The first principle in bearing fruit that remains, or building that which will remain, is in the Scripture we quoted last week from Ecclesiastes 3:14, “...everything God does will remain forever....” The Lord Jesus elaborated on this in John 15:1-5:
"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.
"You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
"I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”
The most important principle in bearing fruit for the Lord is that we must abide in the Lord. We don’t want to just work or be busy, but we want to be about our Father’s business. To do this, we must also follow Jesus as our example. He never responded to human needs—He only did what He saw the Father doing. If we want to abide in Him and do His work, we must learn to do the same. One moment of abiding in the Lord is worth more than a lifetime of our own effort.
Think about how many sick, hurting people the Lord stepped over to heal the one man at the pool of Siloam. He had the power to heal them all, but He didn’t. He only healed the one the Father showed Him to heal. We probably will not get trusted with the kind of power to heal that Jesus had until we have learned to walk in that kind of obedience.
Human sympathy is not the same as God’s compassion. Human sympathy will usually feed self-pity, one of the most effective destroyers of human character and fruitfulness. Self-pity is profound self-centeredness, and that is the opposite of faith, which is focused on God, not ourselves or condition.
This is why the anger of the Lord burned against Moses when God called him. Moses started looking at his own inadequacies, instead of God’s adequacy for the purpose for which God was calling him. To the immature this would seem like humility, but it was one of the most profound demonstrations of pride. Moses was elevating his condition above God’s ability. This kind of false humility robs many of their purpose.
To correct Moses’ mentality, God told him to throw his staff on the ground. That staff represented his authority and purpose as a shepherd. When it was thrown down, it turned into a serpent that chased him, until he picked it up again. Many whom have likewise cast down their callings are running from them, and they will continue to be the serpent chasing them until they pick them up again. So, the first principle in learning to abide in the Lord is to look to the Lord, not ourselves, our adequacies, or inadequacies.
The next is to learn to follow Him, not just principles. There seems to be an endless number of books now being written on how to know the voice of the Lord, but few address the main way we learn to do this, which is spending time with Him. For example, I could describe my wife’s voice to you and you could memorize that description, but you probably could not distinguish her voice from others if you have never heard her speak. Though I don’t think I have ever heard anyone describe her voice, even if dozens of people are speaking at the same time as she is, I can instantly pick her voice out of the crowd because we have spent so much time together. That is how we also get to know the Lord’s voice.
That was a prelude to me sharing a principle with you. Remember, laws cannot be broken, but principles can. This is a general principle and is generally true, which means there are occasions or situations where it does not apply. The principle is: The more mature you are in the Lord, the less leading you need from Him. Babies have to be watched all of the time and told constantly, “Don’t do that,” or “Do this.” The more mature we become, the less we should need such constant watching or constant instructions. The same is true in the Lord. Only spiritual babies require constant instructions from the Lord about small details. As we mature, He expects us to use our renewed minds, which should be in harmony with the way He would think about a situation.
A good example of this is how the Lord sends His apostles—He does not lead them around by the hand. Occasionally, He may redirect their course, such as He did with Paul the Apostle by first telling him not to go to Asia, and then later giving him a dream to go. Obviously, it was important that he go in the right timing.
Young Christians may need to have the Lord direct them almost constantly, just as a shepherd must watch lambs much more closely than the sheep, but this also helps them to get to know His voice better. For our entire lives, we should be open to hear His voice and let Him direct or redirect us, but as we mature, we should be able to move without His specific direction also. This does not mean that we should not spend time with the Lord each day and get to know His voice better and better. Neither should we go anywhere that His presence is not going with us, but at the same time we must come to know His ways.
A few months ago, the Lord gave me two visions to show me the main thing that was on His heart at the beginning of the creation. These so impacted me that I knew I could spend the rest of my life considering and studying this one revelation and never exhaust its full meaning. I know He has more to show me, but I could be happy and fully occupied with this one revelation for the rest of my life. In the revelation, I was also given a commission that I think may keep me occupied for the rest of my life. However, I also know that it may be an emphasis He wants me to have for just a short time before giving me another emphasis that I do not think is nearly as important. I am not here to do what I want, or what I think is important—I’m here to do His will, and I hope I could make such a change if He requires it.
Even Moses stumbled so that he was not allowed to enter the Promised Land with Israel. We are very foolish and very arrogant if we do not think it could happen to us, so let us pursue His grace. One way that the Lord gave me to stay in this grace was Galatians 6:1:
Here we see that when the spiritual restore they should do it in the right spirit, not thinking of themselves as better than others, but rather considering themselves—that they too can will not be tempted. We also see here that the spiritual restore those who are “caught in any trespass.” This has been a constant trial and stretch for me, as I have witnessed the Lord’s mercy toward things I would never have considered that He would still show mercy toward. However, this too is biblical, as He even gave Jezebel “time to repent” (see Revelation 2:21). When Ahab, one of the most evil kings in Israel’s history, slightly humbled himself before the Lord, the Lord gave him mercy, even promising not to bring judgment on the land during his time.
By the Lord’s grace I have not fallen to a moral failure, and I don’t think I have been distracted by false doctrines. However, I have missed the Lord many times, and most of them have come because of my lack of mercy or grace toward others. I have found these to be very grievous to the Lord too. By His mercy He has allowed me to make up for some of these.
For example, at one time I had a very judgmental attitude toward the Heritage property that was in direct conflict with the Lord’s heart for it. Now I have spent a few years of my life helping to restore some of that property, which has actually become a great joy to me, mostly because we have experienced such favor from the Lord for this. I also know that if I had not humbled myself and changed my attitude about some things, I would not have stayed on the course the Lord had for me.
As awesomely as Elijah was used by the Lord, as soon as he had the attitude that he was the only one left that was righteous, the Lord told him his time was up. He had to go and anoint Elisha and others to finish what God had originally given him to do. He went home in honor, but he still went home—prematurely. I know of others who were taken from this earth prematurely because they got the same attitude. One sure way to fall short of our purpose seems to be to get the attitude that we are the only ones who are faithful or are the most righteous, and are therefore indispensable to the Lord’s purposes. That seems to be a fall that is even worse than a moral failure. All pride will lead to a fall, but this is an ultimate pride that can lead to an ultimate fall.