the product of the earth, as trees, plants, &c. “Blessed shall be
the fruit of thy ground and cattle.” The fruit of the body signifies
children: “Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body.” By fruit is
sometimes meant reward: “They shall eat of the fruit of their own ways,”
Prov. i, 31; they shall receive the reward of their bad conduct, and
punishment answerable to their sins. The fruit of the lips is the
sacrifice of praise or thanksgiving, Heb. xiii, 15. The fruit of the
righteous, that is, the counsel, example, instruction, and reproof of
the righteous, is a tree of life, is a means of much good, both temporal
and eternal; and that not only to himself, but to others also, Prov. xi,
30. Solomon says, in Prov. xii, 14, “A man shall be satisfied with good
by the fruit of his mouth;” that is, he shall receive abundant blessings
from God as the reward of that good he has done, by his pious and
profitable discourses. “Fruits meet for repentance,” Matt. iii, 8, is
such a conduct as befits the profession of penitence.
2. The fruits of the Spirit are those gracious habits which the Holy
Spirit of God produces in those in whom he dwelleth and worketh, with
those acts which flow from them, as naturally as the tree produces its
fruit. The Apostle enumerates these fruits in Galatians v, 22, 23. The
same Apostle, in Eph. v, 9, comprehends the fruits of the sanctifying
Spirit in these three things; namely, goodness, righteousness, and
truth. The fruits of righteousness are such good works and holy actions
as spring from a gracious frame of heart: “Being filled with the fruits
of righteousness,” Phil. i, 11. Fruit is taken for a charitable
contribution, which is the fruit or effect of faith and love: “When I
have sealed unto them this fruit,” Rom. xv, 28; when I have safely
delivered this contribution. When fruit is spoken of good men, then it
is to be understood of the fruits or works of holiness and
righteousness; but when of evil men, then are meant the fruits of sin,
immorality, and wickedness. This is our Saviour’s doctrine, Matt. vii,
16–18.
3. Uncircumcised fruit, or impure, of which there is mention in Lev.
xix, 23, is the fruit for the first three years of a tree newly planted;
it was reputed unclean, and no one was permitted to eat of it in all
that time. In the fourth year it was offered to the Lord; after which it
was common, and generally eaten. Various reasons are assigned for this
precept. As (1.) Because the first-fruits were to be offered to God, who
required the best: but in this time the fruit was not come to
perfection. (2.) It was serviceable to the trees themselves, which grew
the better and faster; being early stripped of those fruits which
otherwise would have derived to themselves, and drawn away, much of the
strength from the root and tree. (3.) It tended to the advantage of men,
both because the fruit was then waterish, undigestible, and unwholesome;
and because hereby men were taught to bridle their appetites, a lesson
of great use and absolute necessity in a godly life.
the fruit of thy ground and cattle.” The fruit of the body signifies
children: “Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body.” By fruit is
sometimes meant reward: “They shall eat of the fruit of their own ways,”
Prov. i, 31; they shall receive the reward of their bad conduct, and
punishment answerable to their sins. The fruit of the lips is the
sacrifice of praise or thanksgiving, Heb. xiii, 15. The fruit of the
righteous, that is, the counsel, example, instruction, and reproof of
the righteous, is a tree of life, is a means of much good, both temporal
and eternal; and that not only to himself, but to others also, Prov. xi,
30. Solomon says, in Prov. xii, 14, “A man shall be satisfied with good
by the fruit of his mouth;” that is, he shall receive abundant blessings
from God as the reward of that good he has done, by his pious and
profitable discourses. “Fruits meet for repentance,” Matt. iii, 8, is
such a conduct as befits the profession of penitence.
2. The fruits of the Spirit are those gracious habits which the Holy
Spirit of God produces in those in whom he dwelleth and worketh, with
those acts which flow from them, as naturally as the tree produces its
fruit. The Apostle enumerates these fruits in Galatians v, 22, 23. The
same Apostle, in Eph. v, 9, comprehends the fruits of the sanctifying
Spirit in these three things; namely, goodness, righteousness, and
truth. The fruits of righteousness are such good works and holy actions
as spring from a gracious frame of heart: “Being filled with the fruits
of righteousness,” Phil. i, 11. Fruit is taken for a charitable
contribution, which is the fruit or effect of faith and love: “When I
have sealed unto them this fruit,” Rom. xv, 28; when I have safely
delivered this contribution. When fruit is spoken of good men, then it
is to be understood of the fruits or works of holiness and
righteousness; but when of evil men, then are meant the fruits of sin,
immorality, and wickedness. This is our Saviour’s doctrine, Matt. vii,
16–18.
3. Uncircumcised fruit, or impure, of which there is mention in Lev.
xix, 23, is the fruit for the first three years of a tree newly planted;
it was reputed unclean, and no one was permitted to eat of it in all
that time. In the fourth year it was offered to the Lord; after which it
was common, and generally eaten. Various reasons are assigned for this
precept. As (1.) Because the first-fruits were to be offered to God, who
required the best: but in this time the fruit was not come to
perfection. (2.) It was serviceable to the trees themselves, which grew
the better and faster; being early stripped of those fruits which
otherwise would have derived to themselves, and drawn away, much of the
strength from the root and tree. (3.) It tended to the advantage of men,
both because the fruit was then waterish, undigestible, and unwholesome;
and because hereby men were taught to bridle their appetites, a lesson
of great use and absolute necessity in a godly life.