Let's turn back to Luke chapter
13. Notice it says in verse 6, he
spake also this parable. Now, this refers to what he had
previously said with regard to repentance. You remember from
last week, he said, except you repent, you shall all likewise
perish. And he spake also this parable. A certain man had a fig tree
planted in his vineyard, and he came and sought fruit thereon
and found none. Now, why do you want a fig tree?
For figs. And if it doesn't bear figs, why cumbereth it the
ground? What good is it doing? All it's
doing is drawing nutrients from the soil, but it's not being
any benefit to us at all. Then, verse 7, said he unto the
dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking
fruit on this fig tree. and find none, cut it down. Why cumbereth it the ground?
It's not doing us any good. It's not bearing fruit. Cut it
down. And he answered and said unto him, Lord, let it alone
this year also, till I shall dig about it and dung it. And
if it bear fruit, well, If not, then after that thou shalt cut
it down. One of God's glorious purposes
in the salvation of sinners is the bearing of fruit. Let me give you some scriptures
with regard to that. Ephesians 2.8 says, for by grace
are you saved. Aren't you thankful for that?
From the depth of your heart. For by grace are you saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. which God hath before ordained,
that we should walk in them. In Romans chapter seven, verse
four, Paul said, wherefore, my brethren, you also are become
dead to the law. Why, it's a good place to be,
where the law has nothing to say to me. I've not broken it. Dead to the law. through the
body of Christ that you should be married to another. Not married to the law anymore.
You're married to another, even him who was raised from the dead,
that you might bring forth fruit unto God. That's his purpose,
the bringing forth of fruit. Turn with me for a moment to
John 15. I know you're familiar with this passage of I picture the Lord at this time
looking at a vineyard, and he says to his disciples in verse
1, I am the true vine, and my father is the husbandman. Every
branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away. Now, I've read everybody I can
on that passage of Scripture on numerous different occasions
wondering, what's that mean? Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, he takes it away. So many people have said some
different things. Some say, well, he kills you. He takes you to
himself and so on. I don't know what it means, to
be honest with you, but it doesn't sound good, does it? It does
not sound good. every branch in me that beareth
not fruit. Now, I know if I'm truly in the
Lord Jesus Christ, I will bear fruit, the fruit of God the Holy
Spirit, because I have a new nature, a holy nature that bears
fruit. But he still says, 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. And
you know the picture. For to bring forth more fruit,
he's going to take a knife and prune it and prune it and prune
it, cut this away, cut that away, and it's going to end up bearing
more fruit. What a gracious operation on
his part. He says in verse 3, now you are
cleaned through the word which I've spoken unto you. Isn't it
a blessing when you hear the gospel and you know before God
you're clean? You're without sin. You're justified
before God. You're holy before God. And the
only time you ever really feel that way is when you hear the
word, when you hear the gospel, when God makes the word effectual
to you, and you believe and you know you're clean. What a blessing
that is. I love it when I know I'm saved,
don't you? I just love it when I know I'm saved, when I know
I belong to the Lord. And that's when I hear the gospel.
As soon as I walk out, I might start thinking, well, maybe you're
not, but I'm hearing the gospel. Oh, you're clean, and what a
blessing that is. And he says in verse four, abide
in me and I in you, abide in me. That means you stay there
and you don't leave. You stay in him and you don't
go out. If you were in the house with
the blood over the door, you know what you would not do that
night? you would not go out, because you would know the only
place of safety is in the house with the blood over the door.
If you were in a city of refuge, if you'd fleed into the city,
you stayed in that city because if you went out, the avenger
of blood could kill you. So you stayed there where you were protected.
Now, if you know that all of God's blessing, all of God's
favor, all of God's grace, all of God's mercy, all of God's
kindness is in the Lord Jesus Christ, you know what? You say
with Paul, oh that I may win Christ to be found in him. When
God comes looking for me, there's only one place I want to be found.
It's in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not preaching. It's not
praying. It's not witnessing. It's not reading the Bible. It's
not performing some good work. I just want to be found in Christ.
So that's all God says. He says in verse four, abide
in me and I in you as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except
it abide in the vine. No more can you except you abide
in me. Now how do you expect to bear
fruit apart from Christ? It ain't gonna happen. Verse five, I am the vine, you
are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in
him. I love those two concepts. Me
in Christ and Christ in me. Isn't that mysterious? Me in
Christ, I'm abiding in Him. I'm in Him. I'm in Him. Can't
get out. And He's in me. Kind of like
a cup of water. You throw the cup of water in
the ocean. That water, that little cup is filled up with water.
It's in the ocean. That's the believer abiding in
Christ. Christ fills that believer. That
believer is in him. He said, I am the vine, you are
the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, severed from
me, apart from me, you can do nothing. Don't you know that
so? We know that from the depths of our hearts. Without me, you
can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, He's
cast forth as a branch, and is withered, and men gather them
and cast them into the fire, and they're burned. If you abide
in me, and my words abide in you." You see, Christ can't be
separated from his words, the things that he said. If my words
abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done
unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that you bear much
fruit. So shall you be my disciples. Look in verse 16 of this same
chapter. He says, You have not chosen me, but I have chosen
you. You know, when I even hear that,
it just... I just know it's so. I just know
it's so. When the Lord says that to me,
I know it's so. Humbles me in the dust, makes me feel grateful.
Isn't it a glorious thing to be chosen by Him? For Him to
choose me. He said, you've not chosen me,
but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring
forth fruit. That's his purpose. That you
should go and bring forth fruit and that that fruit should remain. Now in the context of this parable
of this man coming and seeking fruit and finding none and saying
cut it down, why cumbers at the ground and this dresser of the
vineyard saying no let it alone for another year and let me do
what is needed. I'll dung it, I'll dig around
it, I'll do everything I can to help it bear fruit. And after
that year, if it doesn't bear fruit, we'll go ahead and cut
it down. Now, in the context, he was speaking
of repentance. And John the Baptist made this
statement regarding repentance. In Luke chapter 3, he said, Bring
forth fruits worthy of repentance. You see, repentance, by definition,
is a change of mind. Don't you love it when your mind
is changed? I do. I mean everything, you just see
things differently. The Lord changes your mind. And
when the Lord changes your mind, your mind is changing. You see
things differently. You view things differently.
You view everything differently. But beloved, it's more than a
change of mind. When God changes your mind, there's going to be
other changes as well. It's going to be seen in your
attitude, in your conduct, in your spirit. When you've truly
been Granted, repentance, a change of mind concerning who God is,
who I am, how he saves sinners by his grace. When your mind
is changed regarding this thing of forgiveness, and this is the
heart and soul of repentance, when you repent, you change your
mind about forgiveness. You used to think that forgiveness
was the end of some process, that you'd achieve forgiveness,
and when God changes your mind regarding forgiveness, you see
that salvation begins. with God forgiving you of your
sins. It just begins there. And oh,
what a joy that is when you see that. You quit trying to think
of the things you need to do in order to earn and achieve
forgiveness. And you see it's what God does
for you. Now, when I have this change
of mind, it changes my attitude and it changes my actions. One
who is repentant toward God will not be high and mighty and arrogant.
but they'll be clothed with humility and brokenness and meekness. And I've got some examples of
this in the scripture. Turn to Romans 12. Let me show you a
couple of examples in the scripture. One, verse one, Romans 12, one,
I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God, And he
had so clearly identified the mercies of God in these first
11 chapters of Romans so beautifully. He says that you present your
bodies, that's everything you are, a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And
be not conformed to this world, this world that hates God, but
be you transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove
What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God? For
I say through the grace of God given unto me to every man that's
among you. Here's the first thing he speaks
of when he speaks of proving that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God. He said, I say to every man among
you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think,
but to think soberly. Not being drunken with pride
and arrogance and self-righteousness, but think soberly, according
as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith." The first
thing he says is not to think of yourself more highly than
you ought to think. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4,
and this is the fruit of repentance. Ephesians chapter 4, verse 1. I therefore the prisoner of the
Lord. I love thinking of Paul sitting
there in a Roman prison and saying, I'm the prisoner of the Lord.
I'm here because he put me here. I'm his prisoner. It's a glorious
thing to be a prisoner of Jesus Christ, isn't it? He said, I
therefore the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk
worthy of the vocation or the calling wherewith you are called
with all lowliness, humility, with all meekness, with longsuffering
for bearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Turn to Colossians 3,
verse 12. Put on, therefore, as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, vows of mercies, kindness, humbleness
of mind, meekness, long-suffering, forbearing one another and forgiving
one another, if any man have a quarrel against any. Even as
Christ forgave you, so also do ye. Now, what is this thing of
fruit or the fruit of repentance? Here's what it is. It's the product
of the new birth. It's the product of regeneration. When God gives you His Spirit,
you have this fruit, the fruit of repentance. It's the good
ground here bringing forth good fruit. It's the fruit of the
Spirit. It's the fruit of the new birth.
Paul tells us that these things are by Jesus Christ. This fruit
we're talking about, it's by Jesus Christ. It's not something
that came from you. This isn't exotic. It comes from the Holy
Spirit. It's the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
We read in Hosea chapter 14 verse 8 where the Lord says, from me
is thy fruit found. It's even called the fruit of
holiness, the fruit that comes from abiding in the vine. Now turn with me for a moment
to Galatians chapter 5. We're close to that. Let's read
about the fruit of the Spirit. Now the first thing that I would
like us to consider as we consider the fruit of the Spirit This
is a beautiful portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember
how Greg Elmquist, in that message he brought up here during our
conference, he looked at 1 Corinthians 13 as a beautiful portrait of
Christ. Well, the fruit of the Spirit is a beautiful portrait
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He just embodies this. Look what
it says in verse 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love. The love the Son has for the
Father The love the Son has for His people. The love the Son
has for sinners. The fruit of the Spirit is joy.
You think of the way the Lord joyed, or does joy before His
Father. The way He enjoys His Father's
presence. He has joy in all that His Father
does. The fruit of the Spirit is peace.
You know when I think of real peace, I think of peace that
comes from not having any sin. That's the only thing that truly
gives peace, is when you're conscious of not having any sin. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ is
conscious of not having any sin. And how peaceful He is with His
Father. And then, the fruit of the Spirit
is long-suffering. How long-suffering is the Lord
to you? How long-suffering He is to me. He could have cut me
off a long time ago, but He's long-suffering. Aren't you thankful
for that? Long-tempered. Long-tempered. What a beautiful description
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The fruit of the Spirit is gentleness,
kindness, and graciousness. The word is actually translated
also easy. Christ said, my yoke is easy. You think of how gracious
the Lord Jesus Christ is. He embodies graciousness. Grace
poured from his lips. The law was given by Moses, but
grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The fruit of the Spirit
is goodness. Well, goodness is a capacity
for mercy. That's what, when God said, I
declare all my goodness before you to Moses, it's because I'm
going to have mercy on this bunch of people that made a golden
calf. I'm going to be merciful to them. I'm going to demonstrate
my goodness. The Lord's good. Faith. Think about the faithfulness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the way he believed his father. He
said, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. He never had
an unbelieving moment, never had an unbelieving thought. He
trusted his father completely. Fruit of the Spirit is meekness.
You know, he describes himself, and I love this description of
Christ. He said, I'm meek and lowly in heart. That's the Lord
Jesus. I'm meek. and lowly in heart
and you'll find rest into your souls and temperance. Is there anyone who had control
like the Lord Jesus Christ over all things regarding himself? He embodies temperance. But this fruit of the Spirit
is the fruit that every believer possesses. When I'm born again,
I'm born again with the fruit of the Spirit. If I do not have
the fruit of the Spirit, I don't have the Holy Spirit, period.
Every believer has the fruit of the Spirit. Every believer,
and I think it's interesting, you can divide these nine fruits. Some say there's only one fruit
of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, which manifests
itself in these various ways, and that might be the case, but
still we have nine different things mentioned. The first three
are with regard to God. The second three are with regard
to others, and the third three are with regard to ourself. The fruit of the Spirit is love.
Every believer loves God as He is. We love His sovereignty. We love His holiness. We love
His justice. We love His power. We love His
wisdom. We love all of His excellent
attributes. We love Him just as He is. And we love His people.
By this shall all men know you're my disciples by your love one
to another. We love men. We want men to hear
the gospel and believe the gospel. And we want to preach the gospel
to everybody. The fruit of the Spirit is love. The fruit of
the Spirit is joy. What joy we have in knowing that
I don't have any sin. You want to talk about something
that makes me happy? Justification. The fruit of the
Spirit is joy, and we actually joy in His providence, whatever
it is. It's good because He sent it, and we know it's working
together for our good and His glory. The fruit of the Spirit
is peace. What peace we have with God. when we see that God's at peace
with us. Now that's the only time we have peace with God,
when we see He's utterly at peace with us through our Lord Jesus
Christ. And when we see He's at peace with us, we have peace
with Him, and our reason for peace is the same reason His
reason for peace is. His reason for peace is found
in Christ. Our reason for peace is found in Christ. And the fruit
of the Spirit is peace. The fruit of the Spirit is long-suffering,
forbearing, impatient, literally long-tempered. And this is the
result of seeing how long-suffering He is with you. Now, when you
see and when I see how long-suffering He is with me, I'm going to be
long-suffering. The fruit of the Spirit is long-suffering.
The fruit of the Spirit is gentleness, kindness, and graciousness. Grace-believers
are gracious. Just like if you've been forgiven,
you'll forgive. If you've been given grace, you'll
be gracious. The fruit of the Spirit is gentleness,
kindness, easy, goodness, a capacity for mercy, faith. You believe and you can be believed. You believe the gospel and you
can be believed. You're real. The fruit of the Spirit is meekness,
humility before God, accepting all His dealings with us as right
because He did it. The fruit of the Spirit is temperance,
self-control and self-restraint, not giving vent to the lusts
of the flesh, but you have a control from within. Now, I love what
Paul said in Galatians 5, 17, Previous in this verse he said
the flesh lusts against the spirit, the spirit lusts against the
flesh. These are contrary one to another so that you cannot
do the things that you would. You would be without sin. You
can't. You would be a monster and you
know it. Thank God you can't because you
have the fruit of the Holy Spirit. You have temperance. You have
Christ within. Turn with me to James chapter
3. Here's another beautiful portrait of fruit. Don't you find the fruit that
God sets forth in his word attractive and beautiful? And you want to
bear that fruit? Now once again, when we look
at this passage of scripture, first of all, I like to look at it
first as a portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 17 of James
chapter 3, but the wisdom that is from above. Christ is the
wisdom of God and he's from above. He's first pure, then peaceable,
gentle, and easy to be entreated. Very approachable. Full of mercy
and good fruits. Without partiality, uncertainty,
or indecision, is what that means. And without hypocrisy, it's not
an act. And the fruit of righteousness. This is what this is called,
the fruit of righteousness. It's known in peace, of them
that make peace. Now, the Lord said, blessed are
the pure in heart. You know, that beatitude used
to always give me trouble. Blessed is the pure in heart,
because the fact of the matter is, is when I look within my
heart, it sure doesn't feel very pure. But what he's referring
to is the new nature, the new heart given in the new birth. And that heart is indeed pure. Every believer is pure in heart. They have a heart that God has
given them that is pure. And the wisdom that's from above
is first pure. It's the product of the new nature. But look at this description
after that. It's peaceable. It's not looking
to make a fight. It's gentle, forbearing, humane,
not insisting on the letter of the law is what that means. Easy
to be entreated, approachable like our Lord, full of mercy
and good fruits, without partiality. You know what that means? That
means without uncertainty and indecision. You know, when we speak of the
gospel, we speak of that which we know. It's not what I think. I don't think salvation is by
grace. I know salvation is by grace. I don't think Christ made
salvation. This is not my thoughts or my
opinion. I know that Christ is salvation.
We speak what we know and testify what we have seen. There's no
uncertainty in decision. I know the Lord. I know his gospel. The wisdom that's from above
is without partiality and it's without hypocrisy. It's not an
act. It is real and the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace of them that make peace. This is all called
the peaceable fruits of righteousness. Turn to Ephesians chapter 5. I'm just looking where the word
fruit is used so we can understand what the Bible means by this
thing of fruit, and this man comes looking for fruit. And
let me remind you, and this is, of all the things that I find
scary in the scripture, a lot of things I find scary in scripture,
but I think one of the scariest things in the scripture is the
thorny ground hearer. You know why I find him so scary?
He never leaves. He's still sitting in the pew
or in the pulpit, preaching from the pulpit, not bearing fruit. He's still there, not bearing
fruit. I don't want to be a fruitless
believer, do you? I want to bear the fruit of God
the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians chapter 5 verse
9, for the fruit of the Spirit is
in all goodness and righteousness. truth. Goodness, a capacity for
mercy, righteousness, equity of character, truth. Everything
is grounded in the truth of the gospel. Something that's not
grounded in the truth of the gospel is not real. The fruit
of the Spirit is all goodness and righteousness and truth. The fruit that flows from the
truth. Turn to Hebrews chapter 12. The writer to the Hebrews is
talking about chastening. Look in verse 11. Now, no chastening
for the present time seemeth to be joyous. Anytime you were
chastened by your parents, maybe whipped or whatever or grounded
or whatever people do, it wasn't a joyous thing. Wasn't anything
joyous about it at all. Now, no chastening for the present
time seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward
it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them that
are exercised thereby. Now, back up to verse 5. He says, And you have forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth. And he scourges every son whom
he receiveth. Now, I want the Lord to chasten
me. I don't want to be chastened, but I want the chastening of
the Lord, don't you? Because it says right here that the folks
he loves are the folks he chastens. And if he doesn't chasten me,
that means I'm not one of his. I don't want that to be. Verse
7. If you endure, if you abide chastening,
God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom
the Father chasteneth not? But if you be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then are you bastards, you're illegitimate,
you're not true sons. Furthermore, we've had fathers
of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence.
Shall we not much more be in subjection unto the father of
spirits and live? For they verily for a few days
chastened us after their own pleasure. but he for our profit,
and this next statement I just find so amazing, that we might
be partakers of his holiness. Now that's his reason for doing
it. And no chastening for the pleasant time seems to be joyous
but grievous, nevertheless afterwards it yieldeth the peaceable fruit
of righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby. Turn the page to Hebrews 13, verse 15. By him therefore Let
us offer the sacrifices of praise to God continually. That is the
fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name, confessing his name. That's what the word means, confessing
his name. That's the fruit of our lips.
I want to confess before this world. Now, confession has something
to do with public. I want men to hear, to see. I
want to confess his name. That's who he is. And that's
the fruit of our lips. Now, this is the fruit that God
expects to find. I've mentioned all these. Love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,
pure, peaceable, gentle, impartial, non-hypocritical, righteous,
truth, and confessing His name. He said, for me is thy fruit
found. So for one thing, somebody says, well, I'm afraid I don't
have any fruit. Well, if you're a believer, you
do. And you don't have to worry about
it in the sense that he said, for me is thy fruit found. You
will bear fruit if you are a believer. Now, when we go back to that
parable, let's go back to Luke chapter 13. We see the fruit that the Lord
is expecting. Verse 5 or verse 6, He spake
also this parable, A certain man had a fig tree planted in
his vineyard, and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found
none. Then said he unto the dresser
of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit
on this tree, and find none. Cut it down. Why cumbereth it
the ground? And he answering, said unto him,
Lord, let it alone this year also,
till I shall dig about it, and dung it, and do everything that
is necessary for it to bear fruit. And if it bear fruit, well, and
if not, then after thou shalt cut it down. Now which one of
us does not fear that the Lord would have reason to say that
of us. I know I do. When I read this
and I think, would he say this of me? Where's the fruit? Why
does it cumber the ground? I think of those branches that
the Lord said, If they bear not fruit, he takes them away. Now
once again, I don't know what that means, but I know it doesn't
sound good. I don't want it happening to me. The Lord gives us special mercy.
He says I'll take special measures to dig it and dung it, break
up the dirt and give it fertilizer and cause it to bear fruit. Now
don't you find a desire in your heart to bear fruit unto the
Lord Jesus Christ. every believer does. There's no such thing as a believer
who does not desire to bear fruit unto the Lord Jesus Christ. I
want to close by reading this poem about this parable by Robert
Murray McShane. It's entitled The Barren Fig
Tree. And I don't want to be barren
and unfruitful in the knowledge of my Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, and I know you don't either. Within a vineyard sunny bound,
an ample fig tree shelter found, enjoying sun and showers, the
boughs were graceful to the view. Or the boughs, I don't know how
you say it, is it boughs or bows when you're talking about branches?
I always wonder. Somebody tell me. Boughs, okay. I'll say boughs from here on
out. The boughs were graceful to the
view, with spreading leaves of deep green yew and gaily blushing
flowers. When round the vintage season
came, this blooming fig was still the same, as promising and fair.
But though the leaves were broad and green, no precious fruit
was to be seen, because no fruit was there. For three long years,
the master cried, fruit on this tree to find I've tried, but
all in vain my toil. Ungrateful tree, the axe's blow
shall lay thy leafy honors low. Why, cumbers it the soil. All
let it stand, just one more year, the dresser said, till all my
store of rural arts I've shown about the massy roots I'll dig,
and if it bear, we've gained the fig, and if not, then cut
it down. How many years? Hast thou, my heart, acted the
barren fig tree's part? Leafy and fresh and fair, enjoying
heavenly dues of grace and sunny smiles from God's own face, but
where the fruit? Oh, where? How often must the
Lord have prayed that still my day might be delayed till all
due means were tried? Afflictions, mercies, health,
and pain. How long shall these be all in
vain to teach this heart of pride? Learn, O my soul, what God demands
is not a faith like barren sands, but fruit of heavenly youth. By this we prove that Christ
we know, if in his holy steps we go, faith works by love, if
true. Isn't that what Paul said? In
Christ Jesus, neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love. I want to bear fruit unto his
glory. And I know you do too. And I
know that if we could look at our lives and say, well, I'm
bearing fruit. we prove by that we're not bearing
it. I'm sure of that. If you hear this message and
say, hey, I'm good to go, I'm bearing plenty of fruit, well,
congratulations. Nobody else feels that way. But
every believer desires to bring forth fruit unto their husband,
unto their Lord, unto their master, unto their Savior. And remember
this, the Lord said, for me is thy fruit found. And what I'm
going to say is, Lord, you said that. Cause me to bear this fruit. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in the name of thy blessed Son. And Lord, we confess that apart
from you, we will not bear anything but that which is to be burnt.
Lord, you told us in your Word that without you we can do nothing.
And Lord, we know that that's so. But Lord, we ask that you
might Implant in us Thy Spirit and the fruit of Thy Spirit that
we might grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Lord, that we might grow in love
and joy and peace and longsuffering and gentleness and goodness and
faith and meekness and temperance. Lord, that we might be pure. peaceable, gentle, easy to be
entreated, full of good fruits, without partiality, without hypocrisy. Lord, that we might bear the
fruit of thy chastening hand. Lord, we don't desire to be chastened. We're not asking to be chastened.
But Lord, we want to be yours. We don't want to be left to ourselves. And Lord, whatever you send our
way, we ask that you would take it and cause us to abide in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, forgive us of our many
sins. Forgive us of the barrenness
that we've had. And cause us to bear for fruit
unto thee by your grace, by your spirit. Lord, teach us to be
believers of your gospel. Teach us to rest only in Christ
and to glory only in the cross. And Lord, we know that the only
way we'll bear fruit is by glorying only in the cross. And Lord,
we know that if we start trying to bear fruit, we won't bear
any. Lord, give us the grace to look to Christ in such a way
as we bear fruit. In Christ's blessed name we pray.
Amen.