WHAT KIND OF FRUIT ARE YOU BEARING
By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
INTRODUCTION:
My first two years of high school my Dad pastored a church in Jellico, Tennessee.
I loved Jellico so much.
The Garden Club was offering a $50 prize to the prettiest yard in Jellico.
My Dad decided the church parsonage should be the prettiest yard in town.
He borrowed a rotto-tiller, my older brother and I worked many hours tilling the soil in front of the hedges
and we made 3 large circles in the yard. We tilled until we blistered our hands.
We took the hoes and worked the soil and fertilized it with great care.
An old man named Isom Sharp gave my Dad the seed: SCARLET SAGE...
It would grow to be tall and have the most beautiful bright red blooms.
We watered our project every other day.
Dad would stand and watch us hoe and boast, "BOYS WE ARE WINNING THE PRIZE THIS YEAR!"
The plants started growing and pushing out of the soil, we were so proud.
One day our neighbor, BANNER TODD came over to observe our labor of love.
Banner said: "THAT AIN'T SCARLET SAGE, THAT IS TURNIP GREENS!"
Well, we did not win the coveted prize, we did not sow SCARLET SAGE, we planted good old TURNIP
GREENS. The story is not all lost, we took greens to our neighbors, to church and to anyone that wanted
them. We had turnips to eat way up in the winter months.
THE MORAL OF THE STORY: DON'T PLANT TURNIPS IF YOU WANT RED FLOWERS...
The deeds we do,
The words we say,
Into the air they seem to flee... unknown
We count them ever past;
But my friend, they shall last...
A fool measures the fruit as they are reaping, they can never see the end...
A wise man calculates the measure of fruit before he plants... he looks to the action and
leaves the end product to God.
I. MANY WANT TO TALK ABOUT HOW OTHERS TEND TO JUDGE...
THEY REFUSE TO LOOOK AT THE BIGGER PICTURER...
JUDGMENT IS A TERRIBLE BOOMERANG...
THE REAL ISSUE IS: ARE YOU READY?
A. Perhaps the word of God makes a suggestion about JUDGMENT...
IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE BEING JUDGED BY OTHERS, YOU MIGHT WANT TO WEIGH THE
ISSUE OF HOW YOU JUDGE OTHERS.
B. One of the most judgmental people I ever knew TASTED THE BOOMERANG...
I HEARD MORE PEOPLE TALK ABOUT HER? PONDER THAT ONE?
Matthew 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
[2] For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you again.
[3] And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that
is in thine own eye?
[4] Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam
is in thine own eye?
[5] Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast
out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
There is a hinge where JUDGMENT SWINGS, your judgment will swing on the hinge of
FORGIVENESS...
Luke 6:37 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned:
forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
C. Your own mouth will be the TATTLETAIL
Luke 19:22 And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant.
Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow:
D. GOD SOMETIMES DOES HIS GREATEST WORKS BY SOME OOF HIS WEAKEST VESSELS?
1 Cor. 1:27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
E. LOOK AT ANOTHER MAN'S SERVANT?
Romans 14:4 Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth.
Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.
II. WHAT WILL YOU KNOW?
WHILE ONE IS FORBIDDEN TO JUDGE PEOPLE, THE BIBLE MAKES KNOWING VERY CLEAR...
A. WE WILL KNOW BY THE LOVE THAT IS DEMONSTRATED...
1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.
He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
B. TOMATO PLANT, DON'T TELL ME YOU ARE AN APPLE TREE...
YOU WILL BE KNOWN BY THE FRUIT YOU BEAR...
Luke 6:44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a
bramble bush gather they grapes.
[45] A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil
man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the
heart his mouth speaketh.
III. IN THE BIBLE THE HEBREW PEOPLE HAD SEVERAL KINDS OF FRUIT...
1. DAGAN... (Hebrew) fruit of the field....
2. TIROSH... fruit of the vine
3. YITSHAR... fruit from an orchard...
4. SPIRITUAL FRUIT... fruit of the spirit...
5. CHILDREN OR OFFSPRINNG
IV. SEVERAL PROPHETS AND MEN OF GOD HAD A VISION OF FRUIT...
A. AMOS WAS A MAN OF GOD, HE SAW THE FRUIT...
Amos 8:1 Thus hath the Lord God shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit.
[2] And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the Lord unto
me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more.
[3] And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be many
dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence.
[4] Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail,
B. AMOS SAW THE FRUIT FAIL...
V. TO BEAR FRUIT ONE MUST DIE TO SELF...
John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
VI. WE ARE ORDAINED TO BEAR FRUIT... WE CAN NOT AFFORD TO BE SPIRITUAL STUNNED
AND SPIRITUAL DWARFED
Luke 3:8 Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves,
We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up
children unto Abraham.
Luke 8:15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the
word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
VII. THERE A DEGREES OF BEARING SPIRITUAL FRUIT...
A. THERE ARE DEGREES OF FRUIT BEARING...
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.
John 15:5 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.
John 15:8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
1. NO FRUIT
2. FRUIT
3. MORE FRUIT
4. MUCH FRUIT, MUCH FRUIT ... MENTIONED 2X'S...
SHOT FOR THE GOAL OF MUCH FRUIT...
B. THERE IS ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING THE DEGREES OOF FRUITFULNESS...
30--- 60--- 100---
Mark 4:20 And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it,
and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
C. WHY DO SOME BEAR 30? SOME 60? AND SOME BEAR 100?
VIII. THERE IS A CURSE BARRENESS... TO A LEAVES ONLY TREE...
YOU DETERMINE THE SIZE OF THE HARVEST...
Matthew 21:19 And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon,
but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently
the fig tree withered away.
2 Cor. 9:6 But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which
soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
IX. THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF TREES... FIRE WOOD TREES VS FRUIT TREES...
MAYBE A LEAVES ONLY TREE NEEDS ANOTHER CHANCE?
A. EVERY FRUIT HAS WITHIN IT A BLUE PRINT OF GROWTH FOR THE NEXT GENERATION.
THIS BLUEPRINT IS CALLED A SEED...
TREES FALL INTO ONE OF TWO CATEGORIES... FIRE... FRUIT...
Matthew 3:10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which
bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
B. MAYBE ALL THE FRUIT TREE NEEDS IS ANOTHER CHANCE.
Luke 13:8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig
about it, and dung it:
[9] And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.
C. MAY THE TREE NEEDS A SHAKING...
A FRUIT TREE CAN BBECOME ROOT BOUND...
A Fruit tree that is root bound will not produce any fruit...
The owner of the orchard will bore a small hole and place a small explosive at the tree's roots.
This will shake the tree, and it will once again produce.
X. MANY ARE ALIENATEDFROM GOD AND THEIR FRUIT PRODUCES BITTER JAMS...
WE MUST PRAY... THERE IS FRUIT, ABUNDANT FRUIT, WE NEED FAITHFUL WORKERS...
THEN PRAY FOR A FRUIT TO REMAIN...
Matthew 9: [37] Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
[38] Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
A. I HAD A DREAM ONE TIME:
I saw a large harvest field. The harvest had turned BROWN and seemed to wither away...
I saw a huge rake standing in the corner of the field.
I heard: PICK UP THE RAKE AND WORK...
I grabbed the rake and began raking the field...
It was like a miracle as I raked the BROWN HARVEST TURNED TO A BEAUTIFUL GREEN...
I worked long and hard on the BROWN DRY FIELD...
EVERY PLACE I RAKED TURNED GREEN... growing, vibrant, thriving green.
As I got past the middle of the field, half was green and half was brown.
Then I NOTICED SOMETHING THAT MADE ME CRY...
WHERE I HAD RAKED AND TURNED GREEN STARTED SLOWLY TURNING TAN AND THEN
TO BROWN.... I PONDERED DO I STOP RAKING THE REST OF THE FIELD AND RETURN?
I DID... IT RETURNED TO GREEN, BUT THE REST OF THE FIELD WAS NOW DYING BROWN...
I tried running back and forth, I was frantic, GOD I NEED HELP... GOD, I NEED HELP...
I COULD NOT GREEN THE WHOLE FIELD BY MYSELF...
B. I woke up crying, the field had to be raked.
I prayed for the workers that were tired and burned out from raking.
I prayed for more new workers to arise and grab the rakes.
I prayed for WISDOM --- TEACHERS --- TRAINERS TO DISCIPLINE WORKERS TO RAKE WITH
THE WORD AND DO GOD'S WORK.
I OFTEN THINK OF THIS DREAM, I HAVE FAILLED MISERABLY.
John 15:16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and
bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my
name, he may give it you.
BROWN BAG OF CORN SEED...
MY DAD PASTORED A CHURCH AT BETHEL, OHIO, I WAS IN THE 6TH GRADE...
We lived in a trailer behind the church and we always raised a large garden.
My Dad had drawn off several rows to plant the corn seed, when he received an emergency call,
and Dad rushed to the hospital. Dad had shown me how to lay off the rows and plant the seed.
So he entrusted the seed to my hands. I planted his rows and there were many more seeds left.
So I made another row and planted it.
The seeds seemed to multiply, the more I planted, seemed like the more there was to plant.
I finished my 3rd row and Lord knows how tired I was after going to school and everything.
I looked over my shoulder and Mom was in the house, so I took the hoe and in the soft ground I dug a
hole and threw the brown paper bag of corn seeds in the hole. I then buried that brown bag with great
care. I went in and started watching TV.
Dad came home and we discussed the garden.
I put my shoulders back and said: DAD, I MADE 3 MORE ROWS AND ALL THE CORN SEED IS IN
THE GROUND.
Dad said, Son, that should have made 10 or 15 rows?
I explained I planted every seed?
Two weeks later Dad came in the trailer and did the clean and jerk on me.
My feet were dandling in the air. I said: WHAT'S WRONG DAD?
He said: YOU KNOW WHAT'S WRONG?
No, I didn't have any idea?
Dad jerked me out to the garden, and there was a TERRIBLE TESTIMONY OF MY LAZINESS.
IT SEEMED LIKE 10 MILLION LITTLE CORN PLANTS WERE GROWING FROM THE SPOT
WHERE I BURIED THEM...
Dad said: SON, I AM DISAPPOINTED IN YOU. THAT CORN WOULD HAVE GROWN, YOUR MOM
WOULD HAVE CANNED IT AND WE COULD HAVE ATE IT ALL WINTER.
DAD SAID: SON, IF OUR FAMILY STARVES TO DEATH THIS WINTER IT IS YOUR FAULT!
Several times that summer I stood in our garden and prayed a little boy prayer: PLEASE GOD,
DON'T LET THE HUGHES FAMILY DIE THIS YEAR BECAUSE I WAS LAZY.
Well, God heard my prayer, 45 years later we are all alive but Mom.
I never realized the SEED WOULD BE OUR FOOD WHEN THE SNOW WAS ON THE GROUND.
Today, I want to raise much fruit for the CROSS...
His servant, Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com
Pass it on? Enlarge my reach?
