The Maturing of the Firstfruits

Brethren, when we study into the Word of God, we find that all throughout the Scripture, there's many references to fruit and fruitfulness and bearing fruit and abundance in terms of fruitfulness in that way. You recall when Israel came up to the brink of the promised land, and the spies went in, the spy out that land, that they returned. And at least part of the report was, yes, it is indeed a beautiful and abundant and fruitful land. What always comes to mind to me is the early Bible story books that the church put out. I remember reading those when I was a kid, and in one of those volumes it shows the spies coming back out, and you had two men carrying a pole on their shoulder between the two of them, and it was one cluster of drapes and a hanging from that pole. And I don't know how accurate necessarily that would be exactly, because I think your drapes would be the size of a grapefruit, maybe, if that was the case. But certainly very beautiful and very fruitful land that God was offering them.

There are scriptures pertaining to the fruit of the ground in terms of fruit trees and orchards, the fruit of the fields with the crops and the harvest and the abundance that's gathered in, in that way. Scripture refers to the fruit of the womb as it's described, the physical offspring from mankind. That's a blessing of God. You recall, he told Adam and Eve in the beginning, you know, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth. And so fruitfulness very much is scattered all throughout Scripture. Additionally, fruit in Scripture is often used to describe what one produces as a result of their actions and their attitudes. You recall when John the Baptist was baptizing and the Pharisees and Sadducees were coming to him, he said, you know, you need to be bearing fruit worthy of repentance. Show forth by your actions that you truly are repentant and that God's way is working in your life. Jesus Christ as well, you recall, referred to the fact that by one's fruit you will know them. Again, their actions, their attitudes will display what is the fruits of their life. Are they submitting themselves to God or are they not? In Scripture, fruit is referred to not only as a physical commodity or produce, but it's a spiritual result as well. So we're coming up on the day of Pentecost, which is tomorrow. And so I thought today I'd like to focus on something related to that as well, because when we come up to Pentecost, we focus very much on fruit, on fruitfulness and firstfruits. There's a fruits of the Spirit, which is contained in Galatians chapter 5. And Mr. Maine turned there for us today. We won't go there, but we could find those listed, the fruits of the Spirit. And those come as a result of God giving His Holy Spirit to us, dwelling in us, and then are utilizing it in a right and a productive way. That fruit is displayed and is brought forth in our life as we submit to Him.

Now, the timing of Pentecost and the 50 days leading up to it point to fruitfulness as well.

In ancient Israel, in the Holy Land there, the spring harvest began following the wave sheaf offering. You recall, during the days of the 11 bread, that first ripe grain was cut, and that the priest lifted up that sheaf before God and waved it. It was a wave sheaf offering. It represented the first of the first fruits that was harvested, and it was a type of Jesus Christ who ascended to the Father the day after His resurrection. He was raised up before His Father then as the first of the spiritual first fruits. So that began the harvest in ancient Israel, and it took place, as we are counting now, to Pentecost all across those 50 days, Pentecost then marking the completion of that spring first fruit harvest.

Now, that span of 50 days and the timing in which it took place was when the first fruit of the ground, again, was harvested. Brethren, in like manner, you and I are referred to in Scripture as first fruits. We're first fruits in relation to the spiritual harvest that God has planned for mankind. Of course, we know that God is planning more than one harvest, but as the first fruits, we will be in the first harvest if indeed we are faithful, then at the return of Jesus Christ.

Again, we're called first fruits. Let's take a look at one brief example of that. Follow me, if you would, please, to the book of James, chapter 1, verse 17.

James is probably one of my favorite books here of the New Testament. We're making our way through the book in the in-home Bible studies. James, chapter 1, verse 17. Here, James says, every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and it comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. And so God the Father is steady, He's consistent, He's faithful. There's no shadow of turning or even shadow of doubt that we should be directing in His direction. He does indeed fulfill what it is that He has promised. Continuing on in verse 18, it says of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. And so if we've been called by God, if we've received His Holy Spirit through the process of repentance and baptism and the laying on of hands, then we are referred to as the first fruits of God's creation. And as such, we're being prepared for the harvest of the spiritual first fruits which will take place at the end of the age. Now, I brought a couple of visual aids with me today to assist in the sermon. I'll try to see if I can balance these without creating a big mess. Now, I broke the rule. I brought food on this side of the room, but we'll consider it an exception. So my first example here is a bowl of beautiful ripe strawberries, as you can probably see. In fact, they're so beautiful, I had to resist eating them on my way to Lewiston this morning. But when I arrived, then Gina Jorgensen gave me a whole bowl of ripe strawberries that they picked from their garden. This didn't come from my garden. It came from Fred Meyer, but it's a good illustration. Mine are still green. It's just the nature of where we live. But these strawberries represent the first fruit of many of our gardens in the region. You know, in the Pacific Northwest, strawberries are some of the first fruit, which comes to maturity that we can then go out and harvest. And so these are mature, ripe strawberries, and again, they were harvested not long ago. Let's see if I can make room for my second illustration.

All right.

Hopefully you can still see me. All right, my second prop here is a strawberry plant.

As you can see, I actually named them curly because I went out last night and dug it up, and most of the dirt fell away from the roots. And then I'm hurrying to pack the dirt in and water it in. But a few of the leaves started to curl in the process. But as you can see, there's many small green hard unripened strawberries on this plant. So there is fruit, okay, and in time it will mature, it will ripen, it will be ready for the harvest, but not today.

You know, neither you nor I would go out and pick one of those strawberries and think it fit as something to eat today. Eventually this will become this, hopefully, if he survives the day. But the fact is, it's a process. And these green strawberries have to go through a process before they will arrive at the point of the harvest, such as these have taken place. This afternoon, brother, I want to talk about the maturing of the spiritual firstfruits. I want to talk about the process that needs to take place in our lives to bring us onto maturity so then we are indeed ready for the harvest of God at the return of Jesus Christ. Because you see, just like other fruit and the fruit I spoke of earlier, there's a process that takes place in our life. It's a development process that readies the fruit, brings it from an immature stage into maturity and ripeness.

You know, the fruit of the ground is not ripe on the day the seed is planted. The fruit of the womb is not ready to be brought forth at the time it's conceived. There's a development. There's a time span that takes place in which growth and maturity needs to come about. And, brethren, it's the same with us spiritually as well. Now, God knows where each and every one of us are in this process. We're not all in the same place. Some of us may be green. Some of us may be pretty close to maturity in that way, and a number of us may be somewhere in the middle in that process. At home, strawberry plants have sort of a range of different stages in there. God knows where we are, and He works with us according to His Spirit and according to our process and progress in that way. But, you see, God isn't looking to harvest spiritually green, spiritually hard, spiritually immature first fruit in His spiritual harvest. He's seeking a full harvest of first fruits that have grown and ripened and developed unto the level of spiritual maturity. That which is fit for His use. That which has become then the end result of what it is that He intended. You know, there's a purpose for these berries. They've been created and they've grown and they're maturing now for a purpose, but they've not reached their potential. They're not necessarily, in that sense, useful for their potential yet, but they one day will be. In this Christian life, we've been called to live, brethren. We need to dedicate our focus to maturing from this stage unto this stage. And it's a lifelong process. It's something we need to dedicate ourselves to each and every day because, you see, this is the season for growth in our lives. We must grow now, we must mature now, we must prepare now for the harvest. Going forward, brethren, in this message, what I'd like to do is cover four steps that need to be placed in our life if we're going to develop unto mature firstfruits. You know, four steps that we need to be walking through on a daily basis if we're going to be continuing to ripen for the spiritual harvest at the end of the age. Step number one, if we're going to be moving from this green fruit unto this ripened fruit unto the harvest, step one is we must maintain an environment for continual growth in our lives. We must maintain an environment for continual growth in our lives. So, brethren, what does your environment look like? You know, our environment's basically made up of our home life, the people at home, the activities that we do, those we engage with during the day at school or at work, and our various functions that we do during our leisure time. We create an environment in our life by which we function. Now, is that environment a hindrance to your spiritual growth, or is it a help? Because, you see, environment really does play an important part in the growth and the maturing of fruit. Just as a tender plant needs good soil in order to grow and produce, we too need to cultivate good ground and a good environment in our lives where we can grow into spiritual maturity as well. It's a principle we see displayed for us in the lesson of the parable of the sower. So, let's go there, Luke chapter 8.

Luke chapter 8, beginning in verse 5. Oftentimes, we go to Matthew to look at the parable of the sower, but I want to go to Luke today, and I think the wording ties in a little better with what I'm looking to describe. Luke chapter 8 and verse 5. These are the words of Jesus Christ.

It says, "...a sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside, and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it." So, that seed fell upon the ground, but it never really had opportunity to get started. It was quickly snatched up and devoured.

Verse 6 says that some fell on rock, and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And I sort of imagine that as being, you know, a rock that's covered with a very thin layer of soil, and the seed has enough to sprout, but it can't put down deep roots into that rock, and when the sun comes out and the heat of the day shines on it and trauma and stress come upon that plant, it withers away very, very quickly. Verse 7, it says, some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it, but others fell on good ground and sprang up and yielded a crop a hundredfold. And so, there can be good environments as well as bad environments for spiritual growth. You know, there's ground that can take that seed and accept it and put it to good use, and it can spring forward and be fruitful, and there's other ground it can fall on where perhaps it can't be utilized, or it is not utilized, to the potential for which it was intended. And in this parable, brethren, you and I are the ground. We're the soil. And the question then becomes, what kind of ground are we? Are we of the stony ground in which that seed just doesn't last long? Are we of the ground that doesn't do anything with it and it's quickly snatched up?

Or are we of the good ground in which it can take root and grow and mature and produce unto the harvest? The question is, what kind of ground are we? Now, Jesus Christ goes on in verse 11 to explain the parable. He says, now the parable is this. The seed is the word of God. And those by the wayside are the ones who hear. Then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. And so they really didn't get even a sprout going as it would appear in their life. It was snatched away very quickly. Verse 13, it says, but the ones on the rock are those who when they hear, they receive the word with joy. And these have no root who believe for a while. Let me go back. And those have no root but believe for a while, and in time of temptation, they fall away. So there again, there's that little upshot of growth, a little bit of development, but then at that time of stress, it is no more. Verse 14, now the ones that fell among thorns are the ones who when they have heard the word go out and are choked with the cares and the riches and the pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to maturity. So the seed falls on that ground. It springs forth. It actually puts down a little bit of root and begins to develop a plant. And you notice it doesn't say that they'd bear no fruit. It says they bring no fruit to maturity.

And it's very possible that that seed sown among thorns could have developed to the point of this the strawberry plant here with the green strawberries on it. It's living according to the word. It's putting it to practice in its life. But you know what happens is suddenly the cares of the world become quite intense and suddenly priorities start to move in on us. Maybe job or finances or other things. Maybe we backed ourselves into a corner that we're trying to get out of and suddenly the priorities and the cares of the world supersede the priorities and the cares of God. And then the plant is choked out. There was fruit beginning to be born but then it doesn't come to maturity. The parallel passage in Matthew 13 says that of this category of people it says they became unfruitful, which again indicates they were at least producing some fruit, but something occurred then that that process was cut short. And again, it's a fruit that does not mature unto the spiritual harvest. For us in the Church of God today, I think we want great risk brethren are falling into the category of the thorny ground. Because you know what? We have sprouted, we have begun to grow, we have put down roots, we are producing fruit, but we live in a society and in a world that is pulling on us as well. We're pulled to go in so many directions and if we're not careful, the fruit, the plant, the growth we produced in our life can be swallowed up by the cares of this world. And our growing process, our growth, can cease. Verse 15, this is really where we need to be, this environment for continual growth. Verse 15, but the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with noble and a good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. You know, it takes patience to bear fruit and then bring it onto maturity, because again it's a process and there's so many things that we need to walk through and experience and endure and grow from in that process. It takes hard work. It takes keeping the weeds howed out, keeping them from moving in, because you know what? You can have good ground, the seed can be established, you can begin to grow, but still that doesn't mean you can take your leisure.

It doesn't mean the cares of the world won't try to creep in. It just means you won't let them swallow you up and destroy you in the process. So we need to be maintaining this environment for continual growth. Anyone who has a garden understands how that process works. At our house, we have a garden, which is my mother-in-law's garden. She puts a lot of time and attention and care into that, and every year she has the garden spot tilled up in the spring and she plants the seed. And the one thing she's commented to me is the fact that there's a persistent weed that we have that is continually trying to take over. And she says she's actually spent more time trying to keep that weed out than she has in terms of tending the other aspects of the garden.

It's good ground. It's fertile ground. Things grow well in it, but so does that weed. And the fact is it takes time and effort and diligence to keep that from creeping in, because once you allow it, it will grow very quickly. It can choke out the growth in each and every one of us.

That's part of the process. The weeds of the garden can destroy the good fruit that is being produced then in the process. Again, verse 15 here says, the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word and with a noble and a good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.

The word here, patience, could also be translated endurance. It's an active process. You know, you have to actively work to keep this world's ways from creeping back into your life.

You have to be actively on the lookout for the danger of becoming choked up and swallowed up in what could take priority in your life over God's way, which should be priority. It takes active effort to resist the pulls of Satan the devil. It takes active effort to cultivate the soil so that we can put down deep roots and endure temptation.

I guess what I'm saying, brethren, is that you and I need to defend our spiritual gardens.

You need to draw a perimeter around that spiritual space in our lives. Keep that soil cultivated. Keep it clear. Don't let the weeds pop in. And also, don't poison the ground. Because, you know, there are things we can chase after in this life. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life. Those things that can be toxic in terms of a growth environment for the first fruits of God. Instead, what we need to do is constantly maintain that soil in which God's word is planted, which means doing our part.

Maybe we need to throw a little fertilizer into the mix, which is our spiritual disciplines, prayer, Bible study, fasting, meditation. And I like to add fellowship to our spiritual disciplines as well, because it's absolutely essential for growing and producing fruit.

Those are the things that will help us to maintain a good environment for growing unto maturity.

Now, if we go back to Psalm chapter 1, let's look at a quick example of what a good growth environment can produce in our life. Psalm chapter 1 and verse 1, very familiar passage to us, we sing about it often. Psalm 1, 1, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. You know, those aren't environments that are conducive to growth. Those are environments that poison the ground, that hinder the growth, that will choke us if we allow it to creep into our life.

Verse 2 says, But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night.

And if he does that, he shall be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper. Rather than the environment we allow to be created in our lives is important, and it affects the maturing process of you and I as the spiritual firstfruits of God.

So let's make sure to do our part to maintain an environment for continual spiritual growth in our life today. Second point, we're going to be continuing to move from this green fruit unto this ripened mature fruit prepared for the harvest. Rather than like any good plant, we must walk in the light. We must walk in the light. Now, strawberry plants in particular, like direct sunlight, they're like a minimum of eight hours a day in order to produce. It's recommended to have at least that, to have a good fruit yield, and then to bring that fruit unto maturity, because if you plant strawberries in an extremely shady area, you might get a few cyclic berries, but it's not getting the light source that it needs to grow, produce, and to mature. And it can be the same in our lives as well. Plants in general utilize a process called photosynthesis in order to grow. We've all probably learned about photosynthesis in grade school. Photosynthesis essentially means putting together with light, or built with light. It's the process whereby the plant is in the sun and it absorbs the sun rays and energy, and that photosynthesis produces energy that then can be combined with water and carbon dioxide to produce fruit for the plant. It is then put into the process and used to grow and produce. Brethren, if you and I are going to be matured and mature first-roots prepared for the spiritual harvest of God, we need to be utilizing the process of spiritual photosynthesis. Spiritual photosynthesis, we need to walk in the light. Notice 1 John chapter 1 verse 5. 1 John chapter 1 beginning in verse 5. It says, this is the message which we have heard from him and declare to you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. And so God is light. He is pure light, at least in terms of spiritually. There's no darkness. There's no shadow of turning. There's no variation of God in that way. He is the light in which you and I need to bask in as we live and grow. Verse 6 says, if we say we have fellowship with him and we walk in darkness, we lie and we do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. So again, this is the light we must walk in in order to grow, in order to mature spiritually. When we have a direct relationship with our Heavenly Father, brethren, we are walking in the light. When we live according to his truth, when we receive that seed on good ground and it produces growth in our life, we are walking in the light. When our nature and our character changes and grows and we go from the carnal man to now putting on the nature of the stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ, we're walking in the light.

It's all a process that leads to growth and maturity. Our focus each and every day as firstfruits must be on walking in the light of God. And we must do so now, because again, this is our season to grow. This is our season to produce. This is a time that God has given us.

Here in the Northwest, we live in an area where we have four seasons, and the earth tends to cycle in various seasons. And so there are seasons late fall and into winter in which darkness comes upon the land. The plants, the growth around us, then begin to go dormant, because there's not enough light in terms of providing the energy to that photosynthesis. They go dormant for the season. They no longer grow during that time. And that's a normal process. Again, it's lack of light. And God created it to be that way. And we have the four cycles, the four seasons of the year.

Physically, that's normal. But, brethren, spiritual dormancy, spiritual darkness, is not a process which has been created by God. The prince of the power of the air is the creator of spiritual darkness. Satan the devil has casted a veil of darkness on this entire world, and he is the one that seeks to grab hold of the children of light and drag them back into darkness. The only way to overcome that is to walk continually in the light. To such we've been called. First Peter chapter 2 and verse 9. Carrying on. First Peter chapter 2 and verse 9. Peter says that you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. We could add in there, you are a first fruit, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. Before our calling, brethren, we all walked in darkness. We all lived lives apart from the light of the truth of God, apart from the light of his word and his blessing. And left on our own in that state, there have been no way for us to bring forth spiritual fruit unto maturity, or really any spiritual fruit whatsoever. At least not the type of fruit that God is looking for in our life. Apart from the light of God, we were like a plant in the wintertime, dormant, without fruit, not growing, because we were not walking in the light. God in his mercy has called us, he's opened our minds, he's exposed us to the light, the light of the gospel is shined upon us, and in that light is a consistent light. It never goes out of season, never gets turned off, never goes away. Remember with God there is no shadow or variation or shadow of turning. The light of God is always shining on us, always there to help us to grow. But brethren, that light can be turned off. But not through God. God is faithful. He's always willing to be there, but you and I can turn that light off in our life. We can close the door on the light of the truth. We can turn from the light of the gospel. You and I never want to find ourselves in that position, because to turn away from the light of God would be like taking this plant, putting it into a room without any windows, closing the door and turning off the light. What would happen to this plant? It's a very short period of time. It'd begin to wither, begin to drop its fruit, and eventually it would die, because it wasn't exposed and dwelling in the light.

And brethren, the same could happen to the first roots as well, if we do not continue to walk in the light. John chapter 12 and verse 45 contains Jesus Christ's words in regard to the light.

Jesus was sent to be the light to the world. John chapter 12 verse 45.

Jesus Christ says, and he who sees me sees him who sent me. He said in other places that if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. The Father and I are one. So Jesus Christ here says, if you've seen me, you've seen him who sent me, he's a reflection of the Father. The Father is light. The Son is light as well. Verse 46, again, not abiding in darkness. So just as God was light, Christ was light, and if we abide in him, brethren, we will not abide in darkness. And if we live according to the example of Jesus Christ and according to the light of the truth, we ourselves then will become a light to the world as well. Let's back up to verse 35, still in John 12. Verse 35, That's what happens, brethren, spiritually when we walk in darkness. Verse 36, And so we must put our trust in the light of God and Jesus Christ. We need to walk in it. We need to order our lives according to it and according to the truth and the light of the truth. In doing so, we'll become lights by extension to this world. It's not that I am a light, per se, but it's that I would reflect the light of God the Father and Jesus Christ. It's that you would reflect that light as well. Christ said, Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. God gets the glory because it's His light, it's His nature, His character, His truth that's being reflected in our lives, as we are a light to mankind as well. The glory goes to God. Brethren, if you and I are going to go from these green, immature fruit to the ripened, mature fruit ready for the harvest, we must spend our time walking in the light. Now, step three, we're going to be continually moving to the harvest. Step three is we must stay connected to the vine.

We must stay connected to the vine. What would happen if we ever became detached from that spiritual vine? I do have a third prop. I brought a tab of scissors.

Everybody can use a pair of scissors quite easily. I'm going to do something that's not really heard of in the Church of God. I'm going to step out from behind the lectern for a moment.

It is okay to step out from behind the lectern on occasion. All right. So, I took these scissors. What did I do? I cut the biggest one. I saved the biggest one for the cybercast. I cut the biggest green, unripened fruit off the plant. Now, what do you think is going to happen to this fruit?

What do you think? I mean, it's quite hard. It's barely begun to turn just slightly around the edge. Let's see if it'll stay there.

What's going to happen to that fruit separated from the vine? Well, it's not going to continue to grow, certainly. That is the maximum capacity of which it's been brought forth now. It's not going to grow any bigger. It's not going to continue to mature. It's not going to ripen. It's not going to be turning into one of these just by sitting here detached from the vine, because at its tender stage in its life, it is dependent on the vine for, again, that energy that comes through photosynthesis. It's dependent on the water that's drawn in through the roots and the nutrients that are then brought and delivered. This plant's purpose is to take all that energy and send it into the fruit in order for that fruit to grow and to mature. And cut off and apart from the plant, that beautiful fruit, you would say, hey, you're producing some grapefruit. You are a great first fruit, but cut off from the plant, that fruit will simply wither and die.

This is the type of what can happen you and I, brethren, if we cut ourselves off from the care and the provision of God the Father and Jesus Christ. If we're going to be first fruits growing into maturity for the harvest, then we have to continually and day by day live our life connected to the vine. Let's go forward just a couple pages to John chapter 5.

John chapter 5 and verse 1, continuing with the words of Jesus Christ. I'm sorry, John chapter 15. John chapter 15 verse 1.

Here Jesus Christ says, I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away, and every branch that bears fruit, he prunes that it may bear more fruit. And so in this analogy, we're dealing with a grapevine, not a strawberry plant, but that's okay because the process here is essentially the same.

But in this parable, we are branches that bear the fruit, brethren. Jesus Christ is the vine. God the Father is the vine dresser. Now the vine dresser is the one who tends the vine, and he cares for what is being produced. You know, God trims and prunes and cares for that vine. He cares for the fruit of the vine. He sees that the vine is what's going on on the vine is according to His will and purpose. He is the vine dresser. Jesus Christ is the vine. We are the branches. Both the Father and the Son are responsible in this process, and they are both... we need both of them as we continue to grow as firstfruits unto the harvest. Christ says, every branch that does not bear fruit, He takes away. Every branch that bears fruit, He prunes that it may bear more fruit. Let's go to verse 4. He says, abide in Me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. So our ability to bear spiritual fruit, or to be a first fruit for that matter, cannot happen apart from being attached to the vine. We cannot grow, we cannot mature, we cannot progress in that way. To bear fruit means to grow in character. It means to become more like God the Father and Jesus Christ, as we utilize the Holy Spirit which is given to us. Our nature changes, and we... again, we do those actions that show forth fruit in our life. To abide means to dwell in, or to live in. So we need to allow Christ and the Father to live in us, just as we dwell and abide in the vine. When we abide in Jesus Christ, we live as He lived. We walk as He walked. The example by which He lived His life becomes the example then by which we live our life as well. His words become our words. John 14, verse 6, tells us that no one can come to the Father except through Jesus Christ. And so our connection to the vine is essential in having that direct relationship with the Father even.

We go through the vine to receive the nourishment, the strength, the spirit, that which comes, and we utilize it in our life for growth. It's only through an active relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ, brethren, that we can grow and mature and produce more fruit. And carrying on, verse 5, Christ says, 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.

If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch, and he's withered, and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. Again, we never want to find ourselves in a position where we are separated, where we are cut off, where we are removed from the vine. We want to dedicate our life to maintaining a close and personal relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. God is tending to us. Jesus Christ, through that relationship, we come to the Father, we come to the Son.

We never want to come to the place, brethren, where we're separated from that. Because the example is you are nothing then to be, except to be cast aside and burned.

We never want to come to the place where we become offended and walk away, or say lackadaisical in our approach to where we just simply don't care.

We need to always remain zealous, dedicated, focused on our relationship between ourselves and God the Father and Jesus Christ. We need to work to strengthen it on an ongoing basis.

Verse 7, he says, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it will be done for you. He says, by this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit, and so you will be my disciples. So when we bear fruit, we actually bring glory to God. Again, it's like when we shine forth with the light of the truth, the glory goes to God, it's His light. When we bear fruit in our service to God, the glory goes to God because of ourself we are nothing. The growth, the benefit, the produce, the glory for that belongs to God.

Continuing on, verse 9, as the Father loved me, also I have loved you, abide in my love. He says, if you keep my commandments, so we're talking about obedience now, if you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love. Verse 16, you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain. You know, what's wrong with this strawberry here that's been cut off the vine? The plant bore fruit. Isn't that good enough? Well, that's the start. That's not the conclusion. For this, to become this, you can't be cut off from the vine. The fruit must remain, must continue to grow and produce and mature.

Brethren, we've been called specifically for the purpose of bearing fruit at this time. This world, by and large, has not been called. There's a reason we're called the first fruits, because we are the first fruit to be brought unto spiritual harvest. So that's our purpose today, apart from what everybody else in the world is doing. Our purpose is to bear fruit and bring it to maturity. If we're going to do that, we must abide in the vine. First John chapter 2 verse 23. It says, whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either. He who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. So again, it's a relationship that goes hand in hand, because they are one in purpose and thought in mind. They're two individuals, but they're on the same team, and that is the team brethren you and I must be on as well. Verse 24, therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. What did we hear from the beginning? It was the seed which was scouted. It was the word of truth which then has sprung up in our life. He says, let that abide which you've heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that He has promised us, eternal life.

So that is the end result. That is the harvest of the first fruits. It is unto eternal life.

If we continue in the process, if we live and grow and remain attached to the vine and walk in the Son unto maturity. Verse 28 says, and now little children abide in Him, and that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him. Chapter 3 and verse 6, whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. Verse 23, and this is His commandment that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another as He gave us commandment. Now He who gives commandments, again we're talking about obedience, He who keeps His commandments abides in Him and He in Him. And by this we know that He abides in us by the Holy Spirit which He has given us.

So, brethren, if we abide in the vine, that relationship will be evident in the manner in which we conduct ourselves. We will show forth and produce the fruits of righteousness in our life because we abide in the vine. We're obedient. We take these words and it's producing growth.

In addition, if God the Father and Jesus Christ abide in us, that will be evident as well by the Spirit of God that dwells in us. And the fruit then that is produced. Brethren, if we're going to be firstfruits that are matured unto the harvest, we must stay connected to the vine.

Fourth and final point, again if we're going to be continually moving from this green fruit until fruit matured here for the harvest, we must be able to endure hardships and storms.

Must be able to endure hardships and storms. Part of the reality of bringing physical fruit to maturity for the harvest is that hardships and storms will have to be endured.

You plant a crop out in the field or a garden outside your house, at least in the Pacific Northwest, it's probably going to experience rain, hail, wind, maybe a little touch of frost and season you weren't expecting, maybe drought as well. These are all things that will come on a garden, and especially if we're not out there to necessarily tend it each and every day, but it's things that the plant will have to walk through if it's going to survive the season and bring that fruit unto maturity. And in the same manner, brethren, you and I, the first fruits, must be willing to walk through, enable to survive the trials that are put before us before going to mature into the harvest as well. Notice James chapter 1 verse 2.

James chapter 1 verse 2. James chapter 2 says, My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials.

Oh boy, that's a big order, isn't it? Let me ask a question. How many here? Let's have a show of hands. How many pray for trials? Please don't raise your hand. Okay. You know, sometimes we could read that scripture and stop and say, all right, great, here's a trial. I'm supposed to rejoice that I'm in this deep and dark place and in the midst of this difficult trial. I don't think so.

Brethren, the fact is, joy does not come from the trial itself, but it comes from what is produced in us if we endure the hardship, if we walk through the trial, and we come out faithfully on the other end.

If we've endured, remain faithful to God, there is fruit then that is produced in our life. Again, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, but it goes on. Verse 3, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. You know, patience, that's the fruit. Patience and endurance, that's what's produced as you walk through that situation, as you remain faithful.

Those are godly qualities, and those are qualities that God is seeking in mature first roots that are prepared for the harvest. So how do we learn patience? Well, it's not by reading a book, is it? Well, maybe in my case it is. I'm high energy. I have a hard time even sitting down and focusing on a book, so maybe it takes patience to read a book, but you're not going to learn how to exercise it simply by reading the text. You may get an idea, but frankly you're going to learn patience by being put in a situation where you're going to have to be patient.

You know? No other way, really. You're going to stand in line at the post office for 20 minutes. I suppose you're going to learn to be patient. How do we learn compassion? How do we learn mercy? How do we learn the love of God? Well, it comes by walking through circumstances and having experiences that lead us to understanding in those things as well. I'm not saying that every trial we face is a result of God putting that on us so that we'll learn something.

In fact, many of the trials we face do not come as a result of that. There are times when trials perhaps come as a result of our own actions. Perhaps there's trials that come as a result of other people's circumstances that impact us. You know, God does not put every trial upon us, but God is always watching. And every trial is an opportunity for God to see how we'll respond. Will we show forth the fruits of faithfulness and maturity, or will we turn and run the other way? You know, God's always looking. Brethren, it's because of the trial that the fruit is then produced in our life and the joy comes.

That's what James is saying. King Tewing on in verse 4, he says, but let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. And so that's the result God's looking for in the first fruits that he's harvesting. Perfect and complete, lacking nothing. The word here perfect could also be translated mature. He wants mature, complete fruit ready for the harvest. He doesn't want this fruit that detached itself from the vine and is half withered and is dying away. He doesn't want fruit that maybe just sort of got a start and didn't come to completeness in the sense of the spiritual maturity.

He's looking for a perfect, ripe, and mature fruit in that way. It's not only the good times that round us out in that way, brethren. It's not only the fun experiences that bring us unto maturity. It is the difficulties as well. It is the trials. It is the struggles that we walk through in this life. And how we respond to the storms of life is what is of great importance to God.

Bringing fruit to maturity takes determination. It takes spiritual fortitude. You've not been given the spirit of fear but of power and love and of a sound mind. That's what it takes to walk through a trial. That's the help that God gives us as we struggle through those things. It takes an understanding that turning back is simply never an option. Final scripture we'll turn to today, Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews 10, beginning in verse 32.

It's my opinion that this is the writing of the Apostle Paul. Hebrews 10 verse 32, he says, but recall the former days in which you were illuminated. You endured a great struggle with sufferings. He refers to the fact that when they were called, they were illuminated. They were brought out of darkness and to the light. And he says, recall the fact that when you made that transformation in your life, suddenly there were struggles. There were trials, especially in that day and age in society in which they lived. He says, partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated.

For you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. You know, there were some who actually accepted the fact that certain trials were, they could endure those things because the reward was so much better. They looked to the reward. The heavenly promise of God could not compare. I mean, what they lost by comparison was so much less than the promises of God and what it was He was giving. And they had their vision set on that site in their mind.

Verse 35, he says, therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For faithful, if confidence in God, we know He will fulfill what He's promised, that indeed will follow through unto great reward. For we have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise. For yet a little while, he who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. Brethren, God does not delight in those who begin to live according this way of life, begin to bear fruit, and then turn back. God does not delight in those who withdraw from the light of His truth, who separate themselves from the vine, who don't tend the soil and keep from the cares of this world overwhelming and choking them out in this life. If anyone draws back, he says, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition or destruction, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. And brethren, that must be you and I. We must be individuals who are committed to never drawing back, never turning our back on this way of life. We need to be people who through faithful endurance continue to stay the course until the end, with our vision always on the kingdom of God. If we put our vision on the things of this world, we will become distracted. We will turn aside. But keeping the vision of the kingdom of God burning brightly in our mind reminds us of the reward that awaits those who mature unto the harvest. Jesus Christ stated in Matthew 24, 13, that he who endures to the end will be saved.

It's that endurance process that helps us to become mature firstfruits unto the harvest. As long as you and I are in this flesh, there will always be room to grow, always be room to improve. We can always continue to ripen and mature to the harvest. You know, we can never afford to say, you know what, I think I've done it. I think I'm there. I think I'm ripe. I'm ready. I'm mature.

You and I don't get to make that call. It is God who knows when we are ready. It is God who knows when we are matured for the harvest. Our job is to simply continue on with every amount of energy we have in our being towards the goal of the stature, the fullness of Jesus Christ. But we never get to say, I'm there. God is the vine dresser. God the Father is the vine dresser. He cares for us. He helps us to maturity. He is also the Lord of the harvest. He's the one that will see that that harvest is carried out in accordance to what He desires. So God knows where we are again, whether we're somewhere between this green fruit and this mature fruit. I take confidence in the Scripture that says, He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Because, brethren, there are struggles and trials, and frankly, there are times when perhaps somebody's race would be cut short in a way that we would consider it to be cut short. But you know what God knows? He knows their level of fruitfulness and maturity, and I do not believe that God would just say, well, you know, you were trying to serve me faithfully, but there just wasn't enough time. He says, God who begun a good work in you will complete it. I believe the death of a faithful first fruit, brethren, seals them unto the resurrection, that God would not allow them to die before they were at a level of maturity that He says, I can complete my plan in their life. And to me, that brings great comfort and hope. As long as we draw breath, we must continue to work to maturing. Brethren, let's focus our attention as we come up on the Pentecost season on becoming fruit that is ready for the spiritual harvest. Let's redouble our efforts to maintain an environment for continual growth in our lives. That's number one. Number two, let's walk in the light. Number three, brethren, let us always remain connected to the vine. And number four, let us be faithful to endure hardships and storms. If we do these things, then we will be well on our way to becoming mature first fruits that God is seeking in His spiritual harvest at the end of the age, at that time of the return of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the kingdom of God.