What Kind Of Fruit Are You Bearing?

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