The Daily Word of Righteousness

How Christ's Word Abides in Us, continued

And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. (Mark 4:20)

We believers did not choose Christ. Christ chose us. He has chosen us that we might bear fruit and that the fruit would be lasting.

The fruit we bear is the moral image of Christ. We keep the commandments of Christ. The fruit is borne first in us and then in those whom we influence.

God has planted a Vine. The Vine is Christ. It is God's will that the Vine fill the whole earth with the fruit of righteousness and praise to God.

Every Christian without exception is called to be a fruit-bearing branch of the true Vine. If we will abide in the Vine the very Life of Christ will flow through us such that our actions, our words, and our thoughts are conformed to Christ's image.

How does Christ's Word abide in us? As we have described. As we are willing to put to death through the Spirit of God the works of our fleshly personality the Word of God takes the place of that which has been killed. The resulting change in our behavior is the fruit God is looking for, the image of His Son.

As we are willing to let God kill us and raise us, the power of our resurrection spills over to other people and the Life of Christ is born in them. In this way Divine fruit is born in us and in those who hear us.

We Christians owe a debt to our nation. The unsaved people depend on us to be a moral light to guide them. When we are not bearing that light, the fruit of righteousness to which we have been called, the people will turn against us. As Jesus said, we will be gathered in bundles and burned.

The Christian who is not revealing in his or her personality the light of good works is not fulfilling his or her role in society. Man or woman, boy or girl, we have been called to show forth righteousness and praise before the nations.

When the Christian churches do not, by their example of righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God, provide moral guidance to the secular society, they will be attacked by that very society. The secular people will know intuitively we are not fulfilling our role and they will have their revenge.

We think the next few years will be critical in America. If we Christians will humble ourselves, pray, seek God's face, and turn from our wicked ways, God will hear from Heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our land.

But if we persist in the lawless grace-rapture heresy that has destroyed our moral strength and rendered the Scriptures incomprehensible, not turning to God, not putting away the filthiness of the flesh, then the moral abominations and consequent persecution and destruction that certainly will follow will remind us that our calling as Christians is not to be carried off to Heaven but to be the light of the world.

Our God has given us an honored place in His house. Let us not disappoint Him but become a worthy member of the most distinguished family of all. This we can do through our Lord Jesus Christ.