And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
Isaiah 37:31
The promise from the LORD in Isaiah 37:31 is very precious. This is especially true for two reasons.
First, at this specific point in the ministry of Isaiah, the LORD has permitted the Assyrian king to begin to lay siege to Jerusalem for the second time in about twelve years. Their army [of at least 185,000] is camped around the city walls. King Hezekiah has no possible way of deterring this huge army. He did the only wise thing. He sought the LORD in prayer, knowing that unless the LORD did something, Judah would be destroyed and the hope of any future for God’s people along with it. So then, this promise from the LORD to Hezekiah seems unlikely of fruition, as far as man sees things.
But God never wavers in His Eternal Redemptive Purposes in Jesus Christ. For those purposes to be brought to consummation, it was necessary for a remnant of believers to survive, as they had when God destroyed the world through the Flood. This is the true import of this wonderful promise, as it relates to Israel and its place in God’s plan.
But there is a great deal more, because second, the ‘fruit’ promised by the LORD through Isaiah that day can best be understood when we lay that promise alongside John 15. In that portion of scripture, the Lord Jesus Christ mentions fruit no less than seven times in the space of what fifteen verses. Evidently fruit-bearing by believers was a primary concern in the Saviour’s thoughts just hours before He would be crucified. Consider especially John 15:16.
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.
The fruit identified here is clearly that which accompanies redemption and salvation, clarified in Hebrews 6:9.
But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
The life of a person that has genuinely been brought to repentant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is forever changed. There is a sweet savor about it that was not previously present. It is the manifestation of righteousness being imparted to, and implanted in, that new creature in Christ. If this fruit is not discernible in the life, the professing believer is counterfeit. It is not possible for any fallen son or daughter of Adam’s race to be ‘saved’ [as the commonly-used phraseology goes] and no distinct fruit of righteousness to be observed. The fruit always follows the transformation.
This truth is significant enough to have become well-known to those that profess to be ‘Christians.’ Many such folks spend years after their supposed conversion experience trying to produce ‘fruit’ that sustains their ‘profession of faith.’ Conservative churches are filled with folks that strive incessantly to satisfy themselves and others that their salvation is the genuine article. Much of this arises because of not-so-subtle pressure applied by well-meaning leaders and ‘brothers and sisters’ in the Lord in their assembly. Altar calls often result in many of the same folks coming forward again and again because their struggles to produce such ‘fruit’ are so disheartening.
This is not at all the ‘fruit’ spoken of by the LORD to Judah back then, or by the Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples in John 15. In the same way that it would seem foolish to us to think of a fruit tree in our yard ‘striving to bring forth fruit,’ it is foolish for any genuine believer to strive in the flesh to produce fruit. Rather than striving mightily to bring forth fruit unto the glory of the Father, we do far better to heed the Saviour’s words in John 15:3-4.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
The fruit tree in our yard does not strive to bring forth fruit. It is the natural outcome of it being planted in good soil and nurtured by the rainfall from above. Listen to what else the LORD said unto His believing remnant through Isaiah.
Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified.
Isaiah 60:21
And:
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.
Isaiah 61:3
The LORD never intended His people then to bring forth fruit to glorify Him in their own energies and strength. Those that were more than just religious among them, that were truly of the believing remnant, would be ‘trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD.’
It is same today in the churches. Those that are truly of the believing remnant will bring forth fruit to the glory of the Father by abiding where they have been planted, in the True Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ.
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
1 Corinthians 1:30
As it was for the remnant then, so it is for the remnant today.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season.
Psalm 1:3
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