"Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn" (Matt. 13:30).

     The end has come; the seed has been planted; it has grown to maturity; it is time to reap the harvest and gather the wheat into the barn.

     "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.  And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe" (Rev. 14:14-15).

     There is a time coming when our Master Gardener will want to harvest the crop that He has planted.  There are many plants that look very much alike and it is very hard to tell them apart; it requires an all-seeing, and all knowing person; such is our Master Gardener.     There have been some tares growing in His garden and He has left them until He comes.  They are not His seed, but the seed of the devil.  They shall be burned in the fire (Matt. 13:37-40).

     Dear reader, I plead with you as you come to the end of these writings on "The Master Gardener and His Garden" to listen to the warnings of your Gardener.  He says that if you are His seed, planted in good ground, you will hear His words, and understand them, and because you do, you will bear fruit - His fruit (Matt. 13:23).  

     There are four types of fruit that Christians bear, but we all must bear the first type if we want to believe that we have really become Christians according to God's word.  

     The first type is called "the firstfruits of the Spirit" (Rom. 8:23).  It is what God gives and produces in us when we first come out of darkness into His light (Eph. 5:8).  He gives repentance (Acts 11:18), faith (Rom. 12:3, Eph. 2:8), hope, (Rom. 15:13, Col. 1:27), peace, joy, and love (Rom. 5:1-5). 

     The second is the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23). 

     The third is the fruit of the lips - praising and thanking God continually, in all things and for all things with joy in our hearts (Heb. 13:15, I Th. 5:18, Eph. 5:20). 

     The fourth is the fruit of the righteous.  "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise" (Prov. 11:30).  God's plants produce others in His time.

     All this fruit begins growing and forming from the first day that one hears and believes the truth of the gospel (Col. 1:3-6).  Please don't settle for anything less; by our fruits we are known (Matt. 7:20).  It is the evidence of life or death (Jn. 15:1-8).  

     May God bless His seed and cause it to grow in your soul so that you may be found to be "His garden, enclosed" for His glory on the last day.