Chronicles of the Axe
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. (1)
Those who are dead when the Axe comes to chomp will be cut off and uprooted. Those who are alive when the Axe comes to chomp will be pruned. What is it to be dead? What is it to be alive? To be dead is to be without faith... shipwrecked (2) . Faith is life. Faith is the oxygen that keeps us and sustains our soul until the end. The Axe is the discipline, judgement and chastisement of the Lord to whom He loves (3) in order to save us. Those who will be saved are those who are pruned from the Axe. Those who are dead without faith will be cut off and removed from His presence, from the Vine. This is the Word that says when tested by fire you may lose everything but you will at least be saved (4). For those who are born of God; those who are alive; those who have faith will be able to endure the Axe, overcome and remain. Those who are dead will not endure but will be overcome by the Axe, by the pressure and like a flood will be washed away. Those who are in the flesh of our natural inclinations and reactions towards the Axe. To harbour resentment, malice and disdain. Those who are in the flesh (i) and not in the Spirit. The Spirit gives light and understanding, so that those who do not have faith, the Spirit of faith will not understand the will of God. In this state they lose the good conscience which is a pure heart towards man and God. A body full of light so that we may see the good in everything (5).
If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (6)
See the good in everything even the losses, shame and calamity. Like an innocent babe who does not hold resentment or have depression. They simply move forward as Job did; naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD. (7) This is the tree that bears fruit. Passing through seasons of change, loss and environmental strains. Yet like a natural phenomenon the tree that is full of life, full of faith is like the tree of life itself in the middle of The Garden able to bear fruits in season or out of season. Like the natural phenomenon of the burning bush in the mountains that Moses bore witness to; these trees planted in the Vine are able to produce fruits of patience, long suffering, kindness, love etc (8) independent of the season that life may throw at them. These are the fruits of those who are alive so that when they encounter the Axes of this life they become Pruned and not removed. The Axe for those who have Faith within them which is the Spirit of faith, the Holy Spirit, the Word of God the proof, evidence and demonstration of His faithfulness, righteousness, judgment and character. For those who have this faith and assurance upon His Word; the wielding of the Axe performs the necessary work of pruning the excess, the fat, the vanities and the things that do not profit anything. These things are removed and taken away but the one who is planted in the Word of God who abides in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savour will remain in Him for all eternity.
Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. (9)
The Axe for those who have faith is simply the refining fire so that their faith may be even more bold and refined in their trust in God. As it happened to Job. The more his accusers who were his close friends would condemn him for all his loss and humiliation. The more assertive he was in confessing; for I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!(10)
The faith of Job became more defined because he perceived and understood the faithfulness and goodness of God and with this pure heart, faith was revealed when he finally encountered God and gained even more understanding and revelations of the magnificence of God.
“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. (11)
He saw the end of his faith the faithfulness of God and His righteousness (12). His righteous judgment, mercy and kindness. So when we bear fruits, the fruits that come from the Spirit of God, the Word of God; when we encounter the Axe we become pruned and refined in our faith. When we are not able to. When we do not hold onto the righteousness, judgements and goodness of God; the darkness and the light are both alike to You (13). When we allow the Axe to cause us to become shipwrecked, losing the faith because of an evil conscience, malice, resentment, hypocrisy and hopelessness because of our losses. This becomes the Axe that removes that tree that was not able to bear fruits of the Spirit of God. The Spirit that brings to light the darkness. That tree that was not able to understand the good and perfect will of God. That did not perceive the righteousness of God in His judgements like Job was able to in his perseverance waiting on the Lord and His faithfulness. His righteousness.
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. (14)
So the key to overcome the Axe; to remain and not be removed as a tree that does not bear fruit is Faith. Not any faith. Not religion... but Faith in the one true God, in the Promised Seed, the Son of God. The Lord Jesus Christ. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing (9). Faith and a good conscience towards God by respecting His guidance and advice unlike the events of the Garden. As well as the good conscience towards those around us. Those who will be used as an Axe to cut us off by their offences like the friends of Job (15). Job overcame the losses and he overcame the shame because of his Faith in God. So that he was able to bear witness and experience the faithfulness and goodness of God.
This faithfulness and goodness sometimes may not always be revealed or even experienced in this life as it happened to Job. It may be reaped only in the life to come as it happened to Lazarus who also kept the Faith and a good conscience towards God and man. So that his reward came only at his death. Enduring and dying as filthy, vile and despised poor, weak beggar but full of faith and trust in the God of his Salvation so that until today he rests in the bosom of Abraham (16) the father of Faith.
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