Fruit

2 Chronicles 31:5‑11  •  3 min. read  •  grade level: 7
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How beautifully the order is still brought out! Now is the time for fruit. And what abundance did the children of Israel bring; of corn, wine, and oil, and dates. And the tithe of holy things consecrated unto the Lord their God, and they laid them by heaps; or, heaps, heaps. As all fruit must be in the power of resurrection to be perfect, so in this type, “In the third month they began to lay the foundation of the heaps, and finished them in the seventh month” Chron. 31:7). What a principle this is, and so little understood: “Dead to the law by the body of Christ: that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead: that we should bring forth fruit unto God” (Rom. 7:44Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. (Romans 7:4)). “That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection’ (Phil. 3:1010That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; (Philippians 3:10)). The Holy Spirit could not be given to dwell in us until Christ was risen from the dead and glorified. And if the Spirit could not be given until then, how could we have the fruits of the Spirit? What a contrast this is to man under law! But is it not a universal fact, wherever the doors are shut, and the lamps put out? Yes, wherever men are not led by the Spirit, they are invariably placed under the law, for fruit-bearing. Just as the opposite is also true, even as it is written: “But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law” (Gal. 5:1818But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. (Galatians 5:18)). How little is this true, only resurrection-foundation principle, in the power of the Holy Spirit, for fruit-bearing, understood! We might meditate on this with great profit. Has anything occurred answering to these heaps, heaps of fruits? The doors have been opened again by a full gospel. The Holy Spirit is again owned in the assembly; the immutable perfection of the believer, by the sacrifice of Christ, again revealed. Joy and worship, the result. The Lord’s supper again as it is written. The Lordship of Christ owned; and the blessed fact again enjoyed, oneness with the risen Christ. The Holy Spirit known and owned as sent down to lead and guide. All this, not the work of men, but the hand of the Lord. Now, can it be denied that the blessed Spirit, now owned again, has poured forth such a stream of Christ-exalting ministry, by tongue and pen, as the church never knew since He was set aside at the close of the apostolic age? This, not for money, or worldly applause, but the Holy Spirit, leading the children of God thus to serve in consecration to the Lord. Spiritually, we may say with Azariah, “Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed His people; and that which is left is this great store” (2 Chron. 31:1010And Azariah the chief priest of the house of Zadok answered him, and said, Since the people began to bring the offerings into the house of the Lord, we have had enough to eat, and have left plenty: for the Lord hath blessed his people; and that which is left is this great store. (2 Chronicles 31:10)). Now this is a notable fact, that since the Holy Spirit has been known, and oneness with the risen Christ believed, the most astonishing numbers of tracts and pamphlets, books and periodicals, have been sent forth, without any sectarian motive, but “unto the Lord” (2 Chron. 31:66And concerning the children of Israel and Judah, that dwelt in the cities of Judah, they also brought in the tithe of oxen and sheep, and the tithe of holy things which were consecrated unto the Lord their God, and laid them by heaps. (2 Chronicles 31:6)), and for the food and edification of His people. “Tracts, periodicals,” said a brother to me the other day; “I do not know what to do with them; it is impossible to read them all.” I dare say it would have been impossible for Hezekiah to have eaten all the oxen, and rams, and heaps, heaps of fruits. But was that God’s intention? And, my brother, you may have mistaken the Lord’s intention; it may not be that His only thought is, that you should eat all the heaps, heaps of precious fruits, thus laid up in the chambers, or depots, of the treasuries of the Lord. This just brings us to the question, What is the porter’s situation?