by: Keith Phemister
Genesis 1:22, “And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.”
Genesis 1:28, “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Isn’t it interesting that right out of the gate God blessed humanity and there is fruit and more fruit as a result. It began in Genesis and continues as Noah came out of the ark.
Genesis 9:1 says, “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”
It continues over to the church of Jerusalem in the Book of Acts as well. When God truly blessed there was reproduction. What I note out of this is that we are not only to be a reproducer, but a reproducer of a reproducer. The fruit of a Christian should not just be another piece of fruit, but another fruit-bearing tree.
I can have many children, but unless those children reproduce the family name, the family will die. My daughters will not take on the family name. My son can. God can have many children, but unless he has reproducers, the family will die.
It is a shame that most of our churches live by the rule of 80/20. Twenty percent (20%) of Christians do 80% of the work while the 80% do the 20%. I would have to testify that in our churches the percentages that are soul winners and show up for soul winning time are even less than the 20%. Isn’t it a shame that we don’t need a pep rally to get young people to love, marry and raise families? It is something that all young people look forward to! Just preach on the Second Coming to a bunch of college students and see the look of horror on their faces when you proclaim the imminent return of Christ. Tell them you are so sure that He is coming that you are preparing for it even at this very moment, and you will have a bunch of these love struck young people praying for the Lord to tarry His coming until they first get married.
God has commanded reproduction both physically and spiritually. A child born into the family brings an abundance of joy. I mean to tell you, I was so excited at the birth of our first child. I called as many people as I could to rejoice with us. It happens that way spiritually as well. A child born into the family of God brings much joy, first to the soul winner (Luke 10:17) and then to the Lord and the heavenly host (Luke 15:7-10). So, knowing the joy it brings, why would so many testify of no reproduction on the spiritual front? Are we not preaching it? Are our people not seeing the joy that it brings? Perhaps we are spouting all too often of the negativity in soul winning!
There are reasons for non-reproduction both physically and spiritually.
- People do not want to have children or converts. There could be a myriad of reasons for this, but the bottom line almost always involves selfishness. It could mean the end of a business career for a young lady in the physical realm or it could just mean time that is wanted to spend elsewhere. Whatever the case, the fact of the matter is that no one can make someone reproduce. They must want to!
- Perhaps there is an illness or disease that would affect reproduction. (See Psalm 51:10-13.) Just as sin will affect our ability to reproduce spiritually, disease could affect reproduction physically. Until we are right with the Lord, there will be no reproduction in the spiritual sense.
There is a lack of maturity. A young girl cannot reproduce until there is physical maturity in the same way a Christian cannot reproduce until there is spiritual maturity. I am thankful I went to a Baptist college that saw the need of soul winning in a Christian’s life and how it can mature him. I grew more in the early days of my Christian life while going soul winning than I did when I was in the classroom. I remember coming home and looking for the answers to give to someone next time I confronted a lost sinner who had the same excuses that I just encountered. Soul winning will mature you and bringing fruit is a sign of maturing as a Christian.
A Church that is growing is a church that has maturing believers. Maturing believers are soul winners and reproducers of reproducers. I have been the pastor of a church where much growth was a result of adoption. What I mean by that is there were church transfers. I have learned it can make for a very unhappy family. The biblical model is to win souls and train them to win souls. Reproducing reproducers is the way to go.
2 Timothy 2:2 states, “An the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”
The church of Jerusalem started with a prayer meeting of 120 and blossomed to 3000 (Acts 2:41), and then to 5000 (Acts 4:4) and continued with multiplied disciples (Acts 6:1).
I want the blessings of God on my life and to obey the spiritual commandment to be fruitful and multiply.
Keith Phemister, Pastor
Lighthouse Baptist Church
Hudson, NH