrh — that is, your repentance. Though bitter to you, it is sweet to Christ. Those who have no myrrh or wine to offer God will never feed on the tree of life, which bears every kind of fruit (Revelation 22:2).

Consider the heavy judgment that falls on the unfruitful person (Matthew 25:30): "Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness." This man had not embezzled his talent. But because he did not put it to use and bear fruit with it, he is condemned. God will judge people for burying their talents just as He will for squandering them — just as much for bearing no fruit as for bearing thorns. Let fruitless Christians take warning. If God did not cut down unproductive branches, He would be false to His own Word — for He has declared (Matthew 3:10): "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

Second, this charges those who bear evil fruit. They are not trees of the garden but of the wilderness. Their hearts are fertile soil for sin — producing pride, malice, and false religion. Some of their bitter, poisonous fruits are listed (Galatians 5:20-21): immorality, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, and heresies. These are wild grapes (Isaiah 5:2), grapes of gall (Deuteronomy 32:32), fruit that leads to death (Romans 7:5). These are trees of the devil's planting. Let no one say his heart is good while he bears such fruit. You might as well say that because a crabapple tree bears sour fruit, it must have a sweet root. Bad fruit reveals a rotten heart. The fruit identifies the tree (Luke 6:44).

Third, this charges those who bear good fruit but with a corrupt purpose (Hosea 10:1): "Israel is a luxuriant vine — he produces fruit for himself." It is nearly as bad to bear fruit for yourself as to bear no fruit at all.

What does it mean to bear fruit for yourself?

It means doing good only to glorify yourself. When pride worms its way into a person's deeds, it spoils the fruit. Prayer is good — but when a man prays only to display his abilities, he is bearing fruit for himself. Some people take pride in their humbling confessions — which is as absurd as Benhadad's servants being proud when they came before the king with ropes around their necks (1 Kings 20:31). Acts of charity are good — but when a man gives not so much to feed the poor as to feed his own pride, he is bearing fruit for himself. That fruit is eaten through with worms. God will say to all such self-seekers what He once said to the Jews (Zechariah 7:5): "When you fasted and mourned these seventy years, was it really for Me that you fasted?" Sinners, were you not bearing fruit for yourselves?

Application 3. Let this call all of us to fruitfulness. How blessed it would be if it could be said of us as it was of Joseph (Genesis 49:22): "Joseph is a fruitful bough." We love to see fruitfulness everywhere. If there is a tree in our orchard — however beautiful its leaves — we do not value it unless it bears fruit. Let the precious grapes and figs we bear show that we are trees of God's planting. God has no use for trees that exist only for shade — He loves fruit. Arabia is called Felix — fortunate — because of the sweet fruits that grow there: frankincense and other spices and perfumes. A Christian may rightly be called Felix — blessed — who has the sweet fruits of the Spirit growing in his heart. The ancient pagans had a custom of dedicating trees to their gods — the oak to Jupiter, the laurel to Apollo, the olive to Minerva. But certainly, if we would dedicate a tree to the God of heaven that He would accept, let it be a tree full of the fruit of righteousness. Christians should be like the citron tree which, as naturalists say, bears fruit at every season of the year. When some fruit falls off, other fruit is ripening — and when that ripens, new blossoms are already forming. It is never without fruit. This is a picture of a good Christian. He is never without fruit — either blooming in his affections or bearing fruit in his daily life.

To persuade Christians toward fruitfulness, I ask them to weigh these five considerations.

Fruit is what God expects from us. We are His planting. "Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it?" (1 Corinthians 9:7). Let us not be like Pharaoh's lean cattle, which consumed the fat ones yet stayed lean. Let us not keep devouring sermons and never become any the stronger.

Fruitfulness is one of the clearest marks of a true Christian (Proverbs 12:12): "The root of the righteous yields fruit." Fruitfulness distinguishes a saint from a hypocrite. The hypocrite is all about appearance and show — he has fine leaves. But the root of the righteous yields fruit. Fruit is as inseparable from true faith as moisture from air. It is the very definition of a branch in Christ — it bears fruit (John 15:2). Just as a person differs from an animal by reason, an animal from a plant by sensation, and a plant from a stone by growth — so a true Christian differs from a hypocrite by fruit. Fruitfulness is what separates the sound tree from the hollow one.

But cannot hypocrites also bear fruit?

They do not bear fruit connected to the vine. They produce in the strength of their own natural abilities — not in the strength of Christ.

Hypocrites produce something that looks like fruit — but it is not the right kind.

Their fruit is not as sweet. A crabapple tree can produce fruit just as a fine apple tree can — but there is a great difference in the taste. A hypocrite may pray and give to charity just as a child of God does — but there is a difference in the fruit. The fruit of a regenerate person is ripe and mellow — sweetened by faith, ripened by love. The hypocrite's fruit is sour and harsh. He does not bring forth pomegranates but crabapples — not figs but wild grapes.

The apparent fruit of hypocrites withers and comes to nothing (John 15:6): "He is thrown away as a branch and dries up." The hypocrite's fruit is like grass growing on a rooftop — it withers before it has a chance to grow (Psalm 129:6; Matthew 13:6).

Fruitfulness adorns a Christian. Fruit adorns the tree. A fruit-bearing Christian is an ornament to the faith. The more fruitful the branch, the more beautiful it is to look at (Jeremiah 11:16): "The Lord called your name a green olive tree, beautiful in fruit and form." A dead tree is not only useless — it is ugly. A Christian adorned with the fruits of righteousness is beautiful and glorious. The fruitful Christian is compared to the lily for beauty (Hosea 14:5). Do you want to be beautiful in God's eyes? Then spread your branches. Send out your fragrance like the aromatic trees of Lebanon.

Fruitfulness is strong evidence to present for heaven. The fruits of love, humility, and good works are, as Bernard says, seeds of hope, signs of election, and happy previews of future glory. Justifying faith is always accompanied by the fruits of righteousness. The person who can show genuine fruit sails toward heaven like a ship loaded with jewels and spices — full sail.

God delights in His fruitful trees. When His garden flourishes, He will walk there. He who curses the barren fig tree will taste of the fruitful tree (Song of Solomon 5:1): "I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh along with my balsam."

This also calls those who do bear fruit to bear more. Do not be satisfied with the fruit you have — press on toward greater holiness (John 15:2): "Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit." Grace is like the morning light — it grows brighter and brighter until the full light of noon. Christians should be like the soil in the parable that yielded thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold (Matthew 13:8). A person who has a little gold works to increase it — and is not grace more precious than gold? Some Christians have a small amount of fruit and consider it sufficient — like trees with an apple or two to prove they are the right kind (Isaiah 17:6): "Two or three olives on the topmost bough." They are like the church at Philadelphia which had a little strength (Revelation 3:8) — just a little faith, a spark of love. Christ rebukes even small faith (Matthew 14:31). Christians should grow with the growth that God provides (Colossians 2:19). The apostle prayed for the Philippians that their love would "abound still more and more" (Philippians 1:9).

To urge Christians who do bear fruit to bear more — more patience, humility, love, and so on — consider:

This is the very reason God keeps investing in us — so that we would bear more fruit. The Lord is constantly cultivating us. Not a week or a day passes without His fresh investment, His golden showers of blessing. And why is God at all this effort and expense with us, if not so that we might bear more fruit?

The more fruit we bear, the more glory we bring to God (John 15:8): "My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit." It is a blessed sight to see any fruit at all — and I would not discourage those who bear only a little. Even two or three berries are a sign that the tree is still alive. The ground in the parable that produced more sparingly, Christ still calls good ground (Matthew 13:8). A farmer who sees a thin ear with only a few grains is still glad to see it and will carry it into the barn. Even if you are a thin ear — with less grace than others — God will not reject you. If there is any fruit at all, God will accept it. The servant who gained only two talents received his "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:22). Even if you bear less fruit, you are too good a tree to be cut down for firewood. You will be transplanted into paradise. But I say: do not be content with small beginnings. Work to put more oil in your lamp and increase your store of grace. The more fruit you bear, the more glory God receives. Though the lowest degree of grace may be enough to bring you to salvation, it does not bring God as much glory. Notice this in the text: having said "filled with the fruit of righteousness," the apostle adds "which are to the glory and praise of God." When the plants in an orchard thrive, it reflects well on the gardener and commends his skill. In the same way, when the plants of righteousness flourish, it brings praise to God's glory. To bring glory to God is the highest purpose of any creature. It is better to lose our lives than to lose the purpose for which we live.

The more we are filled with fruit, the more we are like Christ, who was "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14), and who received the Spirit without measure (John 3:34). This tree of life was always bearing — producing different kinds of fruit: wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification. The more we are filled with the fruits of righteousness, the more we resemble the Sun of Righteousness. We were chosen for this very purpose — to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:30). And we are most like this blessed vine when we bear full clusters.

The more fruit a Christian bears, the more Christ will love him. Leah said: "Now my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons" (Genesis 29:34). When we bear much fruit, Christ's heart is drawn closer to us. If Christ builds a nest of comfort, He builds it in the most fruitful trees. Though the Lord Jesus accepts the reality of grace in any degree, He commends only the higher degrees of grace (Matthew 8:10): "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel." He set a trophy of distinction on that faith. Christ will pardon weak faith — but He honors great faith. It was not a flicker of love He commended in Mary Magdalene, but love ablaze (Luke 7:47): "She loved much." Christians, do you want to be like that beloved disciple who leaned on Jesus' chest? Do you want much love from Christ? Then give Him much fruit.

Bearing much fruit will bring an abundance of comfort to the soul in two crucial moments.

In the hour of temptation. Satan always goes after the weakest Christian — all his arrows fly in that direction. A powerful temptation may overcome a weak faith. But flourishing faith stands like a cedar and is not blown down by the wind of temptation. Strong faith can silence the devil, that roaring lion (1 Peter 5:9).

An abundance of fruit will bring comfort in the hour of death. A little grace may keep us safe from death's ultimate danger, but a greater degree of grace keeps us above the fear of death. What joy it will be on the deathbed when a Christian can come with full sheaves of grain! When he can show five talents gained through faithful trading! When his lamp is not merely dripping with oil but full of it! Even if the devil shows God our debts, what if we can show Him our fruit? How sweet death will be then! It will not be destruction but deliverance. Death, like a whirlwind, may blow down the body like a tree — but it cannot destroy the fruit of our graces. The trees of righteousness carry their fruit with them (Revelation 14:13): "Their deeds follow with them." The Christian who abounds in holiness may say with Simeon (Luke 2:29): "Lord, now You are releasing Your servant to depart in peace." He who bears little fruit departs in safety. He who bears much fruit departs in peace.

Consider how much need we still have to keep pressing toward greater fruitfulness. Our graces are still immature. In heaven, this teaching will no longer be needed — we will have finished growing, having reached our full spiritual stature. Our understanding will be clear and our love complete. But while we live here, there is still something lacking in our faith (1 Thessalonians 3:10). So we need to keep increasing our supply of grace and bearing more fruit. Our grace is still dimmed by sin. Our faith is shot through with unbelief. When the sun is in eclipse, it gradually works its way out of the shadow and shines brighter and brighter until it recovers its full light. So it must be with us — we must keep working our way out of the eclipse until we reach our perfect brightness in glory.

The person who does not keep growing in fruitfulness will soon find himself losing ground. He who does not gain more faith will soon have less. Not to advance is to retreat (Revelation 2:4): "You have left your first love." Grace is like fire — if it is not stoked and fed, it will soon burn down. A Christian cannot lose the seed of grace itself (1 John 3:9), but he can lose the active expression of grace and the comfort it brings. So press on to bear more fruit. The moment a Christian stops pressing forward, you can see him starting to drift backward.

The more your fruit increases, the more your glory will increase. The servant whose mina gained ten was made ruler over ten cities (Luke 19:16-17). If you want your crown hung with jewels, let your branches be hung with fruit.

Application 4. The final application is practical direction. Here are some means toward fruitfulness.

Recognize your own fruitlessness. Many people could have become fruitful in grace but for the fact that they already thought they were. The person who thinks he is fruitful enough is barren enough. Be honest about your lack. It is far better to grieve your poverty than to presume on riches you do not have.

If you want to be fruitful, remove the things that prevent fruitfulness.

Nursing any secret sin in the heart. A sin that is kept and harbored is like pests in a tree — it destroys the fruit. Grace cannot thrive in a sin-saturated heart. Some plants will not grow in certain soils. Sheltering sin is what causes grace to wither.

The love of wealth. The worries of the world choked the seed (Matthew 13). The love of sin poisons the fruit; the love of money chokes it. This is like blight on trees — it destroys the precious fruits of godliness. "Do not love the world" (1 John 2:15).

A third means toward fruitfulness is weeping for sin. Moisture helps seeds germinate in the ground — holy tears water God's trees and make them more fruitful. Mary Magdalene — a weeping plant — how fruitful was she in love for Christ! Low, moist ground, like marshland, is the most fertile. The soul that has been moistened and soaked in tears is the most fruitful. David's graces never flourished more than when he watered his bed with tears. When a plant is pierced and lets out its sap or resin, it bears more fruit and sweeter fruit. The Christian who has been pierced in heart over sin, and has shed many tears because of it, bears the sweetest fruits of grace.

To become fruitful, regularly apply the blood of Christ and rest on His promises.

Apply the blood of Christ. Naturalists say that blood applied to the root of certain trees causes them to bear more abundantly. I am certain that the blood of Christ applied to the heart makes it flourish more in holiness. No one is more fruitful than the true believer (2 Timothy 1:12): "I know whom I have believed" — that was applying the blood to the root of the tree. And how fruitful Paul was in zeal, love for Christ, and courageous endurance (2 Corinthians 12:15)! The person who truly believes that Christ died for him never feels he can do or suffer enough for Christ. When we read the Word and pray, we water the branches. When we believe, we water the root — and that is what makes the tree fruitful.

Apply the promises. Farmers have methods for strengthening the vitality of a plant's root so the tree will bear better fruit. Apply the promises — they strengthen and invigorate a Christian's inner life, and then he puts forth fruit more vigorously. It is observed in nature that watering the root of a pine tree with wine causes it to flourish. God's promises are like wine watering the trees of righteousness — causing them to spread and grow in grace. Keep the inner life of the tree strong if you want it to bear. A discouraged, downcast soul produces less fruit. But when a Christian's heart is warmed and strengthened through the promises, he becomes rich in pleasant fruit — like a tree loaded down with its harvest.

Another means toward fruitfulness is humility. Low-lying ground is most fertile (Psalm 65:13): "The valleys are covered with grain." The humble heart is the fruitful heart. It is observed in some countries, including France, that the best and largest grapes come from the lower-growing vines. In the same way, the largest and finest fruits of the Spirit grow in the humble Christian (1 Peter 5:5): "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Paul called himself the least of all the saints — yet he was the greatest of the apostles. The Virgin Mary thought little of herself (Luke 1:48), yet this lowly plant bore that blessed vine which brought the fruit of salvation to the world.

To grow in grace, make much use of good conversation with other believers (Malachi 3:16): "Those who feared the Lord spoke to one another often." There is an observation about the natural world: some plants grow better near certain other plants than they do alone — as with the myrtle and the olive. The same is true spiritually. The trees of righteousness, when they grow together in fellowship, thrive best in godliness. Fellowship with other believers is an excellent means toward fruitfulness. Christians build each other's knowledge, strengthen each other's faith, and help clarify one another's assurance. When the trees planted in God's orchard stand far apart and grow distant from one another, they bear less fruit.

To be fruit-bearing trees, draw near to the waters of the sanctuary (Jeremiah 17:8): "He will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit." The preached Word will not only make us more knowledgeable Christians — it will make us growing Christians. Ministers are compared to clouds (Isaiah 5:6). Their teaching falls like rain and makes God's trees fruitful. Those who sit under these refreshing drops are like that flock of sheep (Song of Solomon 4:2) of which every one bears twins and none is barren. A Christian can no more be fruitful without the ordinances of God than a tree can be fruitful without rain.

Finally, if you want to grow quickly in fruit, go to God and ask Him to make you fruitful. God is called the vine grower (John 15:1), and His skill surpasses all other gardeners. Human gardeners can plant and prune trees — but if the tree is dead, they cannot make it bear fruit. God can make the barren tree bear. He can breathe life into what is dead (Ephesians 2:5). It is not Paul's planting but the Spirit's watering that gives the increase.

Pray for God to make you fruitful even if He must do it through affliction. Often God grows us in grace through suffering (Hebrews 12:11): "All discipline for the moment seems not to be pleasant, but painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness." The pruned vine bears best. It is observed that removing some of the blossoms from a tree makes the remaining fruit better — because the sap has less to nourish and can focus on fewer fruit. Some writers have noted that a tree with too many blossoms can actually blossom itself to death. The same principle holds spiritually. God, by removing some of the blossoms of our outward comforts, causes us to bear finer fruit. Some people have blossomed so abundantly in prosperity that they have blossomed their way into hell. There is an old observation that planting tender trees facing the western sun does them harm — that sun is too fierce and scorches the fruit. In the same way, too much prosperity acts like a harsh western sun on Christians, scorching all genuine affection (Jeremiah 22:21). Pray to God that He would make you fruitful even if it requires cutting you back. Say with Luther: Lord, wound where You will — prune and cut me until I bleed — so that I may bear fruit in holiness and reach my end in everlasting life (Romans 6:22).