Christ Wants Us to Bear Fruit by Working for Him

Christ Triumphant - A Devotional by E.G. White

Christ Wants Us to Bear Fruit by Working for Him

Today's Text: Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15:2

The Message:      I have been thinking about the lesson that Christ gave to His disciples just prior to His entering the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing it would be His last opportunity to instruct His disciples before His crucifixion. He says to them, as He points to a vine-and the vine is something that the Jews greatly prized and respected and considered very beautiful-"I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away."      Now, here is something for us to study.... We have our opportunities now to bear fruit; we can reveal that we are fruit-bearing branches of the vine. And if we go on now in a careless and indifferent manner, then what will be our position? He tells us He will take us away, for we cannot do anything without Christ, and if we are as a dead branch and do not draw sap and nourishment from the living Vine, we shall become withered branches. He says that every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it (pruneth it), that it may bring forth more fruit....      We have the enemy in our world to contend with. We have the powers of darkness to meet. We have to be in this conflict as long as time shall last. Our Saviour was in the conflict with the powers of darkness, and the powers of darkness were in conflict with Him, even after He entered our world. Satan was in conflict with Him. And then just as soon as His reasoning powers were exercised, He was in conflict with the powers of darkness. His very coming-as a babe in Bethlehem-was to set up a standard against the enemy....      And when He went away, what did He do? Who is to take up the controversy? Who are the visible ones who are to take up the controversy here in this world and carry it through to the very end? They are those who are Christ's followers, every soul of them. It is not merely the delegated ministers. There is where our people make a grand mistake. They seem to think that day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute in the conflict, the ministers must take care of them. It belongs to every soul of us.      We do not know what work God has for us to do.... If we have only the one talent and we begin to put that to the exchangers, and then we begin to work with that one talent, and God sees that we are faithful in that which is least, then He will give us another talent.... And thus the talent keeps increasing and growing; and the more we put it to the exchangers, the more talents we have to employ to the glory of God.-Manuscript 56, 1890.

Commentary: My friend, we are all required to do a work for the Master, using the time, talents, and opportunities that He has given us for the salvation of souls.  All that we have is from above, and all those who are truly followers of Christ, will bear fruit.  Therefore, if we are not bearing fruits, we will be cut off from Him and be taken away. How is it today in our lives, are we bearing the fruits of the Spirit, which is "... love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22, 23).  If we have the Spirit of Christ living within us, we will bear these traits of character, for it is not us that lives, but Christ that lives within us.  As we thus live for Christ, it will be our desire to do the work of Christ, sharing the good news of the gospel with all those whom we come into contact with. As there is a true vine, there also is a counterfeit vine; one that has the appearance of the true, but in reality is not.  The trinity presents Jesus as "God the Son" in place of the "Son of God"; placing His divinity first and His sonship second.  While this may not seem like much, it is as different as night and day.  In placing His divinity first it declares that he is God first and Son second, meaning that he is not truly and naturally a son, but has only taken upon himself the role or the title of son for the redemption of man.   In contrast the Scriptures declare that Jesus is the "Son of God", meaning that He is the true Son of God, the only begotten of the Father.  He is God because He came forth from the Father, and all of His authority comes from the fact that He is the Son of God.  Of Himself the Scriptures declare "All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." (Matthew 11:28). The trinity, points us to a savior that is not truly the Son of God, but is only playing the role of a son for our redemption.  Of this the Scriptures declare "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also." (1 John 2:22, 23). My friend, if you are not bearing the fruits of the Spirit, it is because you are not connected to the true vine.  It is time to "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15), that you may be connected to the true vine. May you be connected to the true vine, which is Jesus Christ, the Son of the One true God today. God bless,

Video of the Week Triune God Triune Union - David Barron A threefold union coming together, what is the basis of this unity?  The Trinity.   We examine some of the recent calls for unity by leaders such as Pope Francis, Kenneth Copeland, Tony Palmer,   Rick Warren and others and we examine how history is repeating itself and how all of this fits into the present truth concerning Bible prophecy and relates to the three angels messages of Revelation 14.   There is a worship issue coming to a head and we need to have an understanding as to all the details concerning these issues. (2 Pet 1:19)  As well as how the final events of Bible prophecy are wrapping up and how we can help others see the light of how quickly these things are coming to pass.