Are You a Fruit Bearer?

Fruit is commanded: Matthew 3:8
I. But many are Unfruitful
A. Divine judgement is promised to the UnfruitfulMatthew 3:10Y@every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.@


B. Matthew 13:10Y@Worldliness is a cause of Unfruitfulness AYhe who hears the Word but the cares of the world and the pleasure and delight and glamour and deceitfulness of riches choke and suffocate the Word and it yields no fruit.


C. Unfruitfulness is a disappointment to the Master Aa certain man had a fig tree planted in His vineyard and He came looking for fruit on it, but He did not find [any}


D. Parable of the talents Y Failure to invest life=s resourcesY ALord, here is your mina, which I have kept laid up in a handkerchief.@


E. Unfruitfulness ends in final rejection. Hebrews 6:8 ABut if {that same soil} persistently bears thorns and thistles, it is considered worthless and near to being cursed, whose end is to be burned.@

II. We see much sinful fruit:
Bitter..Deut. 32:32, Heb. 12:15
Natural ..Isaiah 5:2
Selfish..Hosea 10:1
Fleshly..Gal. 5:19-21
Deceit..Hosea 10:8
Corrupt..Matt.7:17

James 3:14

III. Fruit bearing "good tree good fruit" Matt 7:17
*fruit is produced in all periods of life Psa. 92
*Perenial=re-occuring, re-newing, evergreen,
constantly going onYendless cycles Ezekial 47:12
*Grown on good ground Matt. 13:8

Another seeds fell on good soil and yielded grain
some 100 times as much as was sown, some 60
as much and some thirty.
*Many varieties of fruit Gal. 5:22-23
*Fruit without defect Ephesians 5:9
the fruit (the effect, the product) of the Light
[consists] in every form of kindly goodness,
uprightness of heart and trueness of life.
Phil.1:11 May you depend in and be filled with the
fruits of righteousness (of right standing with God
and right doing) which come thru= Jesus ChristC
purpose that His glory may be both manifested
and recognized.

IV. What can you DO to assure that you will bear Godly
fruit? Absolutely nothing!! You can DO nothing!
You can BE!!!

What are the conditions of fruit bearing?
A. Contact with living water
Psa. 1:3 like a tree planted and tended
1. Living water issuing from God=s house.
Ezekial 47:1 AYdoor of the house [of the Lord] and
behold waters issued out from under the threshold
of the temple toward the east
2. Unaffected by time and season
Zec. 14:8 Aand it shall be in that day that living
waters shall go out from Jerusalem in summer
and winter shall it be.
3. Christ the Source of
John 4:10 Jesus speaking to the Samaritan woman:
you would have asked Him (instead) and He
would have given you living water.
v.14 But whoever takes a drink of the water that
I will give him shall never, no never, be thirsty
anymore. But the water that I give him shall
become a spring of water welling up (flowing,
bubbling, [continually] within him unto (into, for)
eternal life.
4. Satisfies the deepest needs: John 7:37-38
Jesus cried out in a loud voice, If any man is
thirsty, let him come to Me and drink!
He who believes in Me [who cleaves to and trusts
in and relies on Me] as the Scriptures said, From
his innermost being shall flow [continuously]
springs and rivers of living water.
5. The Supply is inexhaustible: Rev. 7:16-17
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any
more, Y For the LambYwill be their Shepherd
and He will guide them to the springs of lifeY@
6. Makes life fruitful: Rev. 22:1-2
7. There is a universal call to partake of the living
waters.

B. Condition: Spiritual Receptivity Matt. 13:23 AAs
for what was sown on good soil, this is he who

C. Condition: Death to old life patterns John 12:24
Reckoning yourself dead to sin

D. Condition: Chastening and Pruning received
John 15:2, Hebrews 12:11 Ano discipline joyous,
but grievious peaceful fruit of righteousness to
those who are trained by it.

E. Condition: Abiding in Christ John 15:5 bears much fruit

V. James 3:17-18 Seek true wisdom

CONCLUSION: Would the Lord have you to be a fruitful vine? Absolutely!
Can you DO anything to produce fruit? Absolutely NOT!!
--ONLY HE CAN produce fruit!

As we yield to Him workmanship, our lives will be AChrist in me, the hope of glory@ AND Christ through me expressed with the fruit of the Spirit.

Gal. 5:22-23 But the fruit of the (Holy) Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peach, patience (an even temper forbearance) kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].
v.24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless nature) with its passions and appetites and desires.
v.25 If we live by the [holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit [If by the Holy Sprit we have our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by the Spirit.]