The axe is lying at the root

It is the nature of man to always look for a quick solution, an easy way out, easy salvation, a short cut, but there is no such thing. There is no such thing as easy salvation. In the times of John the Baptist it was exactly the same we read in Matthew 3:1-3,7-10 ”In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight.” 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:  9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.”

John would not baptize them unless they showed fruit of repentance. Many people prach that if you just believe in Jesus Christ you will be saved, that’s not true, we must bear fruit, fruit of repentance, fruit of those following Jesus Christ. He says the axe is already laid unto the root of the tree. We read further what Jesus said in John 15:1-2 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” Jesus called us to be fruitful He did not call us to sit around and wait for His coming we read in John 15:16 Jesus said to His disciples” 16Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.”

The command of the Lord Jesus is that we love each other. If we love each other we shall be concerned about each other, we shall bear fruit of love. The fruit of love is to be concerned about my brother, sister or friend who is not saved and does not have a relationship with Jesus Christ. Fruit ensures I that will warn my brother or my sister who is on the wrong road, or whose relationship with Jesus Christ is not right, that I warn him I pluck him from the fire like a stick that is starting to burn, it’s not that I leave him in the fire because I am a friendly person, because I belief in the love of God. The love of God leads us to repentance because the judgment of God is the same for all sinners there is no difference for a person who believes and a person who does not believe, His judgment is the same. The grace of God for the believer is, that if he believes in Jesus Christ he can  repent and get forgiveness of his sins. For the person who does not believe, there is no forgiveness because he does not come to Jesus to get cleaned up to get washed in the Blood of the Lamb. Also the unbeliever does not stay in the Light so that he is continually cleansed through repentance of sin. A believer remains clean by repenting and asking forgiveness every time that he slips up and sins.

Jesus called us to bear fruit, if we do not bear fruit we will be cut off and put into the fire. We read that in John 15:4-7 “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

 Take note “if you abide in Me and My Words abide in you”  The Words of Jesus are His commandments. He said: if you love Me keep My commandments. We read the Words in the four gospels, Matthew to John,  all the  Words that Jesus spoke. We are to bear fruit, we are to stay in His love. The only way that we can remain in Christ is through obedience to Him, having the Holy Spirit working in and through us. If we obey Christ we remain in Him and we  will be bearing fruit of love. Love for our neighbor love for our brother and sister and most of all we will love Jesus Christ. We will remain in a relationship with Him, not just knowledge of Him. Without that fruit the axe already lies against the root of the tree and is about to be cut off. The branch that does not bear fruit will be cut off.  A branch that does bear fruit that will be get pruned so that it can bear more fruit. Why does it get pruned? It gets pruned so that less of us is visible, if there is too much green wood on a tree it cannot bear fruit. Anybody who knows about fruit trees about will know that if you allow the branches to grow too wide, the sun can’t get to the fruit so you won’t have sweet fruit. If you leave too many branches the tree doesn’t bear fruit because all the power goes into producing leaves and branch, nothing goes into producing fruit. So its pruned back, we are pruned back if we remain in Christ. We are pruned back to the extent that Christ bears fruit through us. Jesus Christ did not call us to glorify us,  He came so that we can bear fruit in His kingdom. If we don’t bear fruit we will be cut off. If I am not concerned about my relationship with Jesus, about my brother and sister in this world that is lost and ding something about it, I am not bearing fruit. Let us take heed, make sure that we do not get cut off and go into the fire. Let us make sure that we bear fruit because the axe already lies at the trunk of the tree to cut off those that don’t bear fruit. Those branches also that don’t bear fruit will be cut off be put in the fire. They will not enter eternal life with our Lord Jesus Christ.