Mini-Study. You Shall Know Them by Their Fruit. Meditative Study Scriptures Matthew 7:12-28

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1 Mini-Study You Shall Know Them by Their Fruit Meditative Study Scriptures Matthew 7:12-28

2 Preface Challenge I live and work and minister in a foreign country s culture and among an even more diverse world of religious denominational cultures. Whenever I preach the complete work of the cross and the unlimited ability of God s grace to save I am often accused of being a liberalist. However, any time that I preach the need to submit our lives unto to the death of the cross...i m always accused of being a legalist. Thus, you must understand from the outset; I am not a legalist by any stretch of the imagination. I agree with the Apostle Paul that we should avoid extremes. That we should do all things in moderation. 1 All things that is except one. The cross is not something we can pick-up half-way. It is also not something we can pick-up and remain standing where we are. To know the Lordship of Jesus; to know Him as our First Love; and to experience the reality of resurrection identification with Him we must walk the path of our own Golgotha and die completely to self-governance. I challenge you to embrace this study honestly. I challenge you to bear your soul to it; deeply meditating on whether these Grace Fruits are truly found in you And whether they are flowing out of you through the Relational Fruits of the cross. 2 I challenge you to measure your marriage; your relationship with your children; with others; with Christ; and with yourself by the principle revealed herein. For if you will allow the death of the cross to release you into this in-grafted oneness with Christ; you will experience Jesus as never before. May the peace & grace of God abound in your life, ~Michael Lund~ Vertical Life Ministries, Bolivia 1 Phil 4:5 2 See pg 12 2

3 Grace Fruits & Relational Fruits Do We have Them in Our Lives? The scriptures in Matthew chapter five, verses three-thru-eleven, are generally referred to as the Beatitudes. They are really Be-Attitudes. And what Jesus was teaching us was that, if we will Do This (take this particular attitude or spiritual posture of action), we will then then experience that (resulting blessing). If we really want to experience the liberty & blessing of true spiritual life in Christ however, we are going to have to do (conform to) these life-style attitudes on a continuing basis. We will have to follow Jesus down the paths which He Himself walks in. And to grasp the meaning of these beatitudes, we have to understand them in context with the entire message of the Sermon on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount did not start and end with simply these nine beatitudes in Matthew chapter five. Instead, Jesus doctrinal teaching continued all the way through what we know as Matthew chapter seven; where in verse 28, the Bible says: And it came to pass when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at His doctrine In reality, if you want to know Jesus detailed New Testament doctrine, (and what He specifically desires from His Church), you can find it right here in Matthew fivethru-seven. These chapters show us the true fruit which Jesus hungers for in His Church; where verse upon verse, He unveils His heart. Jn 14:21 & 15:8-14 A lot of people heard Jesus teach that day. And a lot of people have read this amazing sermon since. But the majority of these never move past mere astonishment with what He taught. Most of the people in Jesus day never considered actually doing what He was saying. Instead, in their astonishment at His supernatural power, they sought to take Him by force and make Him a King; one who would do for them more than one who would call them to follow down the same paths He walked. They weren t really interested in loving Him like He wanted to be loved. (And they certainly weren t interested in following Him to the cross.) They had their own idea of what relationship with Him should be. Lk 12:54-56; Jn 7:26-27 Their vision of Messiah was that of a Lion Arising not a Lamb Dying. What they wanted was an enemy-crushing King, who by His super-natural power would, change their circumstances; serve their desires; and satisfy their personal needs. To these people, everything was about power. And unfortunately, in much of the Church today, the perspective is the same: What can God [in His supernatural power] do for me? Jn 6:26; Mt 21:5 & 27:40 3

4 Thank God Jesus knew men s hearts and did not commit Himself unto their natural-minded ideas; for if that had somehow happened, there would have been no cross no redemption and no salvation for mankind. We would still be lost in our sins. Jn 2:23-25; Rom 5:8 We really should not be surprised however at the natural-mind s perception of Jesus, then or now. The natural mind always runs contrary to the mind of Christ. Men always think in terms of rising up. They always seek to, Control life. And by that power, create/obtain peace. Jesus teaching however was diametrically contrary to this perception. He clearly taught that the only way to peace was to, Surrender ourselves into it. He was talking about a surrender into the death of the cross, but certainly not some mystically theological theory about it. He was talking about, Knowing (experiencing) peace through surrendered relationship. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood, dwelleth in Me, and I in him Jn 6:51-53 & 56 Jesus clearly tells us not to fear; only seek first the Kingdom of God and trust that He Himself will be the very Bread that is necessary to sustain our lives. He calls us to abide in Him. And He teaches us to seek relational right-ness with Him and with other men, by obeying His instructive Word. The In-Grafting of Jesus Cross with Our Own In chapter fifteen of the Gospel of John, Jesus speaks about being the Vine and how we as the Church must abide in the Vine, if we are to produce fruit. The word abide in Him here means the same as the word dwell in Him in the scripture quoted above. 4

5 I believe however that both terms can be best understood by something the Apostle Paul said in his epistle to the Roman Church: and if the [olive tree] root be holy, so are the branches And if some of the branches be broken off And thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, And with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree Boast not against the branches But if thou boast Thou bearest not the root, but the root thee Rom 11:16-18 To abide or to dwell in Christ is to be graphed into Him in a living way. The Greek word used in the verse above is egkentrizō which means: To cut into for the sake of inserting a scion [bud or branch] Jesus was wounded on His cross for exactly this reason; that we might be graphed into Him. He had to be cut open to receive the in-grafted Church as a branch. Equally so, we have to be cut out of our old natural nature by our own cross; so we might be graphed into Him. Without this work being done in us; every fruit produced in and through the Church (ie: every vision, every work; every outreach) is but the natural efforts of well-intended men never true spiritual fruit. This work of in-grafting is something only the cross can accomplish in us. It is something we must willfully submit ourselves unto. And if and when we do, it literally makes us one with Christ. Willfully Surrendering to Oneness Jesus had to embrace His cross by His own free will and so must you. A cross will never overtake you, or descend upon you, or just happen to you. A cross is always something you clearly understand and clearly have a choice about It will always be presented to you in a way that you can choose (by free will) to accept or reject. What we need to understand about a personal cross is the following spiritual principle: God presents my cross to me (as a life changing challenge) to see if I will present myself to it (as a living sacrifice.) 5

6 This yes or no choice is the turning point of all spiritual maturity. It is a choice which can be outwardly seen and spiritually measured by both men and God. It is the determining factor of whether we are spiritually following Jesus where He is going or simply gawking spectators; standing on the sidelines watching an astonishing show. Mt 21:9; Mk 15:12-14 Many therefore of His disciples, when they had heard this, [Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you] said, This is a hard saying; who can hear it. From that time, [this decision point] many of His disciples went back, and followed Him no more Jn 6: 56 & 60 & 66 Faith cometh by hearing, but sometimes what we hear is hard to be received; and even harder to do. Still, the question remains: Are we those who go back? Or are we those who go forward? Will we be hears only or doers of what Jesus says? Identifying which group we re part of really isn t all that difficult. Jesus said, The man who eats [becomes one with] My flesh and drinks [becomes one with] My blood This is the person who has identified with My cross by submitting his flesh to a like cross. This is the person whose cross has been made one with Mine. When we lay down our lives for other men in agape love, we become one broken bread with Christ on jointly-graphed crosses. This is the touch-point where we become one with Him in resurrection life and spirit. And without this identification with His cross nothing else really matters. 1 Cor 10:16-17; 1 Jn 5:12 Joint-Heirs with Christ When the New Testament talks about the Church, it never talks about an organized membership of so many assembled individuals. It tells us instead that we are uniquely designed instruments of a singular, organic, global Body; literally made one flesh and one bone with Jesus by the cross. Eph 5:30 To identify with Jesus resurrection is to identify with the joint-victory and inheritance of the Lamb slain. We need to understand however that this jointheir-ship is not known in our relationship with Jesus as Savior. It can only be known in our relationship with Him as Bride. Rom 8:

7 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as He is [love], so are we in this world 1 Jn 4:17 We are destined to be grafted into THIS new identity. Bride and Husband-King must become one. Spiritual fruit is produced in us only when the cross has cut us out of our old natural nature and delivered us as living sacrifices (branches) into this joined-union with the living Vine. Without this joined-union, there can be no fruit. Rom 12:1; Jn 15:5 I previously referred to the word scion wherein we saw that it meant a bud or branch taken from one plant to be in-graphed into another. Another term for this same Greek word is to be a descendent or heir. This is exactly what a New Testament Christian is called to be: An adopted jointheir; made one with Christ as Bride. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father The Spirit [Himself] beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together Rom 8:16-17 To be continually joined unto the life of the Spirit in Christ, we must also live a life continually identified with the suffering of His cross. You can have man-made religion without the latter of these two but you can t have authentic spiritual relationship with Jesus unless you are willing to abide in both His life and death. A coin must have two stamped and distinctly different sides to be authentic. Equally so, there exists two eternally engraved sides to every authentic spiritual cross. The entering-side of the cross is death. The exiting side is spiritual life. You can t get to resurrection life without going through the cross. And anything that claims to be life in Christ, without identifying with His death as well as His resurrection, is a valueless counterfeit. 7

8 There exists a pre-death side to the cross. This is the place we walk up to and decide: Will I embrace the death of my self-ownership & self-governance? If we surrender these to the death of the cross; THEN by the Spirit, the post-death honor of the resurrection side of the cross manifests in us as relationship with Christ as King and glory to the Father. Phil 2:5-11 Of course, Jesus is our supreme example of this truth. Pre-cross He was seen incarnate among us as a sacrificial Lamb; the Light of God embracing death for all men. Post-cross He manifests as the glorified Lion of Judah; the Light of Heaven, reigning forever together with all who will follow Him in spirit and in truth. 1 Jn 1:29; Rev 21:22-23; 5:5-6; Phl 2:9-11 Now you can talk to me all day about our authority in Christ. You can cherry-pick twenty scriptures to preach to me, calling me to rise up into victory. And you can tell me that all things are possible in Christ. Every scripture spoken would be true in itself. Yet if you point me down any path toward victory that does not require a passing through the death of the cross to get there you are instructing me in robbery, not inheritance. Jn 10:1 An Interesting Note After hearing that they must eat His flesh (nature) and drink His blood (spiritual life); many of Jesus disciples went back and followed Him no more. I find this turning point verse in the Gospel of John very interesting. The number of the scripture is John 6:66. In Revelations 13:18; this number represents fallen man and everything found in the spirit of the flesh; everything that is anti-christ; and thus, everything that is anti-cross Having the Mind of Christ In God s order of things, you can t experience the Lion s Power before you have tasted the cup of the Lamb s humility. One without the other is a counterfeit Gospel. The truth which authenticates Jesus post-cross honor is His pre-cross humility. Jesus divinity is not the first & foremost thing that qualifies Him to be our High Priest. Instead, it is because Jesus tasted death for all men. He wore our flesh. He walked our steps. He shared our pain and fully understands our need. And this identification with the reality of our humanity is what makes Him both Perfect Mediator and Perfect Judge. Pro 15:33; Heb 4:15; 1 Tim 2:5 8

9 As a Son, Jesus humbled Himself to become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. This was the foundational purpose in His coming to us. His mind was; to give Himself for other men. And if we are to be made into His image, we must have this same mind in us. Phil 2:5-8; Lk 9:23; Pet 5:5 The cross is where we die to our natural understanding so that we might have Christ s mind (spiritual understanding) quickened in us. It is the point at which the scriptures instruct us, Let this mind be in you But what mind is that exactly? If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory; but in lowliness of mind Let each esteem [the] other better than themselves Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others Let this [relational] mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus Phl 2:1-5 This transformed relational mind in us, to love & serve other men, eventually produces the spiritual works (fruits) which are the evidence of the cross at work in us. This is the literal, measurable, evidentiary turning-point between one who is but a natural-minded spectator of Jesus works; and one who is becoming an apprenticed heir & doer of His doctrine. The fight of faith is always a matter of what I choose to do at this exact turningpoint of the cross. Will I judge Christ s command with the natural mind of my flesh or will I present myself unto God as a living sacrifice to follow & obey His Spirit? The first choice is always spiritual defeat The latter, victory. For reigning in this life as a joint-heir with Jesus Christ is determined entirely by whether or not I pick-up my own cross. Rom 6:5; Eph 2:5-7 9

10 A Blood Purchase It is wonderfully true that the cross has come to forgive ALL my iniquity; heal ALL my disease; liberate me from ALL destruction; and crown me with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Yet, I must also remember that the cross has done ALL of this to purchase ALL of me. Ps 103:2-4 We are crowned with anointed love & mercy so that we might reconcile men to God; delivering them from captivity and the fear of death by our spiritual authority. This is the Church s predominant purpose. Yet, unless we allow the cross to liberate us from our ego-centric, self-governed lives we cannot even begin to accomplish this purpose. It is a spiritual, not a natural work. And anything less is a counterfeit. Acts 20:28; 2 Cor 5:20; Lk 4:18; Heb 2:15; Jn 15:13 When we embrace the cross, it cuts us open, allowing the abundance of God s grace and the gift of righteousness to flow into and through us to others. This is the regenerational process through which we become Christ-like. This is our spiritual authority A co-identification with Christ wherein we lay our lives down for others, relationally. Rom 5:17; 1 Pet 5:5 People can refuse this cross in a multitude of ways and still remain outwardly religious. They may seem to have wondrous and even miraculous experiences. And they may outwardly appear to wield authority and be seen to call Jesus, Lord. But the measuring stick of the cross is clear: Those who will not lose their lives (by giving them away to others) will not find them. Mt 7:21-23; 1 Cor 13:1-2; Mk 8:35 Any person refusing to present their life to Christ as a living sacrifice has no authentic spiritual authority in this world. It is simply impossible to refuse this cross and still be made one with the intercessory Lordship and authoritative ministry of Jesus Christ. Heb 7:24-25; Mt 16:26 Men may rise up to wield many forms of natural, influential authority among other men, but they cannot walk in the power of the Spirit - Not until they lay down their lives. Without embracing the cross, we cannot know the abundance of grace or the gift of righteousness purchased for us by Christ s blood. Only as living sacrifices, presented to Christ, are these gifts in-graphed into us. Only then do we become a spiritual testimony which shines as true light in the world. And only then, as the Church, are we enabled to accomplish our predominant purpose in the earth. Rom 12:1; Acts 1:8 10

11 The Where & How of My Fruit The religious folks of Jesus day questioned His authority; claiming the right to do so as descendents of Abraham. Jesus however, knew exactly why they felt the need to challenge Him. [And later crucify Him] If you were true heirs He said; You d be doing the works of Abraham and you d love Me. Instead, you want to kill Me because I speak the truth A truth that threatens your controlling, counterfeit authority. Jn 8:39-47; Gal 4:16 If we will abide in the vine, Jesus says we can Ask whatever we desire and it WILL BE DONE UNTO US. (A single Greek word signifying something conceived and produced in us or through us just as fruit is born out of a branch) Jn 5:7-8 It is clear that Jesus is the Vine. And it is clear that we, (as individuals), are branches. But, what is the actual joint between the branch and the Vine which connects us and makes us one? That living connection point is our love relationship with other men To the degree we love men whom we can see, by these relational works, we show ourselves to love God, whom we cannot see. It is relational, not religious. All is a matter of degree. 1 Pet 2:12; 1 Jn 4:20-21 To the degree we are fitly joined together in relationship with other men; so are we fitly joined together with Christ, by degree. To the degree we increase other men s joy with our freely received and freely given love; so our intimacy with Jesus Christ and the Father is measurably increased, by degree. Eph 4:14-16; Jn 13:35 This is what fruit looks like in the Kingdom of God beyond all the outward religious leaves. And we would be wise to remember it, because the outward trappings of what looks glorious or powerful in the Church to men, means nothing whatsoever to Jesus. Mt 7:21-23 The Lord has come to the fig tree for the sweetness of its fruit not its leaves. And just as He Himself was not beautiful in the world; He s not looking for any outward beauty in us. Is 52:2-3 What Jesus is looking for is an inward savor; working its way out of our lives as a sweetness other men can taste. That is what spiritual fruit looks like. And it is the only thing that can satisfy the hunger of God and men. Mt 21:19; Jn 15:8 11

12 Is Jesus Satisfied in Us? At this very moment, Jesus is visiting His Church to find out if we are doing things His way, or ours. His primary focus is our fruit. He is looking under our leaves to see if He finds fruit there. He is first examining us to see if the Grace Fruits of love, joy, and peace are actually present and full in us; and whether we have understood that these fruits in our lives, do not belong to us, but to others. If we have these fruits of grace, He looks to see if we are gifting our love, joy, and peace unto other men through the Relational Fruits of longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. To the degree we live and move and experience our joy in this spirit; we are made one in Him. By the degree our lives are laid down for others at the cross in these ways, by that degree, Jesus measures our love for Him. And by the sweetness of these relational fruits, we are empowered with true authority be living epistles of grace in the world. Where we are fruitful in this relational posture, Jesus is fully satisfied and His joy is made full. Where we are not it makes little difference how green and alive we may outwardly appear. Instead of a joy, we are a disappointment. Without fruit we re just so many tasteless leaves. Is 58:12; Mt 21:19 For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; Only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, But by love, serve one another For ALL the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself Gal 5: