Bible Exploration
Examining Christian growth stages; fruiting; performance-based Christianity???
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0:00 [Music] all the glory must be to the lord 0:07 [Music] 0:16 no one on earth 0:21 [Music] [Applause] 0:28 [Music] 0:34 praise ye the lord praise ye the lord hallelujah 0:42 brethren let us pray father we thank you again even for the privilege of 0:50 life the privilege of gathering together with my brothers and sisters i thought i got to 0:57 explore your world to examine your word please speak to us today 1:02 give us understanding we pray give us faith to mix with your word so that your word 1:09 will be beneficial to us in jesus name 1:15 amen i thank you also for giving me utterance father god in jesus name 1:22 amen praise the lord brothers and sisters we are back again by god's grace 1:30 even to break some bread please 1:36 i would or just as always 1:42 please have your bible nearby 1:47 if you're driving well obviously that may not be possible 1:53 but if you're seated somewhere please have your bible nearby 1:58 and let us go into word together and examine 2:04 it for ourselves we've been speaking about christian 2:11 growth and i would also urge us to 2:16 kind of not jump in the middle of any of the episodes 2:23 uh but to start uh from the beginning because it's a 2:28 line upon line kind of structure that is how the word of god is 2:36 he teaches us lying upon line last time we're speaking about 2:42 fruiting as a part of growing 2:50 we're going to pick up on that today and continue uh last time we talked about 2:58 producing fruit today i want to continue in that vein 3:05 and say producing 3:11 bad fruit which is different from not producing fruit 3:17 is also dangerous we had spoken and we described 3:23 that not producing fruit can be a 3:29 dangerous enterprise for a believer 3:34 in the last episode but producing bad fruit 3:42 has the same effect matthew chapter 7 verse 16 to 20 3:50 matthew 7 16-20 jesus said you shall know them by their 3:57 fruits do men gather grapes of thorns or figs 4:02 of thistles even so even so 4:08 every good tree bringeth forth good fruit but a corrupt tree 4:13 bring it forth evil fruit a good tree cannot bring forth evil 4:21 fruit neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit verse 19 4:27 every tree that bringeth fought i'm sorry every tree that bring it not 4:33 fought good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire 4:39 wherefore by their fruits you shall know them 4:48 so if we bring forth bad fruit we're not growing 4:56 as god desires us to grow producing 5:02 perishable fruit is also troublesome jesus said 5:08 in john 15 16 you have not chosen me 5:14 but i have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit 5:24 listen now and that your fruit should remain 5:31 if our fruit remains it means our fruit has not perished is not perishable fruit 5:38 that we are producing continue in john 5:45 15 16 that whatsoever you act of the father in my name he may give it you 5:51 that's john 15 16. remember now beloved remember now 5:57 that fruiting is simply reproducing 6:03 what the tree was grown from [Music] 6:10 we were cultivated from the incorruptible seed of god's 6:18 word we read that in the last episode we as trees of righteousness were cultivated from the incorruptible seed 6:26 of god's word so our fruit should be incorruptible non-perishable and they should remain 6:35 the scriptures describes those with perishable fruit as follows 6:44 jude chapter 1 verse 12 jude chapter 1 verse 12 6:50 these are spots in your feasts of charity when they fist with you 6:57 feeding themselves without fear clouds they are without water 7:03 carried about of wings trees whose fruit wither it 7:09 without fruit twice dead plucked up 7:14 by the roots 7:20 beloved let that settle in trees 7:26 jude 1 verse 12 trees whose fruit wither it 7:33 without fruit twice dead 7:39 a tree whose fruit withers 7:45 or a tree without fruit 7:50 bought a dead a tree whose fruit withers 7:57 and becomes therefore without fruit is twice dead 8:03 it is dead because it has no fruit and is dead when the fruit it had withered 8:11 so he died twice listen to what romans 7 verse 14 says 8:18 romans 7 14 wherefore my brethren ye also have 8:24 become dead to the law by the body of christ that you should be married to 8:29 another even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth 8:35 fruit unto god 8:42 hmm no i'm not talking about apples and oranges no no 8:49 no ephesians 5 9 says for the fruit of the spirit 8:54 is in all goodness and righteousness 9:00 and truth for the fruit of the spirit is in all goodness 9:07 and righteousness and truth philippians 1 11 the bible says being 9:13 filled with the fruits of righteousness which are 9:18 by jesus christ onto the glory and praise of god 9:26 what bothers me though is that there seem to be 9:33 some i guess there are well meaning 9:38 that have erroneously called 9:44 things that pertain to what god requires from us 9:51 as performance-based christianity let me say that again 9:57 some have labeled 10:07 discussions like this 10:12 that pertain to what god 10:18 demands from us his children requires from us 10:24 that have believed in christ jesus that what god 10:30 says we must evidence 10:35 some have labeled this as performance-based christianity 10:41 where a person's worth their ledge 10:47 is derived from performance you know god god just loves us no he 10:54 loves us so to say yes god loves us 11:04 what do we do good or bad it doesn't matter to god 11:09 um okay 11:14 beloved jesus gives us the cause 11:20 of this erroneous belief in mark chapter 12 verse 24. 11:28 and it applies to all error including 11:33 this so-called labeling 11:40 of performance-based christianity when a mention is made of god's demands on 11:50 his children mark 12 24 says and jesus answering said 11:56 unto them do you not therefore air because 12:01 you know not the scriptures neither the power of god 12:11 we air if we don't know what god has said or what god can do 12:22 you see this labeling those that use this label oh well 12:27 they're talking about performance-based christianity you know our worth does not depend on what we do 12:35 it's just god loves us again 12:40 if you go back to our message on babes this is a 12:46 mishandling of the word of righteousness 12:51 when we cannot rightly 12:56 handle the word of righteousness error creeps in 13:03 beloved many have dots unwittingly 13:08 and unknowingly use this label of performance 13:14 based christianity as a 13:19 derisive mocking description of god they seek to create a god in their own 13:27 image a god that fits their own philosophies and customs and beliefs 13:33 a god that fits their own imaginations while ignoring what 13:39 that same god has said about the issue well my worth is not 13:46 derived from my performance but what did god say about it they are saying that god missed it 13:54 for example in the parable of the soul luke 8 verse 11 to 15. 14:00 god missed it by categorizing the soils based on their 14:05 performance god missed it god didn't know what he was doing 14:13 luke chapter 8 verse 11 to 15. jesus said now the parable is this the 14:20 seed is the word of god then he goes on to categorize 14:28 four different kinds of soil now he categorized them it wasn't me i didn't i 14:34 didn't say anything i didn't do anything i'm too small to do that 14:42 jesus said luke 8 12 those by the wayside are they that hear 14:50 then the devil comes and takes the word out of their hearts 14:56 no result from the word verse 13 they on the rock are they which when 15:04 they hear receive the word with joy but they have no root in themselves 15:10 and they believe for a little bit for a while and when temptation comes 15:16 they fall away verse 14 third category and they which fell among thongs are 15:23 they which when they have heard go forth and are choked with cares and riches and 15:29 pledges of this life and bring no fruit to perfection they have fruit 15:34 verse 14 but their fruit is not perfect they grow up among thorns 15:45 the cares of this world choke them verse 15 15:52 but that on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart have 15:58 heard the word they keep it and bring forth fruit with patience 16:06 yeah yeah yeah god missed it when he categorized the soils 16:13 by their fruits 16:19 um 16:27 jesus said if we cannot understand the parable 16:34 of the saw we can't understand 16:39 any other parable how mark chapter 4 verse 13 16:46 mark chapter 4 verse 13 and he said unto them 16:52 know ye not this parable how then 16:58 will you know all parables beloved if we stumble at the parable of 17:04 the sower forget other parables 17:10 oh well hebrew chapter 6 verse 7 to 8 the scripture says for the earth which 17:18 drinks in the rain that falls often upon it and brings forth herbs made for them 17:23 by whom it is dressed receives blessing from god 17:28 but that which buried thorns and brass is rejected and is near unto cursing 17:33 whose end is to be burned god again categorizes the soils the earth 17:42 based on their fruiting yeah yeah you can call it performance if you want 17:51 i'm righteousness of god in christ jesus hallelujah whether i bring fruit or not it doesn't 17:57 matter i'm still a child of god 18:03 okay those that peddle this philosophy 18:09 of less performance-based christianity as telling god that god missed it 18:18 when he gave the parable of the talents [Music] 18:25 yeah god missed it 25 verse 20 to verse 30. 18:31 he gave them talents you know the story verse 20 says and so 18:37 he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents saying lord you you gave me five talents behold 18:44 i've gained beside them five talents more hold on 18:49 these five talents i'm giving you is not the five talents you gave me 18:56 the five talents you gave me which i did not merit or earn or deserve 19:03 was the seed you gave me and i'm bringing the fruit of five more talents 19:08 to you what did the master say verse 21 matthew 25 21 well done thou 19:16 good and faithful servant [Music] 19:22 that has been faithful by a few things i will make the ruler over many things enter into the joy of thy lord 19:32 verse 23 and verse 22 he also that received two talents came 19:37 and said lord behold you gave me two talents behold i have gained two 19:43 other talents beside them lord these two talents i'm bringing to you were not the two talents you gave me 19:52 which i didn't merit anyway i didn't earn them you just gave them to me but that was the seed you gave me 19:59 and because you gave me two talent seed your talents have produced 20:09 two more talents mm-hmm 20:22 verse 23 the his lord said unto him well done 20:28 good and faithful servant that has been faithful by a few things i'll make jeru 20:33 ruler over many things entered down into the jaw of the lord 20:38 verse 24 he then he which had received the one talent came and said lord 20:45 i knew you were a hard man reaping where you did not sow and gutting where you 20:50 have not gathered so i was afraid [Music] 20:55 here's the one you gave me and keep it verse 26 the lord answered and said unto 21:02 him thou wicked and slaughterful servant 21:07 i thought the lord didn't care about performance he gave three servants 21:14 talents that they did not married he gave it to them and he expected them 21:21 to reproduce what they were given and you call that performance-based 21:28 christianity are you serious 21:33 oh well those that talk about this performance 21:39 based christianity they also allege unwittingly 21:45 that god missed it by requiring a tree to produce fruit 21:51 after three years god missed it 21:58 luke 13 verse 6 to 9. we spoke about it in the last episode 22:05 a setting man had a fig tree planted he came and sought fruit and he didn't find any fruit then he said to the dress 22:12 of the vineyard behold this three years i come seeking fruit on this fig tree 22:18 and find none cut it down why is it covering the ground 22:24 now listen he comes seeking fruit 22:29 on this fig tree he's looking for figs on the fig tree 22:37 he's not looking for fish on the fig tree 22:44 he's not looking for oranges on the fig tree 22:50 mm-hmm not looking for corn 22:56 on the fig tree no no no no no he is looking for 23:02 figs on the fig tree because he planted a 23:09 fig in the ground 23:14 and that's where this tree came from 23:20 i hope you get it i hope you get it beloved 23:26 matthew chapter 7 verse 19 to 20 every tree that bringeth not fought good 23:34 fruit is him down and cast into the fire wherefore by their fruits 23:41 you shall know them 23:48 by their fruits you shall know them if the tree 23:54 is not producing fruit it shouldn't bear the name of that fruit 24:02 let me say that again if the tree 24:09 is not producing fruit it shouldn't bear 24:15 the name of that fruit 24:20 so jesus says by their fruits you shall know them well this is an orange tree because 24:27 there's orange on it um 24:34 let me say that again jesus said but they are fruits you shall know them 24:41 this is an orange tree because there are oranges on it 24:47 when it produces oranges you can call it an orange tree 24:56 by their fruits you shall know them if it does not produce oranges 25:03 it has no right to continually 25:09 be called an orange tree but why did god call it an orange tree 25:15 in the first place i'm glad you asked romans 4 25:21 verse 17 as it is written i have made thee a father of many nations 25:27 before him who he believed even god listen now even god who quickened the dead and call 25:35 it those things which be not as though they were 25:40 god called the tree an orange tree in faith believing that the orange tree 25:46 will bring forth orange fruit because he knew what he put in the seed that he planted 25:52 the orange tree with god knew 25:58 that in due time this tree that he has called an orange tree will 26:06 produce orange fruit because he put capacity 26:12 and capability in the seed to produce oranges 26:22 that's why he was mad with a fig tree because he called it a fig tree by faith 26:28 god calls those things that be not as though they were 26:35 he called it what it is because he knew 26:41 it will become what he said it should be 26:46 but when the tree decides not to obey that command 26:53 we have a problem so jesus continues on this point in john chapter 15 verse 8 27:02 saying hearing is my father glorified that ye 27:08 bear much fruit so shall you be 27:14 my disciples let me read that again john 15 8 hearing is my father glorified that you 27:21 be a much fruit so shall ye be my disciples 27:27 plastic orange plant that you bought from a store to decorate your house you know whatever 27:35 you don't expect it to have oranges i mean it's i mean it's plastic 27:42 but if you know like the man knew jesus said 27:47 that he planted a fig tree he called the tree 27:54 he says this three years i come seeking fruit on this fig tree 28:01 but jesus also said by their fruit you shall know them so what he's saying with those two 28:07 scriptures together i came seeking fruit on this fig tree 28:13 because i knew i planted a fig tree but because it's not producing figs 28:20 it can't be known as a fig tree because by their fruits you shall know them and 28:25 if it cannot be known as a fig tree cut it down because it looks like a fig tree but 28:31 it's not producing figs stay with me beloved stay with me stay with me beloved 28:39 this concept of derisively calling 28:46 this issue of what god demands from his children as 28:51 performance-based christianity is human philosophy 28:57 and its human wisdom which doesn't go anywhere i mean it sounds good 29:03 it feels good it tastes good but it's poison 29:09 you see this philosophy forgets that 29:15 god valued the souls talking about the power above the soul now 29:20 so much all the souls we talked about god valued the soil so much that he 29:28 freely scattered his precious seed on all kinds 29:33 of earth by the wayside among rocks among thorns 29:39 he gave his seed freely to all of them none of them deserved it 29:45 no soul earned the right to receive the seed god gave them the seed freely 29:53 there you see the grace of god unmerited talking about the servants 29:58 with the talents god valued the servants so much that he freely gave them 30:04 varying talents that none of them earned none of the servants end the talents 30:11 they were given it was by grace god by grace also planted the fig tree 30:18 that refused to fruit the fig tree did not plant itself 30:25 it was by grace we'll talk a bit more about that later 30:31 what man calls performance god calls 30:36 reasonable service let me say that again what these philosophies of men 30:45 are derisively labeling as performance-based christianity 30:51 god calls it reasonable service look at romans 12 1-2 i beseech you 30:59 therefore brethren by the mercies of god that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy acceptable unto god which 31:08 is your reasonable service josh is not a big deal god says 31:14 it's your reasonable service it's not a big deal josh present your bodies a living sacrifice 31:21 holy acceptable unto god uh because the seed i planted you from 31:27 is holy is incorruptible 31:34 because sin will corrupt you 31:40 sin leads to decay corruptable death 31:46 but holiness is incorruptible it abides forever it leaves forever holding at least to eternal life 31:54 romans 12 2 and be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the reunion 32:00 of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and 32:05 perfect will of god what man now calls performance 32:12 god calls reasonable service 32:18 if someone gives you a bucket of sand gives you two sticks 32:24 uh gives you a cup of water gives you a cup of cement 32:30 and tells you build me a 12-story office complex 32:35 [Music] beloved i know i sound silly but you have to forgive me on that 32:43 but it's unreasonable to demand that i take two 32:48 sticks a bucket of sand a cup of water a cup of cement and build a 12-story office complex 32:55 who does that on the other hand if you give me access 33:01 to unlimited cement on limited sand 33:06 you give me unlimited water you give me unlimited iron rods you give me 33:11 unlimited wood you give me shovels you give me construction materials and equipment give me all kind of tractors 33:20 you give me skilled craftsman you give me skill builders 33:25 and you demand from me that i build a little house 33:30 for your pet dog is that unreasonable or reasonable 33:38 so we see in isaiah 61 verse 1 to 3 33:45 the scriptures telling us very plainly the spirit of the lord god is upon me 33:52 because the lord has anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek he 33:58 has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted to proclaim liberty to the captives and 34:03 the opening of the prison to them that are bound to proclaim 34:10 the acceptable year of the lord and the day of vengeance of our god to convert 34:15 all that mourn to our point verse 3 unto them that morning zion to give 34:22 unto them beautiful ashes the all of joyful mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness 34:28 listen now that they might be called 34:34 trees of righteousness the planting 34:40 of the lord that he may be glorified 34:48 beloved i hope you got that that they might be called trees of 34:53 righteousness the self planted no 35:02 the planting of the lord 35:08 that he may be glorified beloved 35:16 trees of righteousness 35:22 it is by grace because we are the planting of the lord 35:29 if you think about the biggest trees that you know the biggest the tallest the widest 35:36 i think about the sequoia trees in north america i think 35:42 about you have some eucalyptus trees i believe in australia 35:49 you have some uh iroquo trees oh butcher trees 35:57 that's in west africa you have all these giant trees 36:03 around the world not one tree planted itself not 36:10 one not one let me say that again from your tallest to your biggest to 36:17 your baddest trees not one tree planted itself not one 36:24 not one it is by grace beloved it is by the grace of god 36:31 that those trees are planted but the planter of that tree 36:40 demands that they produce 36:47 what he planted them from 36:53 ah let me say that again the planter 36:59 of that tree demands that they produce 37:05 what he planted them from so jesus continues 37:12 on this point in john chapter 15 verse 8 saying 37:18 hearing is my father glorified that ye bear much fruit 37:25 so shall you be my disciples let me read that again john 37:31 15 8 hearing is my father glorified that you be a much fruit 37:37 so shall ye be my disciples 37:43 second peter chapter 1 verse 3 the bible says according as his divine power 37:51 has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness 37:58 through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue 38:04 let me say that again according as his divine power talking about god has given unto us 38:12 all things not some things he has given to us all 38:18 things all things all things that pertain unto life and 38:24 goldiness remember the dong that was going to be given to the fig 38:30 tree so he might produce fruit 38:35 peter is saying god has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness all 38:42 things we need to live the life he requires and to live in godliness god has given 38:49 unto us all things through the knowledge of him that has 38:54 called us to glory and virtue all things what are those all things let's let's 39:01 look about let's look at some of them the blood of jesus the name of jesus 39:07 the holy spirit the sword of the spirit the shield of faith 39:12 the helmet of salvation prophetic word god that god has given us you see that in first timothy chapter 1 39:18 verse 18 there are all kind of things god has given us all kinds 39:25 so after you plant your fig tree and you manure it and you water it and you let 39:32 it be exposed to the sunlight and you give it adequate growth time are you 39:37 performance based if you require the fig tree to produce the same fig from which you planted it 39:46 are you being unreasonable to demand fruit 39:52 beloved to ask that a fig tree produce an apple oranges or bananas 39:57 is unreasonable but god thinks as he stated in romans 12 verse 1 to 2 40:05 that his requests are very reasonable 40:10 beloved it is whatever god thinks that is right that is right 40:16 not what we collectively assume or believe to be right 40:21 let me let me say that again it is whatever god thinks that is right 40:27 that is right it's not what we collectively assume or 40:33 believe to be right do you know what humanity is worth the 40:38 god let me tell you the value god places on humanity 40:44 because some of us don't know so they say we are trying to 40:50 perform so that we can have worth in god 40:56 let me let's look at some of some of the way ways god has expressed the worth he places on us 41:04 genesis 1 26 and god says let us make man in our image after our likeness and 41:10 let them have dominion over the fish of the sea by the fowl of the air the cattle all over the earth and over every 41:16 creeping thing john 3 16 for gossip of the world that he gave his only begotten son that 41:22 whosoever beloved him should not perish but have everlasting life 41:28 romans 5 8 but god commanded his love towards us in that while we were yet 41:33 sinners christ died for us do you see that 41:38 luke 11 2 and he said unto them when you pray say our father which are in heaven 41:45 hallowed be thy name ephesians 1 2 grace be 41:51 to you and peace from god our father and from the lord jesus christ 41:58 these scriptures show god as our father 42:06 genesis 1 26 let us make money in our own image our father which art in heaven 42:13 he is our god but is our father god and father 42:19 are two different offices if you will 42:25 god and father are two different functions if you will 42:33 god is both our god and he's also our father 42:39 what does that mean you see god is the god 42:45 which means creator god is a creator function god is the god of the mountains 42:53 he's the god of trees he's the god of monkeys he's a god of fish he's the god of snakes he's a god of rabbits 43:00 he's the god of cockroaches what are you believe that or not he's the god of mosquitoes 43:06 he's the god of rocks beloved but is not their father 43:14 god is a creator function god creates but a 43:20 father replicates a father 43:26 duplicates a father reproduces himself 43:33 in his child so let me tell you the value god has placed upon us before we did anything 43:41 he made you and i in his image that's worth right there 43:49 we didn't earn it we didn't deserve it we didn't do nothing he made us in his image that's the worth and the value he 43:57 placed on us so that he could both be our god and our 44:03 father the god that made us in his image now asks 44:09 us to be responsible and we say it's performance-based 44:15 christianity ah oh lord my time is up beloved i have to 44:22 stop right here and by god's grace we'll continue next time 44:28 until then may the lord bless you and keep you make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you 44:34 lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace in jesus name amen 44:40 [Music] 44:51 is [Music] 44:59 [Music] [Applause] 45:07 glory must be [Music]