February 5, 2001

Evangelists hear Fish story about fruit
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___SAN ANTONIO--The Holy Spirit produces fruits in the life of the Christian, and the believer then bears fruit in terms of more souls won to Christ, Roy Fish told Texas vocational evangelists at their annual luncheon Jan. 30 in San Antonio.
___Fish, the longtime evangelism professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, said the fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians paint a

MILTON WALKER speaks during a "Roast and Toast" of James Semple, who is retiring as director of the State Missions Commission of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. Walker is pastor of Community Baptist Church in El Paso and a past-president of the state Black/African American Baptist Fellowship.

"perfect portrait of Jesus the Lord." But Scripture also speaks of fruit in another sense, he said. It refers to a believer bearing fruit through his life, with specific reference to leading others to Christ.?
___John 12:24 says that "unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." Fish said the passage paints three "pictures."
___First is the picture of "incomparable tragedy," Fish said. He called it the "tragedy of abiding alone," which is "the opposite of bringing forth much fruit."
___In John 15, Jesus is saying that "a non-productive Christian is akin to a dead branch on a tree," Fish said. Dead branches are "useless, so they're burned."
___Second is the picture of "dreaded agony," he continued. This refers to the "agony of death"--not physical or spiritual death, but "judicial or positional" death, Fish said. The New Testament refers to such dying 28 times.
___"This is not exactly seeker friendly," he said. "This scares some saints away. ... It is not that the message is unbiblical, but that men are unbendable."
___A human's ego "dies hard," Fish said, asserting that people don't witness more because of an ego problem. The focus of their life is "I."
___Third is the picture of "certain victory," Fish said. If the believer, like the seed, dies, "it brings forth much fruit. ... It is victory that is coupled with mystery."

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