ROOT AND FRUITS, PART 1

Psalm 1:1-3 – (READ) – like a tree…that brings forth fruit in its season, whose leaf does not wither…

II Kings 19:30-31 – And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and those who escape from Mount Zion. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Col. 2:6-7 – As you, therefore, have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Roots go downward into what it feeds from.

1. The Purpose of a Root is to grow downwards into the earth to absorb water and mineral salts while anchoring the plant above ground to the earth. It lacks buds, leaves, and nodes yet is necessary to produce those on the plant it supports.

2. Types of Roots in nature reveal the Nature of Spiritual Roots

• A Strike Root – sent out from its seed to become fixed in the earth. Once planted, it becomes established to prepare for increase as well as to blossom and/or bear fruit. It’s produce (seed) spreads out to become another strike root.

o Eph. 3:17-19 – that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

o Faith is the strike root that plants/grounds you in Christ Jesus via God’s love.

o Maturing Faith spreads out wide, long, deep, and high – in every area of our life and relationship towards God.

o Faith yields Fruit due to being fully aware of God in His power, ability, and favor.

• A Primary Root – is the central, first-formed main root from which other roots/branches grow.

o Jesus is our Primary Root! –

o John 15:1, 5 – I am the vine (primary root), and my Father is the vinedresser…I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

o Is. 11:1, 10 – There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots…and in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, who shall stand as a banner to the peopled; for the Gentiles shall seek Him and His resting place shall be glorious.

3. Roots and Fruits mentioned in Scripture –

• Root of Amalek - Jud. 5:14 – From Ephraim were those whose roots were in Amalek…

o Amalek means ‘dweller in the valley’ – these were descendants of Esau; the valley they dwelt in were anger and resentment towards his brother that led him to a desire to see him dead.

o Defeated by the sword of the Lord – Ex. 17:8-16, v. 13 – So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword (while Moses with Aaron and Hur raised the rod of God high upon the hill they watched and prayed from.)

o This root must be defeated with prayer and the word of God.

• Foolish Root – tends toward wrath, envy, snares, affliction, and trouble.

o Job 5:2-7 – For wrath kills a foolish man, and envy slays a simple one. I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his dwelling place. His sons are far from safety, they are crushed in the gate and there is no deliverer.

o Jer. 4:22 – For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. – This is the result when we fail to familiarize ourselves with the written word, with prayer, and with obedience to and dependance upon our Father in heaven.

• A Forgetful Root – tends towards forgetting God, hopelessness, lack of confidence, and obsessive neediness.

o Job 8:13-18 – (READ) – this person has no endurance or strength; clings to a heap of stones, i.e. ruins.

o A hypocrite who can speak as though he is rich in faith, yet lives without faith in God.

o V. 17 – his roots are wrapped around the heap and sees the place of stones – they keep themselves bound to a tragedy, an offense, etc., which skews their perception and mental reasoning.

• Root of Rottenness – tends toward rejecting God’s law, despising His Word, and produces dust (blossom of dust)

o Is. 5:24 – Therefore, as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root will be as rottenness, and their blossom will ascend like the dust, because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.

o This root is defined in verse 20-23 as those who call evil good and good evil, who prefer darkness to light and bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, wise in their own eyes, mighty at drinking wine, consider themselves a powerful force due mixing intoxicating drink, justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away justice from the righteous man.

• Root of Bitterness – tends toward falling short of God’s grace, becoming defiled by troubles.

o Heb. 12:15 – Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness sprining up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.

o To prevent this root from taking hold, one must pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord (v. 14)

• ROOT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS – YIELDS FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT

o Pro. 12:12 – but the root of the righteous yields fruit!

o Ps. 80:9 – (The Lord) prepared room for it and caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land.

o Is. 27:6 – Those who come He shall cause to take root in Jacob; Israel shall blossom and bud and fill the face of the world with fruit.

o Col. 2:7 – rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

o Gal. 5:22-23 (READ) – these characteristics are the evidence that we are rooted in Christ’s righteousness, producing the fruit of the Holy Spirit by which we influence the world around us!

We’ll talk more about this Root of Righteousness and its fruits in our next session.