Life, Growth, and Fruit

A DEVOTED servant of God, now in glory, who had attended one of these Keswick Conventions, and received very definite blessing, was asked what it was he had gained? He answered, “It was there 1 learned to cash my cheques!” He referred to the promises of God. It is to one of these cheques I desire now to direct your thoughts. You will find it in the third verse of the first Psalm: “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

Here is a cheque which we may get cashed into the golden coin of a present

LIFE, GROWTH, AND FRUIT. loi

i experience. Never let us forget that we

all have the same treasures in Christ.

There is no difference as to our resources

—no difference in this respect between

ourselves, including the weakest believer,

and the Apostle Paul. To us all, and for

us all, there is the same Christ — the same

unsearchable riches! The question is,

How may I live upon these resources?

How may I enjoy them? In these words

we have an inspired description of a child

of God in his true normal condition —

“He shall be like a tree.” Perhaps there is Ps.

no figure more beautiful, more simple and

suggestive, than the one before us. Think

of a tree; you have three things — life,

growth, fruit. And those three things

you have in a believer who is living up to

his privileges.

1. There is Life. This is one of our

first needs. By nature we are dead in

trespasses and sins. It is not education,

culture, or training, we first need. We

need quickening — a life capable of being Rom.vi. 23. trained — that can be cultured and educated. That life comes from above. The Word of God proclaims it. It reveals the way of life. It declares life to be God’s gift. “The gift of God is eternal life.” But there is a progress in our app7’ehe7ision of what spiritual life is. We do not grasp it all at once. In the early stages of our spiritual history we do not take in the full meaning of God’s statements. “God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” Such a declaration strikes us at first as somewhat mystical. We should have less difficulty in understanding it if it had been written, “and this life is from His Son.” But as we are led on by the Spirit, we are enabled to enter more perfectly into God’s mind, and we find that God means juSt what He says — “This life is in His Son.” Mark two important stages in our apprehension of spiritual life.

Our first view of it is that it is a Divine Nature Itnparted. That which is born of

IGtbe Spirit is spirit. The new nature is not the Spirit — i.e. the Holy Ghost Himself; but it is a spirit. It is that which is born of the Holy Ghost. When that has taken place, we have a being in God’s kingdom. Now we are new creatures in Christ Jesus; we have new affections and desires, new aims and aspirations. It is a blessed thing to know what life, in this sense, means. But there is a higher and truer apprehension of life.

The Divine Person Indwelling. “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” There is a new principle in me — “I live.” But in addition to this there is a Divine Person dwelling within me — ‘’Christ liveth in me.” “I am the Life.” “That Christ might dwell in your hearts by faith.” The recognition of this fact — that life is not merely an abstract principle communicated to me, but a Person dwelling within me — often (may we not say always) marks a crisis in our spiritual history. From that hour we enter on a new experience.

Gal. ii, 20.

Eph. iii. 17,
Ps. I. 3-

Col. I.

We are not occupied now with our new nature, and waiting for it to grow and become strong before we can live victorious lives; but we are thinking of Him, who is not only the Source without us, but the Spring tvithin us — we are thinking of Him who is Omnipotent to save us now, and therefore we begin at once to expect deliverance and triumph.

II. There is Growth. — What is growth? It is the expansion of life. It is life in activity. The tree is planted with a view to growth. God has secured the best possible conditions for growth. “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.’^ Hebrew scholars tell us that the word” planted “here means transplanted. It implies that the tree grew previously in another soil. One came, and having chosen it, had it removed into his own garden. How true is this of every believer! Once he grew in a waste land, but God chose him, and then translated him” into the kingdom of

His dear Son.” Every believer is a transplanted tree.

Now, just as the tree finds in the soil and moisture, in the atmosphere and light, all it needs for growth, so the believer finds all he needs in Christ. The life within him has a need which only Christ can supply. But he has been planted into Christ. The new nature has a capacity for reception. It is capable of taking in the food provided for it in the soil in which God has planted it.

This growth takes place in two directions. Groivih in the Roots. Root growth is hidden growth. Light is needed for the branches, but it is not needed for the roots; on the contrary, it injures them. “When you have hyacinths in water glasses you put them first in darkness for some weeks, till the roots strike down into the water. And even when the roots have spread and filled the glass there is scarcely a sign of growth upward; the stalk remains undeveloped. Light is io6 THE WALK THAT PLEASES GOD.

needed for that growth. But the roots must come first.” * So is it spiritually. The avenues through which spiritual nourishment shall come to the soul must be in contact with the Source of supply.

Many of us, it may be, need to have the channels of our being cleared and adjusted. Though there has been an unlimited provision, our souls may nevertheless have remained barren and unfruitful. Something has stopped the way. There is something wrong in the roots of our spiritual life. Our communion with God is not what it might be. This is the hidden life. We do not need the light of publicity for this. Nay, we may be living too much in public. We need to know more of what it is to be alone with God.

Growth in the Bra7iches. — This illustrates that part of the believer’s existence which is seen. “The life hid” — in the roots; the “Life manifested” — in the branches.

* Dr. Leckie.

Closely connected with the root-Hfe is the branch-Hfe. Of course it is really the same life. The tree gives out by the branches what it takes in by the roots. ‘’His leaf also shall not wither.” In another place we read —

“Her leaf shall be green.” This illustrates the ministry of gladness. How cheering to the eye is the beautiful green of the fresh and healthy leaf! How it gives beauty to the landscape! Such should be the influence of every believer’s life. He is sent into the world to manifest the gospel of gladness! and not only towards man — in our testimony for God — but also Godward in our worship and service. We are to “serve the Lord with gladness”

Then, again, the leaf is the means by which the tree gives shelter. It affords a refreshing shadow from the rays of the scorching sun. And once more. The leaves of a tree have a purifying influence on the atmosphere. Animals, as they

Jcr. xvii.

Ps. c. 2.

io8
fer. xvii. 8.

breathe, render the air impure. They cannot live upon the atmosphere that has already passed through their lungs. It has become poisonous to them. But the leaves of trees have the property of removing the noxious gases. They take the carbon from the atmosphere, and liberate the oxygen. We have all heard of the wonderful effect of the eucalyptus tree on the atmosphere of malarious districts. The leaves of this tree give out a volatile aromatic secretion, filling the air, and producing a most beneficial effect.

These figures speak for themselves. They shadow forth the believer’s mission here in the world. His life may be full of blessing to others — cheering, sheltering, and purifying.

But let us not forget the secret lies in the roots being in contact with the river. “She spreadeth out her roots by the river.” It is not by screwing oneself up to it that these results are to be obtained. We have seen artificial fountains playing on our tables. As long as they are wound up, the waters flow upwards beautifully; but then, after a while, they always run down, and the fountain no longer exists. There is a religious activity which is the outcome of intense emotional feeling — the result of a winding up of mere natural enthusiasm. But as sure as there is a “winding up” there will be a “running down.” Sooner or later it spends itself, and then there comes the inevitable reaction. The life of self-effort always runs down. The better life is known when Christ becomes to us the “well of water within, springing up spontaneously unto everlasting life.”

Now, while we believe in progressive sanctification, let us not lose sight of the fact, that the beginning oi 2l new experience, in which sanctification really is progressive, may be something quite sudden and immediate.

The discovery and the removal of the stone that choked the channel and

John stopped the stream may take place within a very brief space of time. It may be the work of a few moments. No sooner is the hindrance removed than the waters begin to flow, and the soul is filled to overflowing.

III. There is Fruit. — If you are a Christian at all there will be some fruit. But it is God’s will that there should be Phil. i. IT. ‘’ much fruit “— that we should “be filled with the fruits of righteousness” — every branch heavily laden, weighed down with fruit.

And not only does God require abundance of fruit; it is His will that it should be ripe fruit. We have seen trees with quantities of fruit, but there has been no ripeness. The fruit has been hard and sour. Is this characteristic of our fruit? How shall our fruit be ripened? It must have the sunshine. Sunlight is not enough; it must be sunshine. Sunlight is reflected light, but sunshine is light direct from the sun itself. So we must live in the light of Him who is the Sun of righteousness, with nothing between.

The Lord Mayor, some time ago, was distributing prizes to poor lads and others, for window gardening. A lovely geranium gained the first prize. When the owner was called, a small child with a pale face came shyly forward. The Lord Mayor thought there must be some mistake, and so he questioned her. She said, the lady who gave her the flower when it was very small bade her to keep it always in the sunshine. So every morning she put it in the window-sill; at midday she took it to the garret window; in the evening she placed it in the stairs, that it might catch the slanting rays of the setting sun. Day by day she tended it, with this splendid result. Let us never forget our Sun is always shining, and shining that we might live in His rays. As we bask in the sunshine of His smile He will do the ripening. You need not be gazing at your fruit; leave that to Him. He will make you abundantly fruitful, and will ripen it with His own rays, that it may be fruit on which He Himself can feast.