Malachi 3:11

The Bible says in Malachi 3:11-12, “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts. And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.” The first thing to notice about this verse is that there is a “devourer.” Life is temporary and it is dangerous. One of the things that makes life dangerous is the evil that exists in the world. God creates and builds up, but the evil one destroys and tears down. It says in First Peter 5:8, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”

The devil has two main goals in his work of devouring people, and that depends upon if the person is a lost person or a saved person. If someone is lost and does not know Jesus as Savior, then that person is spiritually blind, and is destined for an eternity in hell away from heaven and away from all that is good. God wants every person to be saved, but the devil wants every person to be lost. It says in Second Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Also Jesus said in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Concerning those who do not know Jesus as Savior and why they stay in that condition the Bible says in Second Timothy 2:24-26, “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” Jesus gave an interesting teaching in Matthew 13:37-39, “He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.” Jesus also said in 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.” It is easy to learn from scripture that Jesus saves souls, but the devil destroys souls.

Concerning those who are saved through faith in Jesus, the devil cannot destroy their soul. Once saved, always saved. Jesus said in John 10:27-29, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.” It says in First Corinthians 3:11-15, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”

Even though the devil cannot destroy the soul of a person once that person has trusted in Jesus for salvation, the devil can still attempt to “devour” in another manner. Notice that it says in Malachi 3:11, “and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground.” After you become saved by turning to Jesus in faith, the Lord keeps you on the earth for a while so that you will grow in the knowledge of the Lord and so that you will bear fruit for Him. Jesus said in John 15:1-8, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 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. 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. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”

Notice the difference between what it takes to bear fruit under the old covenant compared to the new covenant. Under the old covenant the requirement was to obey the commandments of the law. That is because the old covenant had everything to do with the commandments of the law and an individual’s ability to obey the law. The law was all about what a person could do for God In contrast to that, the new covenant based upon grace has everything to do with trusting in Jesus. Instead of what I can do for God, the new covenant is all about what Jesus has done for me. In order for Christians to bear fruit, we must “abide” in Christ as Jesus told us so clearly.

Let’s look briefly at bearing fruit as a believer in Jesus Christ. There are different kinds of fruit. There is fruit that is represented by what you accomplish and by what you actually do. This would include such things as starting a church, or being a witness for Christ, or leading others to Christ, or preaching sermons, or singing the songs of Zion, or giving of your time or money to advance a work for Christ. None of these things can you do effectively without abiding in Christ. As Jesus said in John 15:5, “Without me ye can do nothing.” Another type of fruit that is a result of abiding in Christ refers not to the things that you do, but refers to the person that you become. It says in Galatians 5:22-24, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Whenever you have love for Jesus in your heart, or whenever you have Christ-like love for lost souls, this is the bearing of fruit. You did not do anything per-se, but you did bear fruit: fruit that is very important to God as He looks at the hearts of all people on this earth. Whenever you have true joy, you are bearing fruit. True joy is related to experiencing happiness, knowing that Jesus is your Savior and that you have a home in heaven through faith in Jesus. You are bearing fruit whenever you experience peace in your heart: peace that comes from trusting in Christ and knowing that everything will be fine because God will take care of you in all situations. You are bearing fruit whenever you demonstrate “longsuffering.” It literally means to go a long time without showing anger. Having “longsuffering” is the opposite of having a short fuse. It does not mean that you are never angered, but it does mean that you are not easily angered.

Galatians 5:22 tells us that you are bearing fruit when you demonstrate “gentleness.” As with all of the fruits of the Spirit, this is an attribute that God Himself demonstrates. It refers to treating people with goodness and kindness instead of being hard or severe or cruel. You are also bearing fruit when you demonstrate “goodness” to others. The word that is translated “goodness” comes from the basic word for “good” in Greek. The truth of the matter is that evil does enter into some people so that they are truly evil. There is good and evil in the world. When “goodness” enters into you and comes out from your heart, you are bearing fruit for God. You are also bearing fruit when you have faith. Faith in Christ does not come to the natural man naturally. Faith is infused into you when you acquiesce to the Spirit. Faith is centered on Jesus. You are bearing the fruit of faith whenever you face a situation in your life whether great or small, and you react to it by trusting in what the Lord will do instead of what you would normally in your own human reaction.

According to Galatians 5:23, you are bearing fruit whenever you demonstrate “meekness.” It says about Jesus in Matthew 21:5, “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.” Jesus said in Matthew 5:5, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” “Meekness” as it is used in the Bible does not refer to weakness, but it refers to having humility in a manner whereby one is not arrogant or prideful, but one is willing to be led or directed. In other words a meek person is not forceful of his or her own will on others. The spiritual fruit of meekness is very contrary to human nature.

The last of the spiritual fruits mentioned in Galatians 5:23 is “temperance.” “Temperance” refers to self-control. It says in First Corinthians 9:25, “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” Human beings do not control themselves. That is one reason that there is so much craziness in the world. Also, there are people who have rejected any moral compass and who live a hedonistic lifestyle of, “Let us eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die.” How can a Christian be temperate in such a world? By bearing fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, known as “temperance.”

These are the fruits that God wants you to bear. They are listed very clearly. It says in Galatians 5:22-24, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” God wants you to bear these fruits for His glory. The devil wants to keep you from bearing these fruits. The way to make sure that you bear these fruits is to abide in Christ. Let’s look some more at what Jesus taught about bearing fruit. Jesus said in John 15:2, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” This verse shows both the consequence of not bearing fruit, as well as the process that every believer is going through right now so that we will bear fruit. Jesus wants us to bear fruit. That is His will for us. The ultimate consequence of being in Christ and not bearing fruit is that He will take you away: He will take you off the earth. This is a teaching that substantiates eternal security. What happens to Christians when they do not abide in Christ and do not bear fruit for God’s glory? It says in First John 5:16, “If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.” It says in First Corinthians 11:30, “For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.” It also says in First Corinthians 3:14-17, “If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

Concerning abiding in Christ, Jesus said in John 15:3, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” In case you are tempted to think that abiding in Christ has to do with how good you are, it is made clear to us that the cleansing that Jesus gives is the basis for abiding in Christ. Someone might think that they are too unworthy or too sinful to be able to abide in Christ, but that can never be. Our relationship with Christ is always based upon what He has done for us in regards to the forgiveness of sin and cleansing from sin. One reason to stay in God’s Word through study and meditation is because it is a big part of abiding in Jesus. Abiding in Christ is associated to having answers to prayer. Jesus said in John 15:7, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

After you accept Jesus as Savior, the Christian life is all about abiding in Christ, and if we abide in Christ the result will be that we will bear fruit for God’s glory. The promise made to the Israelites in Malachi 3:11 can be even more realized in the life of a believer in Jesus: “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground.”

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