Bearing the Fruit

(Notes from the sermon shared on Feb 23, 2009 by Bro. Karunakaran)

The Lord God has set us apart, by redeeming us through the blood of Jesus Christ, so that we may belong to Christ, just as Christ belongs to him (Isaiah 43:1, Acts 4:12, 1 Cor 3:23). To belong to Christ means to be more than being called a Christian – it calls for a closer and deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. Now, Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, in 7:4: “My brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ... that we should bring forth fruit unto God.”Also, king Solomon puts it plain: “Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof” (Pro 27:18).

So that we may bear fruit, for whosoever has believed in the name of Jesus; to those who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit, God has promised that there is therefore now no condemnation. He has also made us free from the law of the flesh and set us free by the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1-2). A closer look at Job’s life teaches us how God puts a hedge around us so that we are protected in His grace, so much so, that Satan cannot touch us without his permission. (Job 2:3-6).

An incident in the life of Jesus (Matt 21:18-19) shows how Jesus was looking for fruit on a fig tree, but it had none though it was lush green with leaves. Later, Jesus cursed the tree and it immediately withered. Many Christians, too perhaps are lush with leaves by being busy in many Christian and Church activities, but perhaps, if Jesus has to get closer and look for fruit, there may be none. Here’s why we may be hindered in bearing fruit for Jesus, and how the word of God teaches us to overcome them:

• Doing things on your own (Luke 5:4-7)— Here’s Simon Peter who had called it a day after no catch of fish. When Jesus asked him to launch their nets, with a sigh of frustration replies “We have toiled all night, and have taken nothing”. But at the obedience of that one word to the Lord, they had such a great catch that their nets began to brake.
  

• Renew your minds (Rom 12:2)— Paul understood that one’s salvation had to be preserved, and each of us needs to present ourselves to a reasonable service which is to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. Therefore, Paul calls for renewing of mind so that we do not seek conformity to this world.
  

• When the worries of life bog you down (Matt 13:22)— Jesus explains to us through the parable of sower, that “the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.”But we need to overcome the cares of this world, because Jesus also prayed for us “Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are” (John 17:6-26). We need not fear, because we’re kept under the banner of the name of Jesus Christ.
  

• We forego opportunities that God brings our way (Luke 19:14-26)— God has given each of us the measure of faith (Rom 12:3), and expects us to put them to profitable use. As in the parable of ten minas, on his return, He will surely ask for an account of what fruit have we brought forth. As Paul writes to Timothy (2 Tim 4:2),”be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine,” it calls on us to be ever-ready all the time to make the best of the opportunities He brings on our way.
  

• Strong winds shake off the fruit (Rev 6:30)— The verse emphatically puts across that we may be bearing fruit, but when they’re ripe, sudden situations may arise which shake up our faith and steal away the fruit from us. But, God has through the lives of His faithfulness demonstrated to us how he blesses with more if we stand strong in Him. I Sam 30:6-9 illustrates a situation in the life of King David, where he was greatly distressed, however, it is written ‘David encouraged himself in the LORD his God’. Reading further through the passage, it leads us to praise God as we find that David recovered all that he’s lost.

(All Bible verses quoted as in the King James Version)

The Remnant

They that feared the LORD spoke often one to another and the LORD hearkened… and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon His name.

Malachi 3:16

Malachi the prophet looks at the qualities of the Remnant and we have a lesson here to learn from that group of people:

1. They that feared the LORD – Proverbs 23:17; Psalms 111:10

Fearing the LORD is a lost jewel and sounds an out-of-date talk to us and hence we are not being able to live life to the fullest. Solomon reminds us in Proverbs that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Prov.9:10). He also says before this about the benefits of the fear of the LORD in Chapter 8:13a: to fear the LORD is to hate evil. Again in chapter 10:27 he exhorts: the fear of the LORD adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.

2. They spoke one to another – Romans 12:10,16

Malachi points the other quality of the Remnant as that of fellowship. They spoke one to another. This helped them to remain focused on their calling. They could celebrate about their growth and were helped in the areas of hindrances in their walk with the LORD. They became accountable one to another about their lives and shared with openness and assurance that their sharing will only lead to building them up in their spiritual relationship with the LORD as well as with each other.

3. They thought upon His name – Daniel 11:32

The third and the last quality of the Remnant is that they kept thinking upon their LORD’s name. The focus of their talks and personal lives was Jesus Christ and the upon His name. What was the significance of His name to them was always on their mind. They reminded themselves about the great I AM God they worshiped. They also eagerly awaited the promised Messiah. Their lives spoke volumes about their awaiting their promised Saviour.

Let’s all look at our own lives in the light of the above and we will be able to enjoy the benefits of the same. We will then be His witness to this wounded world. We will make sense to them then.

Mr. Steven Christian
(Cell Group Leader)

Unusual Faith

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Peggy Noonan says it plainly, “To believe, suspend disbelief.” The church fathers said the same thing, that is, until you suspend disbelief, you can never believe. Faith is not a feeling but a conscious choice. We choose to believe. And if we do not choose, we will never believe. So Faith begins with the conscious choice to suspend disbelief, to open the door to what might be that has never been before. This is especially true if we need a miracle in our lives. With God in the equation there is nothing impossible.

Luke 7:1-10 shares with us an incident of what faith is. The picture here is of an unusual man displaying an extraordinary faith in a extraordinary manner. The story is about Jesus, the Centurion and his slave. From Mathew and Luke we know the following facts about the slave of the centurion: He was a young man at the point of death, paralyzed and in great pain. No name, no cause or kind of disease mentioned. Jesus never saw him nor did the centurion introduce him. It is only a miracle that can save him so the centurion comes to Jesus. A miracle was needed so Jesus was approached.

The centurion was the captain of a 100 soldiers. He lived in Capernaum, a small fishing village on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee. The Centurions were the back bone of the Roman army.

The centurion had a slave whom he highly regarded. This was rare indeed. In the Roman Empire, slaves had no rights. They could be mistreated and even put to death. One ancient writer commented that “when your animals are old, you throw them out to die. You do the same with your slaves.”

So this is the first surprising thing about this story—that a Roman centurion would care so much about his slave.

Second surprising thing that we see is that the centurion sends a Jewish delegation to Jesus, who speaks very highly of the centurion (v 2). In reality the Jews and Romans had nothing to do with each other. But the centurion was different; he loved the Jewish nation and had proved this by building a Synagogue (VV 4, 5). This is like someone paying 10 Lakh rupees to build church a church for us. He would be a hero. The Jews said that if anyone deserves to be helped by you, this is the man (v 4).

Thirdly, Jesus’ journey was surprising because he did not have to go, he did not owe the centurion anything, even the man’s worthiness was not sufficient reason to take the journey. But Jesus was willing to go. This is the third unusual thing.

The fourth surprising thing is that the centurion did not allow Jesus to enter his home. He said he was unworthy (VV 6-7). Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you” (vv. 6-7).

The Jewish delegation said he was worthy but in his own eyes he was unworthy for Jesus’ visit. He was full of humility and had great faith, —“Lord, just say the word and my servant will be healed.” (vv 6-8). The reason for this faith is seen in v. 8. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

The centurion knew very little about who Jesus was. He certainly knew about his background, teaching and miracles. But he definitely did not know that Jesus was the Son of God, God the Creator. But he saw Jesus and his word to be absolutely authoritative. He realized that Jesus’ speaking would suffice and bring healing and wholeness to his slave.

There are only two instances when Jesus was amazed, in this story and in Mark 6:6 because of the people of Nazareth’s unbelief. This was the fifth surprising thing, the centurion’s faith: When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel” (v. 9). The surprisingness of the faith was because this man was a gentile. What amazes Jesus is faith which is impudent, brazen and astonishing. It is not our background, education, power, connections or position but our faith.

Two things we take away from here: 1. Faith works when we come to God acknowledging our unworthiness. 2. Faith works when we are willing to risk embarrassment and failure because we have full confidence in God that he knows what he is doing.

Rev. Shamsher Bahadur Singh

Change of Attitude

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus” Philippians 2:5

When we deeply study Apostle Paul’s letter to Philippians, there was great comfort of love, fellowship of the Spirit, full of tenderness and compassion in the Church at Philippi, which was a Roman colony and leading city of the district of Macedonia. After believing Christ, believers holding the core values of life would rejoice in the Lord being like minded, living with one love, one accord. Whatever they would do, they would not do it for self glory rather each esteemed others better than themselves. Even along with men, women used to join with Paul for preaching the gospel. Their thoughts and actions together were focused on Jesus Christ. But this did not continue for a longer period. Believers started narrowing down their focus on Jesus. Perhaps they came to a lukewarm stage where the attitude of believers slowly changed. At that point of time Paul reminded and asked them, “if really you have experienced Jesus in your personal lives, very much encouraged being united with Him, received any comfort from His love, if any fellowship with His Spirit and any tenderness and compassion than be like minded. Have same love and one spirit and purpose. Let your ambition be for others. Consider others better than yourselves. Be mindful for others.”

Then he continues to say to check the attitude that is harmful to one another in the Church or community. Having said this he reminds them the attitude of Christ Jesus. (V.5). Paul insists to reflect the life of Christ in their own lives first. After exhorting the Philippians to lay aside their personal interests and focus on the needs of others, Paul tells how to follow the example of Christ who did not selfishly cling to the outer expression of His divinity rather took the form of a servant. He identified Himself with the weakest member of the team and demonstrated His humility through obedience to God the Father. He demonstrated His humble service to others and when the time came for Him to die, He submitted to His Father’s divine will. In fact, Paul takes them to the horizon of sky from where Philippians can identify the result of Jesus’ attitude that would deepen their understanding of togetherness; brought them from darkness to light and transformed them from old life to new.

Ups and downs are part of every human being. Many in the past came very closer to the Lord and later became lukewarm in their faith and action. Even some believers’ faith died down. Life became topsy-turvy. Sometimes this happens to us. We cannot deny this. This happens when we allow this to happen.

In fact that is not the end of life if someone is rooted in Christ Jesus. Everything that is lost can be restored in and through Jesus Christ. Because everything is possible, anything can be restored through Jesus who gives us strength (v.13), provided we change our mind or attitude. That is what Apostle Paul speaks to us today through his letter to the Church of Philippi. When adverse circumstances, disunity, or anxiety threaten our joy, this letter provides a powerful tool that can help us fix our focus on Jesus. May the Lord sharpen our attitude help us to focus on Christ Jesus at every moment of our life.

Lalit Mohan Jena

(Lay Preacher)

Focus on Jesus

‘Therefore holy brothers and sisters who share in the heavenly calling fix your thoughts on Jesus whom we acknowledge as our Apostle and High Priest’
Hebrews 3:1

After living a life of faith, some believers were dithering. Confronted by a deluge of arguments to go back they were indecisive. The writer of Hebrews draws their attention to Jesus and invites them to consider His Apostleship and Priesthood. Reality of Jesus’ is often hidden by strong and visible forces that impact our day to day world. There is also a real danger of the seed of faith falling on the way side and be lost or trampled.

Great are leaders who spend time in careful though and reflection. To live victoriously it is imperative to fill our daily schedule with slots to stop and think about the Saviour. It does not matter where and when one realigns her/his faith, it is best to begin the day by focusing our thoughts on the words of the Saviour. You can do it even now as you read the screen on your computer. Remember as an Apostle Jesus was sent to bring the Good News and as a High Priest He represents us before the Father.

Our decision to continue in Christ might hurt us, we could loose a few friends, be humiliated in work place and this is quite common. In times like these think of the Lord Jesus, ‘that while we yet sinners Christ died for us.’ Let not your heart be troubled, His spirit dwells in us.

If you are tempted remember He too was tempted but He overcame it so that our sins are forgiven. Temptation did not undermine His character and direction. He knows His origin and destination therefore we have a Lord and Saviour who lives and delights in us when we fix our thoughts on Him. May the Lord be your portion and blessing today as your gaze upon the face of Jesus Christ.

Bro. Prince David
(Lay Preacher)