Soldier of Christ Disciple Training Ministries
A ministry of Acts III Global Ministries – USA & Malawi – www.God.mw
Lesson 109 – The Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven – Part 9
Parable of the Sower - Category 4 – The Good Soil
Jesus’ Explains: But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart and understand it and accept it, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance and brings forth a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.
More Thoughts: This is a real Christian. This is a born again believer. Notice some of the qualities Jesus speaks of about these believers.
* Heard the Word in an Honest and Good heart - This is the good soil that we have been speaking of.
* They Understand the Word – Understanding comes from their heart not being hardened by sin. Understanding comes from the Law.
* They accept the Word –They accept the Word of God as their schoolmaster and teacher.
* They hold it fast – They stay their course and putting their hands to the plow do not look back.
* They bear fruit with perseverance – Recall that perseverance is from the sunlight. When we have deep roots grounded in good soil, the more sunlight of persecution and tribulation we can handle which leads to a bigger harvest.
What kind of Fruit is Produced by True Believers?
Before we look at the fruit itself, let us look at some of the qualities and requirements of the fruit of true believers according to Scripture. In Matthew 7:17-20 Jesus teaches us, “Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” John the Baptist warned the same thing in Matthew 3:10, “The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Given this fruit is essential to our salvation, we need to fully understand exactly what it is. For starters, the fruit comes from within our heart. Notice Jesus’ Words in Matthew 12:33,35 “Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.” Here we see that a tree is either good or bad and the fruit of that tree is either good or bad, there is no mixing. Secondly, we see that the fruit He is speaking of comes out of a persons heart – this matches with the soil being in the heart as we have been studying.
Next In John 12:24-26, we learn that we must be like Jesus and to produce fruit. He is referring to how we must crucify our flesh and die to self and allow Him to live in us and allow the Spirit to guide us. Notice, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. “He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”
In John 15:1-10, the parable of the Vine, we find that Jesus is the Vine and we are the branches. If we abide in Him we will produce fruit. The fruit we produce will be from is Spirit flowing from the vine into our branches. Our fruit is His fruit. We find the qualities of the ‘Fruit of the Spirit’ in Ephesians 5:9 “For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth”
The Fruit if the Spirit is given to us by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22-25. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Notice three things about this Scripture:
1. It says Fruit of the Spirit – not Fruits. Why is this? Because all of these qualities makes up 1 fruit. A person that is truly saved will have all of this fruit, and not just part of it.
2. Those that belong to Jesus—those that are truly saved—those that are producing the fruit—are doing so because they have crucified their flesh and died to themselves.
3. He says that if we live by the Spirit-meaning that we have been made alive in Christ by the Spirit, then we need to let Him lead the way.
If you are not sure if you have this fruit then you probably are not truly saved. Maybe you are one of the ones that the seed fell by the wayside, or maybe the seed fell into stony ground. Maybe you are one that has tried to add Jesus as an ingredient into your thorn garden in your heart. That is between you and the Lord. But there is a bit of good news. Maybe this next parable was written just for you:
ONE LAST CHANCE?
To demonstrate the amazing patience and love of God, Jesus always gives us 1 last clear chance to make things right. He is truly a just and Holy God. If you are a person that is not producing fruit, Jesus sends you this message from Luke 13:6 – 9; “And He began telling this parable: “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any. “And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’ “And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer; and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.’ ”