Lesson 2

TEXT: James 3:12: Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries: either a vine, figs?

Paul defines the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT as a singular, perfected and completed spiritual attribute, not nine separate ones. For us to say we are bearing the FRUIT of the Spirit, we must possess all the attributes of Galatians 5:22-23, not just a few. A Christian cannot be void of “love” and allege he knows God, or be lacking in “faith” and affirm he is a believer. Jesus said “ye shall know them by their FRUITS.’ (Matthew 7:16). In relation to this, it’s imperative that one realizes that a tree bears only one kind of fruit.

James 3:12 - Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.

As believers, we are the planting of the Lord. Because of this fact, we are expected to bring forth good fruit, not evil. Our trees will either yield the fruit which comes from God, proving we were initially planted by God and filled with the Spirit, or we will show forth the works of evil, proving we are the offspring of Satan. We cannot have it both ways.

Romans 8:19 - For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

This revealing is the revealing of the nature of Christ within the believer. That is how God’s Kingdom will truly come through us. When Christ appears, our true nature will be revealed before Him. He that is pure will be caught up in the rapture. He that is not pure will be left behind. (1 John 2:28-3:2)

A. The Message of John the Baptist

It was the spirit of unfruitfulness that John the Baptist preached against when he dealt with the Pharisees and Sadducees. Both groups considered themselves above reproach in the area of theological dogma. John’s message called for them to REPENT and exposed their true spiritual “LINEAGE” or “SEED.” John told them their trees were producing “fruits of evil” for they were the offspring of Satan. Jesus went a little further by literally calling them a “child of the Devil.”[1]

John 8:44 - Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Matthew 3:7 - 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?

John’s message issued a call for the Pharisees to ‘bring forth, or produce FRUIT~ worthy for repentance.” (Matthew 3:8) It also issued a warning to those who continually produced rotten fruit. The only answer would be the fires of judgment.

Matthew 3:10 - 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.

Only after corrupt trees are removed, including their roots, would it be feasible to plant trees in their place. In comparison, until a man truly repents and lays the axe to his own tree, God will not and cannot plant him as a spiritual tree in His eternal Kingdom.

Matthew 15:13 - But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

Matthew 7:19 - Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 - Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. [8] For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spread out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

C. The Two Trees in the Garden of Eden

There were two trees in the Garden: The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. Amidst them is a battle for the child of God between choosing the Kingdom of God and partaking of the spirit of this present evil age. The two trees are symbolic of two lineages or seeds found in action from Genesis to Revelation. The type of fruit we produce is dependent on which of these two trees we are partaking of.

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil Is the Law

Satan did not tempt Eve only because He knew the Lord had put it off limits. It was because he knew His power was rooted in that tree.

Eating of the fruit of this tree produced death In Adam and Eve. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is basically the law. As Paul said it in 1 Corinthians 15:56, “the power of SIN is the Law.” This is because through the law we derive our knowledge of good and evil. The fruit of this tree is so deadly because it distracts us from partaking of the tree of life, which is JESUS. Jesus is the only true source of LIFE. The Tree of Knowledge causes us to focus our attention upon ourselves. Sin is empowered by the law, not just because the evil is revealed, but the good as well. The result is either we are driven to corruption or to self-righteousness. Both lead to spiritual death.

The tree is found in the center of the garden. (Gen.3: 5) Self- centeredness is the chief malady with which we become afflicted. After Adam and Eve ate its fruit, their first response was self-inspection. This is what living by law does. It keeps our attention focused on ourselves, not Jesus. Paul called this a ministration of death.

2 Cor. 3:7,9 -.”The ministry and death;” 9.“ the ministry of condemnation.”

To some, the Law is a way in which we try to keep obtaining righteousness from God. With this type attitude and spirit, we will have dead religion based on compliance of written commandments instead of a living relationship with God. All truth is In Jesus, of whom the Holy Spirit was sent to testify of. (Eph. 4:21). The Bible is a wonderful book; it is the Word of God. However, the Bible was not meant to take the place of the Lord Himself, or the Spirit whom He sent. All three must work together in our lives to produce the Fruit of the Spirit. The Lord Yeshuah plants the seed. The Word waters the seed. The Holy Spirit within produces the lifestyle that reflects Yeshuah!

The Bible is a means, not an end. Knowing the book of the Lord is not as important as knowing the LORD OF THE BOOK. Division In the Body of the Christ has been caused by our misuse of the Bible. We have wrestled with doctrines in such a way as to make the Pharisees look like front-row Kingdom sitters!

Our spirituality, or fruit-bearing, is not known by how well we conform to the letter, but by the forming of JESUS within us, or the FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, God’s character, and nature. Jesus told us we could make righteous judgment according to the fruit that is being brought forth. The reason is Satan often comes as an “angel of light” proclaiming scriptures, and his work often conforms to the letter. However, only Jesus can bring forth the fruit that is LIFE within a heart of an Individual. The seed that is planted will sprout forth fruit eventually.

As stated in lesson one, reading the scriptures in themselves without the presence of the Holy Spirit, only brings the KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, which actually brings death. While man is able to change his outward behavior through deceptive means, only the Spirit of God can change a man’s heart. Therefore, the Lord looks upon the hearts of men, and in them He is looking for the heart of His Son and the FRUIT OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

2 Cor. 3:6 - Who also have made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit gives life.

On the third day of creation, the Lord established a critical spiritual and physical law that is so important to remember when dealing with the Fruit of the Spirit. (Gen 1:11-12). He ordered that trees would bear fruit after their own kind and produce seed after their own kind. The fruit of these two trees is to be forever separate and distinct.

Luke 6:43 For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit; nor a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its fruit.

Paul said, ‘Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,” We cannot be partaking of the Tree of Knowledge and bring forth fruit that is life. Likewise, If we are partaking of the Tree of Life, we will not bring forth the fruit of the other tree-DEATH.

Christ came forth in man through the “seed of the woman,” (Gen. 3:15). That same seed must be spiritually sown in man today for “Christ to be revealed” in man. (The fruit of a seed cannot be reaped unless it is first planted) When Adam and Eve partook of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they were destined to perpetuate the fruit of that tree; consequently death spread.

Genesis 2:17 - But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof thou shall surely die.

Romans 5:12-19 - Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: [13] (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. [14] Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. [15] But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. [16] And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. [17] For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) [18] Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. [19] For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

God in His grace and mercy determined that He would redeem them and make amends for their mistake. The way He did this was by planting in Man another seed that would again bring forth the power found in the Tree of Life. In reality, Jesus was that Tree of Life. As long as Adam and Eve partook of that tree, they lived. As long as we partake of JESUS, not dead religious rites and ceremonies, we live. Through JESUS true life would be restored to man once again.

Romans 5:15-20 - But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. [16] And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. [17] For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) [18] Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. [19] For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. [20] Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

The seed of Christ is a spiritual seed sown in man through the Holy Spirit. No flesh could beget Jesus but all flesh can receive him. After Eve’s transgression, the Lord prophesied the propagation of the two seeds within man: those who would embrace the nature of the serpent and those who would be of the nature of Christ would come forth from the woman.

Genesis 3:15 - And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shall bruise his heel.

Cain is in all of us. <Those who are born-again have this seed eradicated through Christ> He was the firstborn and a type of the “first man” Adam, a “tiller of the ground” (Gen. 4:2). A fundamental characteristic of the seed of Cain is “earthly-mindedness.” Just as the serpent is cursed to crawl on his bellow forces, to conform to the contour of the earth, so the seed of Cain is confined to the natural realm.

1 Cor. 2:14 - But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Another characteristic of the seed of Cain is that they became worshippers of the creature instead of the Creator. WE ONLY WORSHIP THAT WHICH WE KNOW. The spirit of materialism and various humanistic dogmas today clearly indicate the force behind the seed of Cain even in modern times. Religious man, whose devotion is to the church or religious organizations rather than Jesus, is also a “creature-worshipper.” In the book of Revelation, we see the culmination of Cain’s seed in the beast and the seed sown through Abel in the glorified Christ. In Genesis we see their development. In Revelation, we see their fulfillment. The Beast, or Man of Sin Is the Personification of the Seed of Cain

The man of sin, or the Anti-Christ is the personification of the sin of man. This is man’s basic nature until it is changed by Christ (John 3:1-8). This is the mature fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The root and power of the man of sin is the serpent; the beast had to be fully revealed in man just as the seed of Christ had to be fully revealed. (Gal 6:8) In the Beast, we see ourselves without CHRIST. Revelation 13: 16-17 tells us the beast has a mark that he attempts to place upon us. In 14:9-10, we see a terrible wrath that comes upon those who take the mark. Millions worry about trying to decipher the physical mark while many fail to understand that the spirit of Anti-Christ is already placing its mark on many already.

The mark of the beast is basically in spiritual terms, the spirit of the world. Taking a physical mark is not a sin. Worshipping the beast is the sin. The mark is merely evidence one has been worshipping the Beast.

Rev. 13:18 - Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

In verse 11, we see that the Beast comes “out of the earth.” The beast is the result of the seed of Cain, a “tiller of the ground,” or earthly-minded. The beast is the embodiment of religion that originates in the mind of man. It comes from the earth, in contrast to Christ who comes down from heaven. If one is trusting in his knowledge of good and evil to discern the beast, he will be easily deceived. The nature of the beast is rooted in just as much of the “good” that is in man as it is the evil. It was not the evil side of the tree that deceived Eve. It was the good.

While we see man’s evil intensifying in these last days, we also see the good intensifying. ALL OF IT IS ROOTED IN THE SAME TREE. The Anti-Christ will come promising the world an answer to all its problems and will be announced as the world’s Savior. In reality, he will ride to power the same way Adolph Hitler rode to power; through apostate religion.

The good in man will never redeem him from the evil that is in him. It is still the same tree and its fruit will always bring death. As Christians, we gravitate toward, and esteem most highly those who are the most conservative and moral. Jesus did not. Sinners did not crucify the Lord. Israel’s most moral and upstanding citizens crucified Him. While there are many “good causes” being championed in the world today, they only serve as distractions to us from the TREE OF LIFE. JESUS. What man needs is more than just behavioral changes. We must stop flailing at the branches and lay an ax to the root of the tree. In all of us, there is the seed of the Beast that seeks to draw attention to it. Even the greatest compassion and benevolence of man is often an attempt to atone for his own evil and justify why he does not need Christ and his atonement. The goodness of man can be the most ugly manifestation of his pride and rebellion against God.

The whole tree of the knowledge of good and evil must be torn down. WE MUST REPENT OF WHAT WE ARE, BOTH GOOD AND BAD.

Before Christ could be revealed the first time, the message of repentance had to be preached. This message alone could prepare the way for Jesus. As it was in the days of Jesus, the message of repentance alone can prepare the way for Him the second time. Repentance is more than having feelings of remorse because of sin and walking down some aisle: it means to turn away from sin. Sin is not just a few wrong things we have done: it is the nature of what we are –WHETHER IT IS BAD OR GOOD. In Christ, to repent means to renounce ALL that we are, including our righteousness and our transgressions. Just as Cain could not stand Abel, whose offering represented the righteousness of God, those who seek to stand on their own righteousness find the presence of those who stand by faith in Jesus intolerable.

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD, BASED COMPLETELY ON THE ATONEMENT OF THE CROSS STRIPS AWAY THE FACADE AND LAYS BARE THE PRIDE OF MAN. THE CROSS IS THE GREATEST THREAT TO MAN’S SELF-CENTEREDNESS. PAUL TOLD THE CHURCH AT PHILLIPI THAT TO KNOW CHRIST, HE HAD TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING THAT HE WAS. WHEN HE PERCEIVED THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF JESUS, HE COUNTED EVERYTHING ELSE, INCLUDING HIS OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS, AS RUBBISH.

Abel did not resist Cain in their conflict because he had the nature of the seed of Christ in him. If we have the seed of Christ in us, neither will we resist. (Matthew 5:38-48) There is a power of non-resistance to evil that crushes the serpent’s head and tears evil out at its roots. If we react to evil, we are only multiplying the very demon we are trying to cast out. “Love covers a multitude of sins.” Anger, cannot cast out anger, nor can malice cast out malice. (Matthew 12:28) Jesus greatest victory over Satan didn’t come through military resistance to the cross, but death.

John 12:24 - Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Psalm 116:15 - Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

If we have the seed of Christ, we are willing to lay down our lives for Him. Laying down our life means not seeking retaliation, but forgiveness. Jesus did not come to condemn the world. The world was already condemned before He came. He came to save it. John summed up the nature of the two seeds in his first epistle.

1 John 3:9-13 - Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. [10] In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loves not his brother. [11] For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. [12] Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. [13] Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.

The Tree of Life is Jesus. As long as Adam and Eve partook of this tree they lived forever. The characteristics of this tree will be found in us if we partake of this tree as well. (Revelation 22:1-3)

· Its leaves were used for the healing of the nations. We have been chosen as vessels of healing to a world under a curse.

· The Throne of God and the Lamb were near--This speaks of the Lordship of Christ and our submission to Him.

· The servants serve Him--When you are partaking of this tree, your entire purpose and devotion is summed up into serving JESUS, not man or a man-made organization.

The Fruit of the Spirit will be brought forth through this seed if we are partaking of the fruit of the Tree of Life.

Every season of significant spiritual growth and development of the Fruit of the Spirit in your walk with God will be precipitated by a time of deep repentance. Jesus’ attitude toward sin was very serious.

Luke 13:3-5 - I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. [4] Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? [5] I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Sin is not merely missing the mark. It is missing the Kingdom. It is living in death, when we could be living in life.

Mark 9:47 - And if thine eye offends thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

Most repentance doesn’t produce a spiritual result because many of us only seek forgiveness and not change. To be fruitful, we must seek a vigilant attitude of repentance that refuses to allow sin or self to become an IDOL in our heart.

Exodus 34:14 - For thou shall worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:

Christ does not personally destroy the idols in our hearts. He points them out to us and tells us to destroy them. True salvation is more than getting ready for heaven. It is a betrothal. He purifies us for marriage. Our independent ways are idolatrous and kindle the fires of His jealousy. An idol is something that makes us its slave. For some it is fear, others, lust, others, money and for others, rebellion and pride. Whatever challenges Jesus in our hearts becomes an enemy to Him. Even our “Knowledge” can become a false idol.

Our salvation must center on the goal of becoming Christ-like. We will quickly fall into dead works and empty deception. Our salvation is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. It is being conformed into His image that saves us and makes us holy.

The main spirit that opposes the spirit of repentance is the spirit of antichrist. The “antichrist” spirit is a religious spirit that manifests itself in the thinking that refuses to be taught and corrected by Christ or anyone else. This same spirit is evident in the church today opposing the move of God while displaying itself as being God.

1 John 2:18 - Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

1 John 4:3 - And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Simply put, the spirit of antichrist is that spirit which exalts self as deity. The resistance in your heart is an idol and the spirit of antichrist working against God. It is the most powerful idol of the human heart. The false god of self-rule is not alone. The ancient god Mercury would be hard-pressed to keep pace with today’s gods of anxiety and haste. The bloodlust of the Roman arenas are evident In the violence on television. The Greek goddesses of fertility have found their way into the homes of America through the spirit of idolized sex in our theaters and televisions. What mankind has done is move the pagan temples from the high places of the countryside to the hidden places of the human heart.

The Lord’s name is JEALOUS. He is jealous for us as individuals. He cares and provides for EVERY aspect of our lives. His jealousy for us is not human jealousy. He understands us and knowing our weaknesses, he “jealously desires the spirit He has made to dwell in us.” (James 4:5) Another translation is “Do you think that the Scripture says in vain, the Spirit who dwells in us yearns to jealously?”

It would be safe to say that the apostles were fruitful trees. The question, is, however, what was it that brought forth this fruitfulness in them? The answer is simply, time. Just as it takes time for a tree to produce literal fruit, we must also recognize that it takes a period of time for a Christian to bear the Fruit of the Spirit. It is irrational to think that a newborn babe in the Kingdom of God will automatically start bearing fruit. The development of fruit is even taught in the laws of nature.

Mark 4:28-29 - For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. [29] But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.

Jesus is coming back for a people who are being conformed to His image. This means believers must be striving to develop one hundredfold of all the fruit, for Jesus Himself was one hundredfold. His life bore a hundredfold of all the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT. Spiritual development and production should never stop. Jesus wants us to be overcomers in Him. When thinking of spiritual growth we must realize the truth In I Corinthians 3:5,6 - that it is God who gives the increase. The sooner we believers choose to begin the process of cultivation, the sooner the blade, the ear, and the full ear of corn will appear in our individual lives.[2]

[1] Joyner, Rick, There Were Two Trees In The Garden, Morningstar Publishing, Charlotte, NC., 1989.

[2] Ibid. A majority of this teaching was taken from outline notes from Rick’s book. It’s a prophetic word to the church of THIS HOUR. It was timely 13 years ago. It’s even timelier now.