We often speak of the fruits of the spirit but what about the fruits of the kingdom?
In Galatians 5:21-23, Paul lists the fruits (products) of having the spirit of YHWH as, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. These are those heart attitudes the Holy Spirit brings with him into us and develops to maturity, over time, in us as individuals.
However, the fruits of the Kingdom are similar, but not about the inward cultivation in the one who has the Spirit of YHWH, but cultivation of the Kingdom of YHWH to cause it to blossom and expand in our world.
In Matthew 21 from verse 33, Jesus gave an illustration of YHWH's expectations with a story. He told of tenants to which a landowner rented out his vineyard. In verse 34, he said, " When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit."
In other words, the landowner expected
Harvest
his share of a harvest
from the vineyard, he had rented out to them.
Now because he was speaking to those chief priests and elders who were in doubt of his authority (Matthew 21: 23- 27), he continued his parable by predicting what they would do to him:
38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
They would reject and kill the son who came to ask for his Father's (YHWH) share of the harvest.
However, for us who have now accepted the Son ((our Messiah Jesus), what is important for us to note is this statement in verse 41 above: and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
The vineyard is the Kingdom of God on earth. The Kingdom of God on earth has been handed over to all those who have accepted the Landowner's son (Jesus the Messiah). And just as he requested harvest of the first tenants, he will require the harvest of us. As verse 43 continues:
“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. "
The fruits of the kingdom are the establishment and expansion of the investments of the Landowner.
The Easy-to-Read Version puts verse 43 as:
"So I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who do what God wants in his kingdom."
As Paul, the Apostle states, ''the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,""
And Isaiah 9:7 prophesies the accomplishment of the Son within the Kingdom:
"Of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."
In other words, the fruits of the kingdom are the expansion
of the domain (kingdom) of God.
The peace of God
Establishment and stability of his justice and righteousness in all the kingdom
This is the fruit expected of those of us to which the vineyard has been given.
Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:37-38
He answered his own prayer by commissioning his disciples in the very next chapter (Matthew 10) verse 1 :
Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
And includes the rest of us in Mark 16:15:
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
As Paul said, If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. (1 Corinthians 9:17)
YHWH has given us the kingdom and since he bought the whole world of people by the sacrifice of Jesus (Matthew 13:45), all the world of people is purchased as potentially God's kingdom. Our job is to extend his ways and produce his fruit in many others.
It is time to till, extend and cause the gospel- good news- of the Kingdom of spread and be established.
We are the people YHWH trusts to produce the fruits of his Kingdom here on earth. Hallelujah!
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24: 14
since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:24
"The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor." 1 Corinthians 3:8
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