Look at the Fruit

Well, we're continuing on this morning in our journey through Luke's Gospel.

! If you have your Bible with you, you can open it up to Luke chapter 6.

Luke 6 · chapter mention

We are in verse 43.

Luke chapter 6, verse 43.

Luke 6:43

And right now we're in the midst of a sermon that Jesus spoke.

Possibly the Sermon on the Mount, or possibly a slightly different sermon with much of the same content.

And let me just read the few verses that we'll be looking at this morning for us, and then we'll dig into them.

So this is Jesus talking here in verse 43.

He says,

No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.

Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.

People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briars.

A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart.

And an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.

For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

Now as we come to this in this passage in Luke, we may wonder,

What's the connection here between this and everything that's come before it?

It kind of seems like a totally different topic.

Just a moment ago in the verses prior to this,

Jesus was talking about the hypocrisy of judging others,

and being hypercritical of others.

But now he's all of a sudden talking about fruit trees as an analogy of what comes out of a person.

And so, what's the connection?

Or is this just a new topic?

This is where it's helpful to look at the parallel passage in Matthew's gospel,

which adds some key context here.

So let's just look for a second at Matthew chapter 7, verse 15.

Matthew 7:15

In Matthew's gospel, we read Jesus saying this,

Watch out for false prophets.

They come to you in sheep's clothing,

but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

By their fruit you will recognize them.

Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes,

or figs from thistles?

Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit,

but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,

and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

And so, as we look at Matthew's gospel,

it seems that at this point in the sermon,

Jesus is introducing a new subject.

He's giving a warning to his disciples,

and this whole analogy of fruit and fruit trees that we see in Luke

is applied specifically to false prophets.

Watch out for false prophets,

says Jesus.

And then Jesus tells us a couple characteristics

of the false prophets.

The first characteristic,

they come to you in sheep's clothing,

he says.

And so outwardly,

they look like one of us.

Sheep are often used in the Bible

to describe the people of God.

God is the shepherd,

and we who follow him

and fear him are his sheep.

And then later on,

Jesus will call himself

the good shepherd,

and his followers his sheep.

And so when Jesus says

that the false prophet comes

in sheep's clothing,

it means that

they are dressed like us.

It means that they look like us,

which probably means

that on the surface,

they talk like us,

they act like us.

It may at first be difficult

to identify a false prophet.

Well, there's another thing true

about sheep here

that might be in view here,

and it's that sheep are very safe.

See the contrast between the sheep

and the wolf?

Sheep are very safe creatures.

Probably most of us

wouldn't even think about

moving away from a sheep

if it was just kind of

walking right by us

in a field somewhere.

They're not threatening at all.

They're soft,

and they're fluffy.

But the problem here

is that the false prophets,

they're only wearing

the sheep's clothing.

They are not true sheep of Jesus.

how they appear on the outside

is a facade.

It's a deception.

And so this leads us

into the second characteristic

of a false prophet.

Jesus says that

inwardly,

they are ferocious wolves.

In other words,

they're not safe.

They're actually very dangerous.

And I think we have to think

through this analogy carefully

at this point here

because when we hear

ferocious wolf,

our minds go straight

to something that's

very visibly

and obviously violent.

But remember,

outwardly,

they're dressed

in sheep's clothing.

And so the external behavior

of the false prophet

or the false teacher

is probably not blatantly immoral

or violent.

Rather,

the damage they inflict

is not physical.

The damage is done

through the false words

that they speak.

The division that they cause.

The way that they lead people

away from the truth.

These false prophets

or teachers

are not hungry

for flesh

but for attention

and for people

to follow them.

That's how the damage

is done.

Finally,

let's just consider

for a moment

the meaning of the word

prophet.

Contrary to

popular Christian conception,

a prophet is not

mainly one

who predicts the future.

Rather,

a prophet in the Bible

is one who speaks

for God.

One who,

like his mouthpiece,

speaks on his behalf.

And so a false prophet

is one who claims

to speak for God

but God has actually

not sent him

or chosen him

and is not actually

speaking through him.

But,

if a false prophet

can convince people

that he is speaking

on God's behalf,

boy,

can he lead people

astray.

Once a person

accepts that

someone is speaking

on God's behalf,

a person

will believe

almost anything

they say.

Look at how

the massive cult

known as Mormonism

traces back

to a single man

who had a special

revelation from God,

Joseph Smith.

or how far

from the Jewish

faith a Muslim

is and how

many Muslims

there are

tracing back

to the false prophet

Muhammad.

False prophets

are indeed

ravenous wolves

and very dangerous

and the danger

is in the lies

that they speak

which they claim

are truths

from the mouth

of God.

So,

how do we

recognize

these wolves

in sheep's clothing?

Well,

this is what

the analogy

of the good tree

and the bad tree

is applied to.

Jesus says,

by their fruit

you will

recognize them.

let's flip back

to Luke

and hear it

from Luke's words

the words

that Luke

recorded

Jesus saying,

no good tree

bears bad fruit

nor does a bad tree

bear good fruit.

Each tree

is recognized

by its own fruit.

People do not

pick figs

from

thorn bushes

or

grapes

from

briars.

a good man

brings good

things

out of the good

stored up

in his heart

and an evil

man

brings evil

things

out of the evil

stored up

in his heart

for the mouth

speaks

what the heart

is full of.

So,

that first

analogy

given by Jesus

is that of a wolf

in sheep's clothing.

The second

analogy given

has to do

with how

to identify

the wolf

in sheep's clothing

and it's this

analogy

of tree

and fruit.

Think about

a tree

for a moment.

It's difficult

to identify

what kind

of tree

is in front

of you

in the middle

of winter.

If it's a

deciduous tree

it has no leaves

and so you

might look

at that tree

and wonder

if it's even

alive

or if it's

just

dead sticks.

There's nothing

on the branches

but then when

spring rolls

around

all of a sudden

the leaves

begin to form.

They just kind

of pop out

of nowhere

and suddenly

you can tell

what kind

of tree

it is.

Not only that

but in that

one tree

you can see

which branches

are alive

and which ones

are dead

because the dead

ones have no

leaves.

And then

for fruit

trees

there's a

step beyond

that.

For a time

unless you

have a really

keen eye

for identifying

fruit trees

for a time

it just

looks like

a tree

and even

if you can

figure out

what kind

of tree

it is

from its

leaves

and other

characteristics

say that

it's an

apple tree

you don't

know just

from the

outward

appearance

whether it's

the kind

of apple

tree

that produces

delicious

red apples

or sour

little green

apples

you don't

know that

until the

fruit actually

forms

and ripens

and so

fruit in

this analogy

is not the

thing that you

see initially

from the

person

it's what

comes from

the person

over time

it's the

product

of their

life

their

interactions

their words

over time

you will

recognize them

by their

fruit

says Jesus

but fruit

usually

takes a

season

to grow

and to

show itself

now in

this passage

Jesus

actually

contrasts

the kinds

of fruits

that we

might expect

from a

fruit tree

he says

no good

tree

bears

bad

fruit

nor does

a bad

tree

bear

good

fruit

it's

helpful

to know

here that

the word

for bad

that's used

here is not

the usual

Greek word

for bad

it's actually

the word

for rotten

or putrid

or spoiled

and so we

might even

think of

good and

bad as

far as

the tree

is concerned

in terms

of healthy

or diseased

or sickly

really what

Jesus is

saying is

no good

healthy

tree

produces

rotten

sickly

fruit

and no

diseased

or sickly

tree

produces

good

tasty

fruit

a fruit

tree can

only produce

according to

its health

whether

good

or bad

and it

may take

some time

and even

some tasting

to see

whether that

tree

is

diseased

or healthy

Jesus is

saying that

it's the same

with recognizing

false prophets

and false

teachers

initially we

may not see

anything wrong

with them

some of the

things we hear

from them

may sound

fine

but eventually

they will not

be able to

hide

their true

nature

that inward

nature

they will

produce fruit

and things

will come

from their

interactions

and from

their teachings

that are

either good

or rotten

those things

will give

clear evidence

to whether

they're a

true prophet

or a

false prophet

to whether

they're a

faithful teacher

of God's

word

or an

imposter

Jesus even

takes this

analogy

one step

further

first it's

just two

different kinds

of fruit

but the

same kind

of tree

and now

he takes

it on to

two different

types of

plants

even

in verse

44

he says

each tree

is recognized

by its own

fruit

people do not

pick figs

from thorn bushes

or grapes

from briars

now the point

Jesus is making

here is really

the same point

as the

previous

statement

he's saying

that the type

of tree

it is

is proven

with certainty

by what kind

of fruit

comes from

it

but a fig

maybe this

just doesn't

resonate with

us as much

or even

grapes

because it's

just not

something that

we eat

here

and grow

here in

our climate

in Davidson

it's more

common in

the Middle

Eastern

climate

and so

let's just

think of a

cultural

equivalent

for

just so

that the

argument

lands in

our hearts

people do

not pick

apples

from thorn bushes

it's a pretty

extreme

and obvious

contrast

when you hear

it that way

that's what

Jesus means

to say

with this

a thorn bush

simply does

not produce

any good

fruit

for us

to eat

and enjoy

and Jesus

is basically

he says

the same

thing twice

here

for emphasis

people do

not pick

grapes

from briars

briars

just another

word for

thorn bush

all that

comes from

a thorn bush

is prickles

because that's

the type of

tree that it

is

and it can

really only

produce

according to

its nature

well it's

the same

with people

is Jesus

point

what's really

on the

inside

is what

will eventually

come out

Jesus

just goes

on to

spell it

out super

clearly

in verse

45

a good

man

brings

good

things

out of

the good

stored up

in his

heart

and an

evil man

brings evil

things

out of

the evil

stored up

in his

heart

for the

mouth

speaks

what the

heart

is full

of

what's

stored up

on the

inside

is

eventually

what comes

out

now we

may wonder

sometimes

about this

and how

helpful

this is

because

after all

we all

still

sin

sometimes

right

we have

moments of

temptation

and regrettably

we give in

or we have

moments when

we are tested

by others

and get

angry

or impatient

or say

something

that we

shouldn't

but

Jesus

I don't

think

he's not

saying that

a false

prophet

can't ever

do something

right

neither is

he saying

that a true

disciple of

his can

never

sin

here's

what I

think

the

difference

is between

the false

teacher

and the

true follower

of Jesus

first of

all I

think we're

intended to

look at

the majority

of the

fruit

when the

fruit on

the tree

appears

and ripens

the majority

of it

is the

same

is the

majority

of the

fruit

rotten

or is

it good

is it

mainly

selfishness

or is it

mainly love

coming from

that person

is it

mainly

greed

or is it

mainly

graciousness

and generosity

the majority

of the fruit

tells what

kind of

tree it

is

second we

have to

remember that

the whole

point of

this analogy

is that it's

not the

tree that

you see

initially

that tells

you what

it is

but it's

the fruit

which

comes

later

over time

what comes

from the

false

teacher

mainly

self

promotion

greed

division

indifference

to those

who are

in need

compromise

eventually

it becomes

apparent

that they

are as

Jesus

referred to

above

perhaps

a fault

finding

hypocritical

hyper

hyper

hyper

critical

type of

person

claiming to

speak for

God

in contrast

to that

what about

the true

disciple

of Jesus

well over

time

there should

be the

fruits of

God's

spirit

in them

we should

see mainly

love

and kindness

patience

gentleness

humility

reverence

generosity

as we

mentioned

before

a true

believer

still sins

at times

but then

what happens

after we

sin

unlike the

false teacher

or the

false prophet

there is

repentance

and confession

and restitution

that too

is good

fruit

and it's

always lacking

from the

false teacher

or the

false prophet

because they're

like the

Pharisees

they're like

the man

with the

log

in his

eye

that we

talked about

a couple

weeks ago

unable to

see their

own fault

and sin

and so they

don't ever

admit to it

or own it

it's always

someone else's

fault

it's always

that speck

in somebody

else's

eye

so how do

we apply

these words

of Jesus

well first

I think it

should be

obvious that

the

the first

place to

look is

we should

use these

words to

discern who

is the

false teacher

and who

is the

false prophet

that's the

context that

Jesus gave

these words

in

he said

watch out

for false

prophets

they're

dangerous

I've said

this before

but I'll

say it

again

in our

day in

particular

and in

our context

as a

small town

church

the false

teacher

or the

false

prophet

rarely

walks

through

the door

and requests

to become

a member

of the

church

there's

no need

the false

teacher

the false

prophet

today

has an

easier time

putting on

a facade

and peddling

his teaching

online

on his

YouTube

channel

through X

and Facebook

with that

sort of

distance

it's much

harder to

see the

fruit

of this

person

influencing

who we

actually

really

almost know

nothing about

does he

even belong

to a

local

church

does he

even

attend

regularly

and then

there are

all those

tools

today

in our

online

world

where you

can

cut

segments

out of

the

video

and edit

it

and polish

it up

and make

it look

really good

so that

all people

see is that

put on

version of

yourself

exactly what

you want

them to

see

and yet

I would

argue that

even here

the fruit

can be

seen

is that

influencer

online

hypercritical

of other

good

Christian

pastors

and teachers

and preachers

authors

are they

often taking

their words

out of

context

and picking

at every

little detail

of what

they say

is that

online

influencer

that teacher

helping

Christians

to become

more connected

and involved

with their

local church

or less

are they

causing

division

or are they

bringing

greater unity

in local

churches

even the

online false

teacher

can't hide

his bad

fruit

what's the

effect that

this teacher

online is

having on

others

are their

followers

becoming

more like

Jesus

are they

producing

more

of the

fruit

of the

spirit

are they

becoming

more

patient

more

gentle

more

gracious

more

generous

or are they

becoming more

and more

critical of

others

more anxious

more worried

more frustrated

more impatient

so this is the

first place to

apply these

words of

Jesus

I think

beware

of false

prophets

or false

teachers

they are

dangerous

by their

fruit

you will

recognize

them

the second

place that we

might apply

these words

probably the

next place

that we feel

inclined to

go

is we may

see these

words as

helpful

for judging

whether a

brother or

sister is

walking with

the Lord

is there

mainly good

fruit

coming from

their lives

or mainly

bad fruit

but while

these words

of Jesus

are helpful

in discerning

what's inside

of others

let's not

forget

what Jesus

said

just a

moment ago

look up

the page

a little bit

he said

you hypocrite

first take

the plank

out of

your eye

and then

you will see

clearly to

remove

the speck

from your

brother's

eye

and so

we should

not rush

straight to

judging

one another

by these

words

what kind

of fruit

is in

your life

are you

a good

tree

or a bad

tree

before we

even think

of doing

that we

need to

first apply

these words

of Jesus

to ourselves

so I want

to encourage

us to

prayerfully

ask this

question

Lord what

kind of

fruit is

coming from

me

am I

producing the

good fruit

that you

long for

me to

produce

we notice

in this

passage that

Jesus

specifically

highlights

our speech

he says

for the

mouth

speaks

what the

heart

is full

of

and so

Lord what

kind of

words have

been coming

out of my

mouth today

and this

past week

and lately

what kind

of tone

have my

words had

I'm

encouraging us

to ask

God about

ourselves

I'm not

saying just

do some

self-reflection

because you

know

we always

tend to be

more lenient

with ourselves

than with

others

these words

here today

invite us

to ask

God whether

it's good

fruit coming

from us

or bad

fruit

but then I

want to

challenge us

all to

take it

one step

further

I want to

challenge each

of us not

only to ask

God but

to ask one

other person

in your life

who you're

close to

what kind

of fruit

they see

coming

from your

life

do they

ever wonder

whether you

are a true

follower of

Jesus

and if so

why

and if not

do they see

you as a

healthy and

growing disciple

of Jesus

or do they

see you as a

struggling and

sick disciple

of Jesus

right now

this is going

to take a

little bit of

courage to

ask somebody

this kind

of a question

but what

does the

majority of

the fruit

that they

see coming

from your

life indicate

about what's

inside of

you

maybe the

Lord would

use these

words and

these kinds

of questions

to convict

us and to

help us see

that we've

gotten off

the right

path a little

bit perhaps

that we've

been storing

up evil in

our hearts

in ways that

we've become

blind to or

maybe it's not

that extreme

not that we've

been storing

up evil but

maybe it's

been that we've

been neglecting

to store up

good in our

hearts lately

through our

regular prayer

and relationship

with God

through time

spent reading

his word

spent worshiping

him spent

fellowshipping

with others

only after

we've asked

these questions

of others

what fruit do

you see

coming from

me are we

ready to

discern in

others what

fruit do I

see coming

from you

and of course

at this point

when we get

to that last

question we're

not talking

about false

teachers anymore

we're talking

about looking

at one

another's

lives and

there's two

ways that we

can do this

we can look

at one

another's lives

and we can

try to discern

the fruit for

the purpose of

fault finding

and with a

critical spirit

a judgmental

spirit like the

Pharisees had

and Jesus just

warned us about

that don't do

that he said

or we can

look at one

another's lives

and try to

discern fruit

motivated by

a loving

concern for

the spiritual

well-being of

a brother or

sister when a

person's drifting

away from the

Lord and maybe

getting into

habitual sin or

into addiction

then it begins

to show in

their lives

there's a fruit

that we may

begin to

recognize and

it's an

opportunity for

us to love

them and to

draw near to

them and to

say hey I've

noticed this in

your life

what's going

on

this is the

opposite of

how our Lord

Jesus asked us

to live

have a

conversation about

it and maybe

they even shoot

straight with you

and confess to

you well I've

been drifting away

from the Lord I

haven't been

walking as closely

with him as I

should you now

have an opportunity

to encourage that

brother or sister

and say come

back to him

repent

maybe they even

need some help

with that

can I walk

with you through

this is there a

way that I can

help you out

with this

especially if

they're entangled

in something

that's addictive

or really

challenging

and of course

we must always

do this graciously

and humbly

and gently

we too still

sin and

fumble and

falter

finally as we

draw things to a

close here I

want to remind

us of the

gospel as we

hear those words

of Jesus the

mouth speaks

what the heart

is full of I

don't know about

you but I feel

convicted I

think back to

when's the last

time I yelled

at my kids in

frustration or

when did I

snap at someone

or share a

piece of gossip

that I

shouldn't have

I want to

remind us that

it was for

these sins and

all the sins

that we've

committed that

Jesus died to

forgive us

there is complete

cleansing in

Jesus for

every evil thing

that has come

out of us

every piece of

bad fruit

even for the

evil that's been

stored up inside

of us he died

to wash us and

cleanse us

completely to

forgive us and

take all of our

guilt away

and so that's

good news

not only that but

when it comes to

this good fruit that

Jesus is talking

about we're not

left to ourselves

to try and

produce it

there's a good

news here too

God is at

work in us

who believe in

him if we've

believed in

Jesus and we

have been born

again by his

spirit his

spirit lives in

us and produces

that good fruit

in us

Jesus told us

that we need

to I should

say Jesus told

us that what

we need to do

to produce an

abundance of

fruit is to

abide in him

to remain in

him to stay in

his words to

stay in his

love

now this doesn't

mean that producing

good fruit doesn't

take effort it

does and it

will but our

efforts are

helped supernaturally

by God's spirit

who lives in us

as we seek to

imitate our

father in our

lives and so

this too is good

news by the grace

of God by the

spirit's power we

can store up good

inside of ourselves

and we can expect

to see good fruit

flowing out of our

lives and through

out of our lips

because of our

relationship with

Jesus

Jesus makes all

the difference in

the past for all

the bad fruit that

we've produced and

from now on for

all the good fruit

that he will

produce through

us this is the

good news

let's pray

father in heaven we

thank you that you

have not just left

us to ourselves

to get what we

deserve from you

that your mercy and

grace is so great

that you looked at

us as sickly

diseased unhealthy

sinful trees that

we are and said

I'm going to

cleanse them and

wash them and make

them new and I'm

going to produce all

kinds of good fruit

through them you

didn't have to do

that for us Lord

and so we're

grateful we know

our own frailties

and weaknesses and

sins and you know

them even better than

we do and we thank

you that you will

bring glory even

through through us

in our brokenness in

our weakness in our

struggles help us to

submit ourselves

completely to you

Jesus give us

wisdom to discern

but even deeper

than that make us

full of the good

that you long to see

in us and may it

flow out of us

through us blessing

one another and

blessing our world

and our community we

ask this for your

glory amen

miracle miracle