“THE word of the truth of the gospel... bearing fruit and increasing.” (R.V.—Col. 1:66Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: (Colossians 1:6)). Producing fruit and growing Such is the character of the word of the truth of the gospel, when it is sown or planted in the world. The divine seed springs up, bears fruit, and extends its sphere of growth. The seed falls into one human heart, and then that person becomes the means for its propagation among others. In the natural world, one seed wafted over miles of waters, and falling at last upon a desert reef, will in time become a forest. The seed produces fruit and grows; the seed has in itself a reproductive power which the Creator has bound up in it. Thus did the word of the truth of the gospel come to Colosse of old; brought there by human hearts and lips, by the power of God the Spirit it sprang up and produced a Church of God, in the midst of the waste of waters of paganism. And such is the character of the gospel throughout the world still. It is seed which bears fruit and increases.
If in us and in our hands the seed, which is the word of God, does not grow and increase, we must look to ourselves for the cause. Plant an acorn, and in time there will be an oak, and the tree will not cast its acorns to the ground in vain. The years of life of the tree are spent not only in the tree becoming fully grown, but also in the reproduction of itself; such energy, if in vain, would be contrary to nature. Not only does the tree grow, but it increases the number of oaks as it grows; one seed becomes one tree, and one tree becomes a forest. If in the Christian the seed of divine truth does not make him fruitful in every good work, and increasing in [or, by] the knowledge of God, there is something in him which calls for immediate self-judgment, for, if he be a growing tree, by him there will be an increase of Christianity. The gospel is a fruit-bearing power, a divine power to save souls, and to make them become in their turn fruit-bearers by the gospel.
The growth and increase of infidelity should exercise every Christian, and cause him to bestir himself afresh in order to the diffusion of the gospel. If we may suppose oak trees so feeble that they bear no acorns, then we may understand the species dying out. The dying out, the diminishing of a given company of Christians, has some decaying principle in it, some fatal principle which militates against the true character of the word of the truth of the gospel. We have seen whole forests blighted and apparently perishing, bearing upon them the evidence of a destructive influence, and such forests are a parable to ourselves.
In countries, for example, such as Egypt, where in former centuries numerous churches and Christian congregations existed, but where now these are no more, and instead, that which is anti-Christian dominates, we behold the full result of this decaying principle. Or, to come from the great to the small, in order to see an illustration of this, we place ourselves in some village of England where, a century ago, great zeal for God was present, where souls were saved and saints helped on, but where now, alas! empty buildings and empty benches lift up their witness. What the special agent of destruction was, and how that decay set in, man may never be able to trace, but the Lord, who walks in the midst of the candlesticks, and whose words to the churches are, “I know thy works,” has seen and judged the causes of the decay.
Let Christians allow in their souls that decay in Christian life and work is the effect of an evil cause, and something has been gained. It is ever a difficulty to recognize a spiritual condition in which we move as being a faulty one, for we are usually in it or of it ourselves; and it is more difficult still to judge ourselves as contributors towards it, for the moment we do so, we have in spirit separated ourselves from the condition. Is it neglect of prayer, or indifference to the Scriptures, or love of ease, or spiritual pride that is the worm at the root of the tree, or the secret cause that has robbed it of its vigor? If we have perception from God to recognize what the evil is, we shall have the grace in the first place to recognize the evil in ourselves. We cannot take the mote out of a brother’s eye, while we have a beam in our own.
When there is, to begin with, real self-judgment and true faith in God, and then a humble and prayerful spirit, it is amazing what may be affected by even one believing Christian. What wonders have been wrought by one truly disinterested and devoted spirit—by one believer disinterested save for God’s praise and devoted to His glory! How marvelously has God wrought in reviving grace through the instrumentality of some insignificant servant of His, while the prayers of two or three unknown persons have often brought down showers of blessing upon a whole district, and transformed a wilderness into a fruitful field. “Growing and increasing” has become the description of what had been formerly like waste lands.
Let the Christian, who laments the poor spiritual growth and sorrowful crops around him, encourage his heart in the Lord, and pray without ceasing.