Fruit or Thorns, What Is Your Spiritual Harvest?

Heb 6:1 (NKJV) — 1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead

…7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

Therefore:

In the Scripture preceding this, we are told about Jesus, who is our great high priest. He has made it possible for us to go boldly before the throne of God, where we may find mercy and grace, to overcome all types of challenges so that we may become all that God created us to be. 

We are also told we must be mature enough to receive the great bounty that God desires for us to have in this life and in the world to come. Paul knows that while we are immature, we can’t experience the great blessings of God or receive whatever things we desire.

So, he goes on to say; 

Leaving:

Meaning, letting go. Moving on and not standing still. 

To leave, we have to make an effort to let go of the past and press on to something different.  It may be uncomfortable to leave and move on, but we are commanded to leave where we are and go to where we don’t know. 

We may face struggles and encounter unexpected things. Things that challenge us to remain where we are, doing the same things over and over again, never changing, and staying the same. But the Scripture said, since God has so much more for us, let us leave where we are to go where God is directing us! 

It is like Abraham was told. 

Ge 12:1–3 (NKJV) — 1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

To receive his blessing, he had to leave what he was comfortable with to go to something God had promised for him. Understand this: to be best blessed by God, you will have to make some sacrifices. We must leave what we are comfortable with to pursue what God says He has in store for us by faith!

Paul continues:

Therefore, leaving the discussion of elementary principles:

We must let go of the simple, elementary teachings and press on to more profound and deeper things of God. 

We must recognize that God is so much more than simple clichés we constantly hear in our songs and in our sermons, “He’s going to work it out”. “Everything’s gonna be all right.” “You are somebody special”.

The Bible says 

1 Co 2:9–10 (NKJV) — 9 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

So, we should leave the simple things and move on to the greater things. The things that are more complex to learn but are the keys to unlocking a greater wealth of knowledge that will open the doors of tremendous blessings in our lives! 

God is so good and awesome that our finite minds cannot grasp what He has for us. 

So again, we are told to trust God and leave the discussion of the elementary principles and move on to greater things.

It is the will of God for us to be more than what we are now. Every day, we should be growing in some new way. 

With growth comes growing pains. We must not run back to the comfort of the womb. We must press onward, enduring the temporary discomfort to gain the high prize for which we were called. But we cannot do that unless we make the effort to leave the small to gain the great thing God has in store for us. 

God did not place man in a troubled place when he created him. He put him in a lush, rich garden full of everything he needed. God wants to do the same for you today, but you must be willing to leave your comfort zone where you are now to go to where he wants you to be. 

You must stop being satisfied with the simple blessings that are for the immature and become bold and courageous to move on to the greater blessings that he has for the mature.

To do this, you must have more nourishment than just milk. Milk is for babies. The deeper things and best blessings from God are for the more mature. The deeper things and best blessings of God are kept from the babies until they are mature enough to handle them.

Leaving the discussion of elementary principles of Christ:

So that we may be able to learn more about him, so that we might be able to comprehend the greatness of his love, and understand that he has given us his exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these we may be partakers of the divine nature, and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust. (Ephesians 3:18-20; 2 Peter 1:3)

let us go on to perfection (maturity)..,

Ga 4:1–7 (NKJV) — 1 Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, 2 but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ

But here is a warning that our text continues with:

…7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

Let us look at each clause individually:

7 For The earth:

Meaning us! We are the Earth. We are made of the Earth. We are nothing but dirt; we are dust of the earth. How did God make us in the beginning? He made us out of the dust of the ground.

Then he goes on to say

which drinks in the rain

What do we mean by rain? What is rain? Rain is water, and water is often throughout the Bible referred to as the word of God. Where does the rain fall? On the Earth, and on us. 

Look at this:

Dt 32:2 (NKJV) — 2 Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As raindrops on the tender herb, And as showers on the grass

Is 55:10–11 (NKJV) — 10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, And do not return there, But water the earth, And make it bring forth and bud, That it may give seed to the sower And bread to the eater, 11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

Man cannot manufacture rain, nor can man create the Word of God. 

Rain comes down from above, and the Word of God comes from above. 

Rain causes the flowers to bloom, and the Word of God can cause us to prosper. 

Rain can give life to a parched desert, and the Word of God can give life to a broken person. Jas 1:18 (NKJV) — 18 Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.

Rain causes the seeds to grow, and the word of God causes us to grow.

1 Pe 2:2 (NKJV) — 2 as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

that often comes upon it

The rain comes upon the earth at various places and at various times. This speaks of the word of God. God is always speaking, though we may not perceive his voice.

But to those of us who are in this church, we often hear the word of God. There are some churches where there is no word, but up in here, I know you hear the word.

What is the result of you constantly hearing the word? What does the rain do to the earth?

and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated

Now this begins to make sense. The rain produces fruit that is useful, and the Word of God produces fruit that is useful for the glory of God. The one who cultivated you.

It is important for us to understand this.

The word of God tells us that as we hear the word of God, and if we often hear it, as most of us do here in church, it should cause us to produce some fruit that is useful to the glory of God. 

This is our ultimate purpose in life: to produce fruit to the glory of God. 

This means you are to be a blessing for God’s kingdom. To be a blessing to his ministers and his teachers who help build his kingdom.

God did not create you to bless you for you; he created you to bless you so you could be a blessing for others!

Let me connect the dots for you. Where did Paul get this from? The words of Jesus in

Jn 15:5–8 (NKJV) — 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 

8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Notice the statement:  so you will be My disciples.

Connecting that with bearing fruit as my disciples. What type of fruit? The fruit that God created you to bear!

Jn 3:5–6 (NKJV) — 5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

The obvious fruit is the fruit of the Spirit! That is, if you have been born of the spirit?

What is the fruit of the Spirit?

Ga 5:22–23 (NKJV) — 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.  

Thus, the summary of the fruit, though it is represented by these different attributes, is a four-letter word… Love!

Jn 13:35 (NKJV) — 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” 

Love is the evidence that you are his disciple and have been born again by the regeneration of the spirit. Love is the fruit of the Holy Spirit because God is love. 

If you are a child of God, you should produce much fruit of love that is created by the Holy Spirit in you and is outwardly revealed by the love you have for your brothers and sisters!

As a result of producing much useful fruit, the Scripture goes on to tell us

…7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 

None of us wants to miss the blessings from God, but we must realize he has an expectation. That expectation is to produce fruit for his glory!

This is why we were created, and it is our whole purpose in life!

 As we hear the word of God, we are to produce much fruit, again I say, much fruit to the glory of God.

You are not just to come to church to get blessed for yourself. You are to come to church to let your light shine and give glory to God! 

Remember?

Mt 5:16 (NKJV) — 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

There are many ways of glorifying God if you submit to the Holy Spirit and allow him to work in and through you.

For instance, the café workers work diligently in the kitchen so that people may dine together and fellowship with one another. 

The media team ensures you can hear and see clearly in here and on YouTube and Facebook. 

The Greeters who welcome you at the door. 

Ushers, security, parking attendants, clean sweep, and the many nonpaid servants, such as choir members, praise and worship leaders, and those who ensure the church functions properly.

All have no expectation of repayment, but they will have the eternal blessings of hearing the words “Well done good and faithful servant!”

Then our Scripture text goes on to say:

8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.

8 but if it bears thorns and briers,

What are the thorns and briars?  These are the things that are produced by you and me that are not to the glory of God. They hinder the growth and development of his kingdom.

We are all producing something in our lives, but the question we must ask ourselves is whether we are producing something that promotes the glory of God, or something that hinders it.

Are you doing something that advances the Kingdom of God or hinders it?

If it is not to God’s glory, we are producing thorns and briars. If we are producing thorns and briars, then we have no value to God! No value!

Let me show you something you may not have even thought about. Thorns and briars can be reckoned to the thorns that Jesus mentioned in

Mk 4:18–19 (NKJV) — 18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, 19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful

The thorns and briars are also the people who have heard the word but keep the word from being productive in the lives of others. 

Choking the word may also involve actions that prevent the word from moving forward.

The ungodly, sinners, complainers -people who compromise the word of God. They make excuses for sin. They constantly complain about church work and what’s done in the church. I wouldn’t go to that church; this preacher is anointed, that preacher is not. Always griping and telling you why this won’t work, why you shouldn’t do this, why you shouldn’t do that. They are not willing to advance. They only want to stay in their own comfort zone, and they don’t want you to advance. The Bible says to separate yourself from them!

It is unfortunate, but there are those in the church who don’t work for the common good. They are the thorns that choke out those who are giving glory to God.

We must all understand that we are either wheat or tares; we are either sheep or goats, or, as this passage says, we are either fruit or the thorns and briars.

Which one do you think you are? Are you producing fruit to help your brothers and sisters grow in the Word of God, or are you one who is hindering God’s purposes in the lives of others?

What does the Lord say about those types of people?

Mk 9:42 (NKJV) — 42 “But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea

What does Scripture continue with regarding those who produce thorns and briars?

it is rejected and near to being cursed, 

whose end is to be burned.

What good is something that does not serve its purpose to you? You throw it out! You get rid of it because it is taking up space!

They are rejected and on the verge of being cursed if they do not turn around.

Think about your life now.

You do everything you can to make it successful, but if all you are producing is thorns and briars, and little to nothing that is for the glory of God, the Bible says that at the end of your life, you will face damnation!

Heb 6:1 (NKJV) — 1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection,

Heb 6:7–8 (NKJV) — 7 For the earth which drinks in the rain that often comes upon it, and bears herbs useful for those by whom it is cultivated, receives blessing from God; 8 but if it bears thorns and briers, it is rejected and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.