Fruit|Tree Top Ministries, Inc

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Main Topic: Fruit

Fruit

Author: M. Nicholas Brady

Published: 10/11/2021

Greetings to Everyone,
The Bible talks a great deal about fruit. The first sin took place with fruit as an accessory (Gen. 3:6). The first murder took place with fruits as part of its plot (Gen. 4:3). The Bible is always talking about figs, grapes, pomegranates, olives, dates, orchards, the fruit of the vine, fruit of the ground, first fruits, etc. Fruit is used in the Bible as an object, the physical fruit (Num. 13:27). Fruit is used as a reward ( Jer. 31:5). Fruit is used to illustrate spiritual principles (Mark 13:28-32). Fruit will be significant in the Millennial Kingdom (Ez. 47:12). Fruit will be used in the new Eden as a monthly harvest from the tree of life (Rev. 22:2). Then there is the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23). I find the use of fruit in the Bible to be extremely interesting - worthy of a lengthy Bible study.

Fruit has other functions in the Bible. One of those functions is as a measure of Truth.

Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.
Matthew 7:15-20 NLT

We are often taught in Christian circles not to judge other people. This teaching comes from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus taught us not to judge. He was talking about judging people's hearts. (Matthew 7:1-5). However, the Bible tells us that we should be judging just about everything else: teachings, doctrine, lyrics, people, and activities. It is our responsibility to evaluate these things to determine whether or not they are in alignment with the Truth.

That's not a reason to take on a weekly attack against your pastor or your Sunday school teacher. It is a reason to listen carefully to what they say and to do your due diligence in the privacy of your home in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Pastors and Sunday school teachers are human too. They make errors; they make lots of mistakes. We should be looking at the heart and intent (the spirit) of their teaching closely. Pastors and Sunday school teachers need our support, not our criticism.

John urges us strongly to judge the words and actions of spiritual things:

Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.
1 John 4:1 NLT

How do we determine whether or not a teaching or a ministry is from God unless we evaluate (judge) the message?

The Berean's in the book of Acts were applauded for their judging of Paul's message:

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Acts 17:11 NIV

Our world is crowded with false prophets and false teaching. It can be challenging to find the truth, and getting lost in hyperbole is very easy.

There is a Bible teacher who claims to have the gift of prophecy who put out a whole series of prophecies that did not happen. Today, he is giving seminars teaching other people how to prophesy.
There is a healer out there who goes around healing people. He prays in the name of Jesus. Often, the condition is only partially healed. Then he prays again, and the condition is entirely cured. What's more, the "victim" is put under a great deal of pressure to state their healing happened whether it did or did not. These shenanigans are not the work of God.

I could go on. In writing this blog, these two came to mind.

Now the underlying substance of this blog is not about judging; it is about fruit. The litmus test for discerning teaching, actions, and ministries is in the fruit! The quality of the fruit is based upon the condition of the tree.

Fruit means that the tree is producing. Here are the fruits of a good tree:

The tree produces people who honor and worship God with their actions, lifestyles, time, talents, and possessions.
The tree produces Believers who accept Jesus as their personal Savior and experience a life-changing transformation because of it.
The tree is producing people who are active in caring for the needs of widows, orphans, the homeless, the indigent, the sick, and those in prison.
The tree is producing people who exhibit the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control, mercy, and holiness.

Fruit is not a matter of metrics. It's not the number of fruit that is produced, but the quality of the fruit produced.

If the tree is producing people who need an emotional experience or people who need to see the dramatic or the miraculous, or people who need to "feel the presence of God," then this is not a tree from God at all!

Final Thoughts
In my final thoughts, I would suggest that we begin this awareness by looking inward at our own fruits before we start to look at the fruits of others. I became painfully aware of my own lack of fruit this week. I love to share the Gospel, and I have no qualms about doing so. However, I noticed this week that it had been some time since I produced any fruit, which prompted this week's blog. I know that my books and this website have impacted people's lives, but that is primarily indirect and unknowable. It's not the same as direct interaction.

If this is the first time you've been here, I will point out to you that in all of my teachings about Christian Living, I teach based upon the idea that we are to yield to the direction of the Holy Spirit. Fruit is not a function of our efforts but the work of the Holy Spirit through us. It is not "our" fruit but the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Every day I pray and ask God to fill me with a new anointing of the Holy Spirit and create opportunities for the Holy Spirit to work in my life. Yet, I seem to have hit a lull in the Holy Spirit's use of this empty vessel.

I do not see this as some kind of failure or the result of some unconfessed sin dogma. As my best friend, Bob, pointed out when we discussed this, the Lord is preparing me for a new journey, a different adventure.

I agreed with him, and I'm kind of excited about it!

God Bless!
Mark

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