February 15

Being fruitful in every good work.—Colossians 1:10.

Good working ought to follow a good intention, if we wish to walk worthy of God, and to please him. In the practical working of the Christian, two things are to be observed: What is required, fruitfulness; what is the matter about which this fruitfulness is exercised, Every good work.

I. What is here required? Fruitfulness. The term fruitful is a metaphorical expression taken from a tree; not every tree, but one bearing fruit. For the godly are compared to trees planted by the rivers of waters, which bring forth fruit in their season. They are compared to branches grafted in the fruitful vine: I am the vine, ye are the branches: he who abideth in me bringeth forth much fruit. From this comparison three things may be noted:

1. As no tree can bear fruit, unless it hath a certain life-giving seed in itself, and is moreover nourished daily with good sap; so no one can bear spiritual fruit, unless he hath in himself the seed of the Spirit, and is daily watered with the outpourings of divine grace. Without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered. Hence it is said, Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he can not sin, because he is born of God. The Holy Spirit is called seed, because by his power, as a certain life-giving seed, men are rendered fruitful in good works.

2. As that tree is pleasing to God, which does not occupy the ground in vain, neither dissipates the moisture which it draws on leaves and blossoms alone; but produces good fruits: so he alone is pleasing to God, who does not uselessly occupy room in the church, neither wears the appearance and form of godliness alone, but puts forth its power and virtue by fruitfulness. Very remarkable are the places of Scripture on this point: in Luke 13:7, the Lord says concerning the fig-tree, I seek fruit and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? On the other hand, a fruitful tree is pleasing to its Lord, and is customarily his care and delight: My father is the husbandman: every branch which beareth fruit he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. I therefore say with Nazianzen, "Let no Christian be indolent or unfruitful, but let every one from the things which he hath bring forth fruits to God: the sinner, penitence; he who runs well, perseverance; the youth, chastity; the old man, prudence; the rich, mercy; the poor, thankfulness."

3. As a tree lives and bears fruit, not for itself, but for the owner and for others to whom he sees fit to impart its fruits; so a godly man ought not to live to himself alone, nor to care only that his life be honorable to himself, but that it may be especially honorable to God, who is his Lord, and beneficial to all his brethren; for this is to resemble a fruitful tree.

II. The matter of this fruitfulness; In every good work. Behold the very broad and spacious matter in which the fruitfulness of a godly man is exercised; and truly in this he differs from a tree. For no person seeks different fruits from one and the same tree; but God expects that every one of the faithful and regenerate should produce every kind of good works. And the reason of this dissimilitude arises from this circumstance, that since the fruit of any thing answers to its seed, a tree produces only one sort of fruit, inasmuch as the virtue and power of the seed planted is limited to one; but the seed which is sown in the heart of the pious, the grace of the Holy Spirit, avails to the producing equally of every spiritual fruit. Unless, therefore, they produce every fruit, they do not answer the nature and efficacy of the seed. For the fruit of the Spirit is not one alone, but manifold: namely, love, joy, peace, patience, long-suffering, goodness, benignity, and the like.

Hence fruitfulness of any one kind is not sufficient, but we must be fruitful in every good work. If any one produce the good fruit of alms-deeds, and mingle with them the fruits of impurity; or if any one be conspicuous for chastity, and defile himself by avarice; he would not answer the divine will, or the apostle's desire of being fruitful in every good work: nay, he is accounted by God bad and unclean. For who shall say that one is clean, who is wont to wallow even in a single sewer? Hence the apostle bids us abstain from all appearance of evil, and wishes us to be sanctified wholly, and that spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless.