The Importance of Bearing Fruit (Part 3)

By Tony V. Hammack

These notes are best when used in conjunction with the audio or video. To listen to the audio (podcast), click here.


Abiding in Christ
Introduction
Fruit is the part of a plant that produces food and seed.
1. Food symbolizing the sweet flavor of a changed personality, conformed into Christ’s image. (Galatians 5:22,23)
2. Seed symbolizing an effort to share God’s message and life to a lost and hopeless world. (Matthew 13:1-23)


Food
Galatians 5:22,23
The Fruits of the Spirit, which show a changed personality are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
These fruits, when being expressed in the life of a believer, give us what we need to be able to scatter seed. It also makes us resemble Christ’s character and is good for us and others.

Seed
Matthew 13:1-23
The success of the sower in this parable is based completely on the condition of the hearer’s heart.
Path – Lack Understanding
Rocky Soil – People receive the Word with joy but when testing comes they fall away.
Thorns – Worries and anxieties of life, deceitfulness of wealth, choke out the Word
Good Soil – This person hears and understands producing a crop 30 60 or 100 x’s what was sown.
Here success is attributed to the wise
Proverbs 11:30 (Amplified)
The fruit of the [uncompromisingly] righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise captures human lives [for God, as a fisher of men--he gathers and receives them for eternity].


Outline
I.   Fruit production is very important to God
II.  Fruit production for the believer begins with personal holiness.
III. Abiding in Christ is a key to fruit production

III. Abiding in Christ is a Key to Fruit Production

John 15:1-8
A.  There are false vines, Jesus is the True Vine.
B.  God the Father is the Gardener
C.  We are to stay in Jesus just like he stays in us.
D.  In the same way a branch cannot bear fruit by itself we can’t bear fruit unless we remain in the vine (Jesus)
E.  Abiding in Christ is a key to seeing our prayers answered.
F.  Being fruitful is one way we show ourselves to be his disciples.
G.  Our fruit is to last and we are to love each other.

A.  There are false vines, Jesus is the true vine.
People have a decision to make where they are going to receive a flow of life.

1. Worldly possessions
2. False Prophets
3. Affirmation of people
4. Various accomplishments
5. The Lord Himself

A word about the emotionally needy.


B. God the Father is the Gardener
He cuts off the fruitless
He prunes / cleans the fruitful so they are even more fruitful.

The Greek for he prunes also means he cleans. Jesus declared the disciples clean because of the word he had spoken to them. v. 3

The Word of God has a component to it that cleans hearts.
Psalm 119:11
11 I have hidden your word in my heart    that I might not sin against you.
Ephesians 5:25-27
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.


C.  We are to stay in Jesus just like he stays in us
Our commitment to Jesus should be like his commitment to us.
Our love for Jesus should be like his love for us.
It’s pictured by a marriage. Not breakable until death. Jesus would never divorce you therefore you shouldn’t divorce him.

D. In the same way a branch cannot bear fruit by itself we can’t bear fruit unless we remain in the vine.
1. This illustrates how we must abide and remain in Christ.

E. Abiding in Christ is a key to seeing our prayers answered.

1. When we abide in Him we’ll pray his will.
2. 1 John 5:14,15  14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
3. This truth should be a faith builder, giving the person of prayer tremendous confidence and persistence.
4. James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
5. Persistence – The Parable of the Persistent widow. Luke 18:1-8

F. Being fruitful is one way we show ourselves to be his disciples.
A disciple is a student who follows. If Jesus was fruitful and raised up disciples his disciples should be like him and do the same thing.
Loving is another way we show ourselves to be his disciples.

John 13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Being fruitful is a way to show love. Sacrificing our identity and life for another is a very high kind of sacrificial love. (The first time I was “Nate’s Dad”)
John 12:24
Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.

G.  Our fruit is to last and we are to love one another.
The way fruit lasts is that it also bears fruit. Your spiritual offspring raising up spiritual offspring. Having spiritual sons and daughters is great but what about spiritual grand children?
What makes this happen is dying to ourselves and loving someone else, sharing with them, equipping them, serving them until they are prepared to do the same.

It all starts with someone making a decision to follow Jesus.

If you'd like to learn more about becoming a Christian please click here and watch all four videos on the page. Visit with us at Jubilee Family Church this Sunday at 10:15 AM Central Standard Time U.S.A. or Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM Central Standard Time U.S.A. or via internet video on Jubilee T.V.

If you live in Batesville please tune into KCCJ - 106.9 FM to listen to contemporary worship music.


Jubilee Family Church
45 Thunderbird Dr.
Batesville, AR 72501

(870) 793-9124

View Larger Map

The Importance of Bearing Fruit (Part 2)

By Tony V. Hammack

These notes are best when used in conjunction with the audio or video. To listen to the audio (podcast), click here. To watch the video, click here.

Introduction
Fruit is the part of a plant that produces food and seed.
     1. Food symbolizing the sweet flavor of a changed personality, conformed into Christ’s image. (Galatians 5:22,23)
     2. Seed symbolizing an effort to share God’s message and life to a lost and hopeless world. (Matthew 13:1-23)

Food
The Fruits of the Spirit, which show a changed personality are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
These fruits, when being expressed in the life of a believer, give us what we need to be able to scatter seed. It also makes us resemble Christ’s character and is good for us and others.

Seed
Matthew 13:1-23
The success of the sower in this parable is based completely on the condition of the hearer’s heart.
Path – Lack Understanding
Rocky Soil – People receive the Word with joy but when testing comes they fall away.
Thorns – Worries and anxieties of life, deceitfulness of wealth, choke out the Word
Good Soil – This person hears and understands producing a crop 30 60 or 100 x’s what was sown.
Here success is attributed to the wise

Proverbs 11:30 (Amplified)

The fruit of the [uncompromisingly] righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise captures human lives [for God, as a fisher of men--he gathers and receives them for eternity].

Outline
I.     Fruit production is very important to God
II.    Fruit production for the believer begins with personal holiness.
III.  Abiding in Christ is a key to fruit production
IV.  Two ways you’ll know you are fruitful


II.   Fruit Production for the believer begins with personal holiness.
   A.  What is holiness?
   B.  Holiness, the fruit of the faith walk
   C.  Self righteousness = No grace
   D.  Grace is for the humble
   E.  Repentance is the foundation for the Kingdom to be fruitful.
         1.  Godly Sorrow
   F.  Instruments for special purposes
   G.  Walk in the Spirit


A. What is Holiness?
Holiness- Being set apart from the World, The Enemy, and the Flesh and being set apart to the Lord.

So when we’re talking about holiness we’re talking about being set apart from something and then being set toward something else.

B. Holiness, the Fruit of the Faith Walk
I believe it’s impossible for a Christian person to be set apart from sin w/o being set in faith to the Lord.

The Lord has available for the believer the grace and power to overcome the sinful nature.
Discipline can’t do it alone, determination can’t do it alone, devotion can’t do it alone. (Colossians 2:23) It requires surrender (humility) to the Lord allowing his grace to flow.

C. Self righteousness = No Grace
Amazing as it may sound sometimes our effort to be holy can frustrate God’s grace.
Galatians 2:21
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (NIV)
I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. (KJV)

Mercy forgives after the infraction and places the person back on track.
Grace empowers the believer to not sin in the first place keeping them on the right track.

Colossians 2:6
6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,

The same faith that saves you is the same faith that sanctifies you.
We get into trouble as Christians when we in our hearts tell God, “I’ll take it from here.” the clock starts ticking on a moral failure when we take over our own sanctification. The decision to do this is rooted in pride.

D. Grace is for the Humble
James 4:6b-7
“God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”(Pr. 3:34)7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Titus 2:11,12
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,

E. Repentance is the foundation for the Kingdom to be fruitful.
Matthew 3:1-3
1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:   “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord,    make straight paths for him.’”

What prepares the way for the Lord is a repentant heart. A holy heart can receive the kingdom. This kingdom get’s established in the hearts of men. A heart filled with corruption will fight against the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Psalm 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

• 1. Godly Sorrow - The first step to receiving the kingdom of heaven is feeling sorry for sin. This Godly sorrow (2 Cor. 7:10) leads to repentance which ultimately provides a fertile place for the seed of God’s word to grow and develop in the heart of a Christian.

When we come to God we must not be confident in our own righteousness but admit that we are lost without his mercy and grace. (Luke 18:9-14) For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

F. Instruments for special purposes.
2 Timothy 2:20-21  In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for special purposes and some for common use. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

The large house symbolizes the size of the human soul. Large with many compartments and rooms. The soulish realm of a human consists of his/her

• Mind
• Will
• Emotions

The articles in the house have two different purposes.

1. Special Purposes
2. Common Use

This passage reminds me of my mother breaking out the sterling silver and the china for special occasions.

The passage says that if a man will cleanse himself of the latter. Meaning if a man will remove from his/her soulish realm the things that are common, earthly, and sinful, he’ll be ready for special purposes, special missions and special works.

This cleansing of the latter things, (wood and clay) will make a believer an instrument for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

You can’t read your Bible enough, pray enough or do enough good works to “stay holy”. These disciplines are great if there’s a flow of God in them. However if you are doing them under the law their will be little if any flow of God empowering you to live according to God's moral law.

G. Walk in the Spirit
Galatians 5:16-18
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

When we walk in the spirit, we’re walking in faith receiving a flow of power from heaven to think differently, have a heavenly attitude and behave differently. We must humbly receive God’s grace if we’re to walk in true holiness. Obeying God’s moral law but not coming under the yolk of trying to obey His law by the law. We obey by the spirit.

Conclusion:

Philippians 3:16
¹⁶ Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

If you'd like to learn more about becoming a Christian please click here and watch all four videos on the page.

Visit with us at Jubilee Family Church this Sunday at 10:15 AM Central Standard Time U.S.A. or Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM Central Standard Time U.S.A. or via internet video on Jubilee T.V.

Please tune into KCCJ - 106.9 FM to listen to contemporary worship music.  Jubilee Family Church's FM radio station.


Jubilee Family Church
45 Thunderbird Dr.
Batesville, AR 72501


(870) 793-9124


View Larger Map

The Importance of Bearing Fruit

By Tony V. Hammack




These notes are best when used in conjunction with the audio or video. To listen to the audio (podcast), click here. To watch the video, click here.

Introduction
Fruit is the part of a plant that produces food and seed.
   1. Food symbolizing the sweet flavor of a changed personality, conformed into Christ’s image. (Galatians 5:22,23)
   2. Seed symbolizing an effort to share God’s message and life to a lost and hopeless world. (Matthew 13:1-23)


Food
The Fruits of the Spirit, which show a changed personality are love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
These fruits, when being expressed in the life of a believer, give us what we need to be able to scatter seed. It also makes us resemble Christ’s character and is good for us and others.

Seed
Matthew 13:1-23
The success of the sower in this parable is based completely on the condition of the hearer’s heart.

• Path – Lack Understanding
• Rocky Soil – People receive the Word with joy but when testing comes they fall away.
• Thorns – Worries and anxieties of life, deceitfulness of wealth, choke out the Word
• Good Soil – This person hears and understands producing a crop 30 60 or 100 x’s what was sown.

Here success is attributed to the wise.
Proverbs 11:30 (Amplified)
The fruit of the [uncompromisingly] righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise captures human lives [for God, as a fisher of men--he gathers and receives them for eternity].

Outline
I.    Fruit production is very important to God
II.   Fruit production for the believer begins with personal holiness.
III.  Abiding in Christ is a key to fruit production
IV.  Two ways you’ll know you are fruitful


I.  Fruit Production is Very Important to God
   A.  Dominion Mandate (Genesis 1:28)
   B.  The Parable of the Fruitless Tenants (Matthew 21:33-46)
   C.  Gentiles grafted in (Romans 11:17-21)
   D.  A Fruitless Tree (Matthew 21:19)
   E.  There’s Urgency to Produce (Luke 13:6-9)

A. Dominion Mandate
We’ve been given a mandate from God to be fruitful and multiply

• Genesis 1:28
• Genesis 9:1
• Isaiah 54:1-3
• Mathew 28:19

B. The Parable of the Fruitless Tenants
Matthew 21:33-46
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34 When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. 35 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way.  37 Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. 38 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39 So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.” 42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? 43 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44 Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.” 45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46 They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

1. God is the landowner who planted a “vineyard”. He rented it to men and expected them to work in his vineyard producing fruit. The story is silent as to whether or not the tenants did in fact do any farming. Come harvest time he sends his servants to collect his fruit. (v. 33-34)

2. However it’s very clear that when the owner sends “his servants” to get the fruit the tenants don’t cooperate.
     a. tenants seize, beat, kill and stone them.
     b. The tenants treat more servants who are sent the same way.
     c. Last of all the owner sent his son saying, “They will Respect my Son.” (v. 35-37)

3. The tenants reason in their minds that the son is the heir so if they kill him they will steal his inheritance. So they kill him. (v. 38-39)

4. Jesus gets the very perpetrators of the crime to pronounce their own judgment.
     a. The tenants lives will be ended.
     b. The vineyard will then be rented to other tenants who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time. (v. 40-41)

5. Jesus then refers the Chief priests and the elders of the people to reflect on (Psalm 118:22,23)

The cornerstone (or foundation stone) concept is derived from the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation, important since all other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure.

Jesus is the stone that was rejected by the builders.

6. Because of the inability of the chief priests Pharisees and elders of the people (v. 23,45) to produce fruit, the kingdom of God is taken away from them and given to people who can produce fruit. (v. 43)

7. If we fall on this stone (in faith and humility) we will be broken to pieces, but if the stone falls on us (in judgment) we will be crushed. (v. 44)

Bow now or bow later

Philippians 2:9-11

• 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

8. The parables (The Parable of the Two Sons and The Parable of the Tenants) are directed to the chief priests and the Pharisees. They knew the parables were referring to them. Their anger led them to want to arrest Jesus but they didn’t because the people held that he was a prophet. They loved the praise of men.

C. Gentiles Grafted In
Romans 11:17-21
17 If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you.  19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” 20 Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.

   1. Unbelieving Jews are broken off from God.
   2. Because of the Jews unbelief the way has opened up for the gentiles to be grafted into the life flow of God through faith.
   3. Gentiles are to have a humble view of themselves realizing that if God broke of the natural branches he can also break them off. (v. 21)

D. A Fruitless Tree
Matthew 21:19
Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
John 15:6
If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

E. There’s Urgency to Produce
Luke 13:6-9
6 Then he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
8 “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”

If you'd like to learn more about becoming a Christian please click here and watch all four videos on the page. Visit with us at Jubilee Family Church this Sunday at 10:15 AM Central Standard Time U.S.A. or Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM Central Standard Time U.S.A. or via internet video on Jubilee T.V.

If you live in Batesville please tune into KCCJ - 106.9 FM to listen to contemporary worship music.


Jubilee Family Church
45 Thunderbird Dr.
Batesville, AR 72501


(870) 793-9124

View Larger Map

Cruizin' with Pastor Tony (Feb. 8th 2011)

Click Here to watch me talk about discipleship and the fullness of Christ

If you'd like to learn more about becoming a Christian please click here and watch all four videos on the page.
Visit with us at Jubilee Family Church this Sunday at 10:15 AM Central Standard Time U.S.A. or Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM Central Standard Time U.S.A. or via internet video on Jubilee T.V.
If you live in Batesville please tune into KCCJ - 106.9 FM to listen to contemporary worship music.

Jubilee Family Church
45 Thunderbird Dr.
Batesville, AR 72501

(870) 793-9124

View Larger Map

Cruizin' with Pastor Tony - Forgiveness

Enjoy this weeks "Cruizin' with PT" as I discuss the new world wide internet radio station www.kccjfm.org 106.9 LPFM as well as discussing the subject of forgiveness and bitterness.



If you'd like to learn more about becoming a Christian please click here and watch all four videos on the page. Visit with us at Jubilee Family Church this Sunday at 10:15 AM Central Standard Time U.S.A. or Wednesday evening at 6:30 PM Central Standard Time U.S.A. or via internet video on Jubilee T.V. If you live in Batesville please tune into KCCJ - 106.9 FM to listen to contemporary worship music.
Jubilee Family Church 45 Thunderbird Dr. Batesville, AR 72501
(870) 793-9124

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