The Fruits of the Kingdom — Do you know what they are?
Jesus said … “I am the Vine and you are the Branches.”
If you are a Believer in Jesus Christ and part of His Kingdom, then you are attached to Him through this Vine. Every Branch must bear fruit or else it is cut down and thrown into the fire.
What are the Fruits that this Vine produces? We need to know what they are, so we can produce this fruit in our lives and be pleasing to God.
Sometimes people don’t have enough data to listen to YouTube videos. Here are the notes on the Fruits of the Kingdom.
You’ll find the teaching about the Vineyard, the Vine and the fruit of the Vine etc. in the Gospel of John Chapter 15 and the Gospel of Matthew Chapter 21.
Jesus said … ”His Father, is the OWNER of the Vineyard and the Vine-dresser.”
Jesus also said … “HE is the Vine, we are the branches.”, “the branches can only bear fruit if they abide in Him, if the branches fail to bear fruit, they are gathered and thrown into the fire.” Pretty Scary Stuff!
On the other hand, if the branches do bear fruit, they are pruned so that they can bear more fruit.
I’m not making this up … if you are a professing follower of Jesus, you must bear fruit for His kingdom. No if’s and no but’s.
Matthew Chapter 21, also talks about this Vineyard.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells the parable of the owner of this Vineyard. We know Him as the FATHER, both John and Matthew also tell us that the Vineyard Owner and the Vine-dresser is indeed the Father.
The parable in Matthew 21 goes like this … The Vineyard owner, planted a vineyard, He walled it, dug a wine-press and put a watchtower. So, basically he did everything in order for that vineyard to succeed. He then LEASED the vineyard to some farmers to work it.
When the Harvest time arrived, the Vineyard Owner sent his servants to collect the harvest. He was expecting a return on His investment as all good landowners do.
But the farmers didn’t give the Vineyard Owner a return on His investment, instead they beat, stoned and killed the servants that the owner sent.
Finally, the vineyard owner sent His Only Son, the Vineyard Owner thought that because it’s his Son the farmers will respect him, instead the farmers said, “Come let us kill him and steal his inheritance.” So, they threw the Son out of the vineyard and killed him.
Now here again I’m not making this stuff up, it’s in the text, Matthew Chapter 21.
After the final attempt to collect on the vineyard failed, TWO things happened:
(1) A new shoot sprung up in this Vineyard and
(2) The vineyard owner LEASED the vineyard to others (new framers) who will give him a return of his investment.
Listen up! If the new farmers fail to provide a return on the investment they also will suffer the same fate as the original farmers.
So, who were the original farmers the vineyard was leased to?
It’s very clear in the Scriptures the Ancient Israelites were the original farmers. Now let’s look at some scriptures that confirm that.
Hosea 10:1-2
Israel empties his vine;
He brings forth fruit for himself.
According to the multitude of his fruit
He has increased the altars;
According to the bounty of his land
They have embellished his sacred pillars.
2 Their heart is divided;
Now they are held guilty.
He will break down their altars;
He will ruin their sacred pillars.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hosea+10>
Some Bible versions say, Israel is a luxuriant vine, so there was a time when Israel was producing fruit in this vineyard, but they used the proceeds from this fruit not to glorify YHWH but rather to build alters and sacred pillars to other gods, according to Hosea.
Jesus, was not off with the fairies when he was talking about His father’s vineyard, the prophet Isaiah said pretty much the same thing:
(Isaiah 5:1-7)
Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard:
My Well-beloved has a vineyard
On a very fruitful hill.
2 He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also made a wine-press in it —– didn’t Jesus say the same thing, built a vineyard, dug it, planted a vine, built a watchtower.
So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.
3 “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
4 What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
5 And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;
And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
6 I will lay it waste;
It shall not be pruned or dug,
But there shall come up briers and thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain on it.”
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+5&version=NKJV>
Isaiah, quite clearly tells us what sort of fruit this vineyard had to produce, it had to produce JUSTICE, and RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Matthew says CHAPTER 21: 45-46, that when the 45 Chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, from, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that He was a prophet.
Of course they knew HE was talking about THEM, because JESUS was quoting DIRECTLY FROM Isaiah and they knew what Isaiah had written.
Yet another scripture about Israel being the vineyard is in Jeremiah 2:21
Yet I had planted you a noble vine, a seed of highest quality.
How then have you turned before Me?
Into the degenerate plant of an alien vine?
22 For though you wash yourself with lye, and use much soap,
Yet your iniquity is marked before Me,” says the Lord God.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+2%3A21-30&version=NKJV>
In fact, Jeremiah 2 is all about the Vineyard failing to produce good fruit because of IDOLATRY.
Verse 27: Saying to a tree, ‘You are my father,’
And to a stone, ‘You gave birth to me.’
For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face.
But in the time of their trouble
They will say, ‘Arise and save us.’
28 But where are your gods that you have made for yourselves?
Let them arise,
If they can save you in the time of your trouble;
For according to the number of your cities
Are your gods, O Judah
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+2%3A21-30&version=NKJV>
It’s not just the ancient Israelites that have made gods of wood and stone, many other people make them also.
Where are your gods of wood and stone in times of trouble? If you are having ‘trouble’ and your god is not showing up to the party, ditch that god.
After reading Jeremiah chapter 2, we can add Idolatry to the list of fruit that a good branch will produce: Justice, Righteousness and abstaining from Idolatry.
Because Ancient Israel clearly failed in her mission to bear good fruit in this Vineyard, the fruit being Justice, Righteousness and abstaining from Idolatry, a new shoot sprung up out of the roots, a choice vine, a good vine, a branch that grew from the roots of the original vine. And the Vineyard was Leased to new farmers.
We learn about this new Branch from Isaiah 11:1-5
The Reign of Jesse’s Offspring
11 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse,
And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him,
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord,
And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes,
Nor decide by the hearing of His ears;
4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor,
And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His Lips He shall slay the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins,
And faithfulness the belt of His waist.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=isaiah+11&version=NKJV>
Notice this new shoot, a branch that grows out from the roots has the fruit that the original farmers failed to produce in the Vineyard.
I mentioned, Justice … Verse 4, By righteousness He shall judge the poorest, Jesus has excellent Judgement. I mentioned Righteousness … Verse 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, He is clothed in Righteousness. Lastly, I mentioned, abstaining from Idolatry, verse 3, His delight is in the Fear of the Lord. If we genuinely fear God, we will not resort to Idolatry.
I don’t want to do it here, but you should check out the promised blessing to Joseph and to Judah to understand more of the characteristics of this NEW BRANCH They can be found in Genesis chapter 49.
Genesis 49: Binding his donkey to the vine,
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+49&version=NKJV>
Genesis 49: “Joseph is a fruitful bough,
A fruitful bough by a well;
His branches run over the wall.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=genesis+49&version=NKJV>
All believers (Jews and Gentiles) who believe in Jesus as their saviour, abide in this Vine. The Branch that stemmed from Jesse (the line of King David). The fruit that this new branch produced is the fruit that we ought to produce, if we abide in Him.
And if we fail to produce this fruit we will be cast into the fire.
Unfortunately, the majority of Christians today talk more about belonging to the Olive Tree, then they do about belonging to the Grape Vine.
Jesus never said anything about being a branch on an Olive Tree. Neither did John, or Matthew. The only person who said this was the Apostle Paul (Romans 11:17-24) and he was speaking metaphorically, when he talked about being grafted in and out. Being part of a Vine is also metaphoric, but it’s consistent with other Scriptures and the Olive Tree metaphor is not!
Paul speaks of a wild olive tree and a cultivated olive tree, I’m not sure whether such things even exist. But we know that the Vineyard was planted in the first place from the highest quality seed (Jeremiah 2:21). It didn’t start off wild and then end up cultivated. The SHOOT who was Jesus was not grafted into the Vine, it is a new shoot that grew out of the root.
There is however, no doubt that Israel is symbolically an Olive Tree, and it was highly prized to be like an Olive Tree.
For example, King David said, Psalm 52:8, he was like a green olive tree in the house of the Lord.
Psalm 128:3 says a wife is like a fruitful vine (producing children) and the children will be like an olive trees (witnesses) of the Blessings of God to the family. The Vine produces and the Olive Tree Bears Witness.
In Jeremiah 11:16-17 we read that Yahweh did call Israel, Green Olive Tree, but because of rebellion He kindled a fire on it, pronounced evil upon it and declared its branches worthless.
So, I’m sure how we can be grafted into a dead tree.
But I do believe in the two Olive Trees as witnesses of Yahweh’s Kingdom, Zechariah 4:14 and Revelation 11:4 speak of the Two Witnesses, personally I believe one witness is Israel and the other is the Church.
There is however still the Vineyard, and there always has been the Vineyard, the Vine-dresser, and the Vine. The Vine has a new branch (the shoot, the root of Jesse) in whom we should abide, whether Jew or Gentile.
Just because there is a new shoot, Yahweh hasn’t given up on the original farmers of the Vineyard. There is the Remnant, Paul also talked about them in Romans 11.
Yahweh still searches for them, I found this beautiful passage in Jeremiah 6:9, which brought a tear to my eye.
Thus says the Lord of hosts:
“They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel;
As a grape-gatherer, put your hand back into the branches.”
10 To whom shall I speak and give warning, `
That they may hear?
Indeed, their ear is uncircumcised,
And they cannot give heed.
Behold, the word of the Lord is a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.
From <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+6&version=NKJV>
Return to the Vineyard Israel, and produce the fruits that the Vineyard owner requires, Justice, Righteousness and turning your back on idolatry.
The question we have to ask ourselves now is … can we be both? Can we part of the Olive Tree and part of the Grape Vine at the same time?
I don’t think we can categorically rule this out, as we are connected to the Olive Tree through the Messiah, and Messiah is connected to Israel.
Paul who wrote about us being grafted in may not-have known about the Vine as did John and Matthew who walked with Jesus 24/7 and heard Him refer to Himself as the True Vine.
Every word of God is established in the mouth of two or three witnesses, so my money is with Jesus, Matthew and John.
By it’s very nature a Vine is a spreading plant, spreading across the globe whereas an Olive Tree is static and grows only where it’s planted.
Whether we hold the view of being a Vine and an Olive Tree or only a Vine it’s important for us to remember that the warning attached to both The Olive Tree or the Grape Vine is very serious indeed.
People living under the Old Covenant and the New Covenant can both fall away, be broken off and cast into the fire.
And, that is the real message here… failing to produce the fruits of the kingdom of God will result in eternal separation from Him.
Thank you for listening and God Bless.
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