KNOWING THE TREE BY ITS FRUIT

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on March 18, 2020 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: March 18, 2020 from Luke 6:43-45

Theme: Spiritual repentance before God shows itself in active reforms of obedience.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

The most often-quoted verse in the Bible might be Matthew 7:1; “Judge not, that you be not judged”. When those words are used as our Lord intended—that is, to forbid any of His followers from creating their own standards of judgment and then criticizing and condemning others on the basis of those standards—then they are being used rightly.

But many times, the people who quote those words use them to prohibit any kind of evaluation of anyone else’s behavior. And when those words are being used in that way, they’re being used wrongly.

Our Lord clearly didn’t forbid His followers from evaluating actions and behavior on the basis of His Father’s righteous standards. He wanted His followers to use good principles of discernment; to know right from wrong, and to keep themselves from evil. In Romans 16:19, Paul wrote to his fellow believers and told them, “I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.” In Hebrews 5:14, we’re told that mature Christians, “by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” Jesus Himself taught us, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16). How could we apply such passages to our lives unless there truly are such things as good from evil—the false and the true—for us to discern?

In His ‘Sermon on The Plain’ from Luke 6, we’re told of how our Lord taught His followers to be discerning with respect to the behavior of others. He said;

“For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Luke 6:43-45).

The fruit of a tree is an illustration of someone’s outward behavior—the discernible things that are produced in their lives. Our Lord was giving us some very valuable information for daily life. In His words, we find that a follower of Jesus is to discern someone’s true nature by their outward behavior.

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Notice the first word: “For …”. This is meant to connect these words to what came before them. And what came before them was Jesus’ instruction about taking out the speck from someone else’s eye:

“And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not perceive the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me remove the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the plank that is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck that is in your brother’s eye” (Luke 6:41-42).

Is there a connection between this passage and Jesus’ teaching about the tree and its fruit? Perhaps the clue is to be found in the word “hypocrite”. A hypocrite is someone who is a play-actor—someone who puts on a mask and pretends to be something that they aren’t. Someone who presumes to ‘judge’ and ‘correct’ the minor faults in others, while ignoring the greater faults in their own lives, is a hypocrite. They are someone whose outward behavior is showing a corrupt heart—while they are pretending that their heart is pure.

Jesus’ words in verses 41-42, then, seems to have become the opportunity to extend His instruction to the whole matter of discernment with regard to someone’s true nature. The outward fruit—as Jesus shows us—reveals the nature of the tree from which it grows.

Notice first that …

1. NO ONE PRODUCES SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM THEIR NATURE.

Jesus said, “For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit” (v. 43a). Only a good tree can produce good fruit. But the only thing that a bad (or ‘rotten’) tree will ever produce is bad (or ‘rotten’) fruit.

The apostle Paul once wrote about the fruit of the Holy Spirit in someone’s life. He urged his readers in Galatians 5 to ‘walk in the Spirit’ rather than ‘walk in the flesh’. To walk in the Spirit was to submit one’s self under the Holy Spirit’s guidance and power; letting the Spirit produce the outward behaviors and practices in one’s life that reflect the life and power of Jesus. To walk in the flesh, however, was to conduct one’s behavior according to the inclinations of their fallen and sinful nature. Paul wrote;

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law (Galatians 5:19-23).

It’s impossible for someone who walks in the power of the fallen fleshly nature to be able to produce the fruit of the Spirit. But when someone walks consistently in the Spirit, it is impossible for them not to produce the fruit of the Spirit. This is because no one produces something different outwardly than what would be true to their inward nature.

As a consequence of this, we can take it that …

2. EACH PERSON’S OUTWARD BEHAVIOR REVEALS THEIR TRUE INNER NATURE.

Jesus said, “For every tree is known by its own fruit” (v. 43b). When He taught this same principle in the Sermon on The Mount, He said this: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-16). False prophets are deceitful. They say things that sound appealing. Peter warned his brothers and sisters in Christ that false prophets would come; saying,

For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error (2 Peter 2:18).

Their words will prove to be deceptively attractive and alluring. How will we be able to recognize them for what they are? Peter went on to say,

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage (v. 19).

You can, on occasion, recognize a false teacher by their words. But you won’t always be able to detect them just by the words alone. The words alone are not a completely reliable standard; because those words can often be crafted to sound very attractive and to contain elements of truth mixed in with error. The sure way to tell is by the consistent character of their life. If they make themselves sound appealing through their words, but their lives are clearly under the bondage to sin, then you’re being shown—by their sin—their true nature. Every tree is known by its fruits.

Now; we must beware of such people; because—as Jesus teaches us …

3. GOOD THINGS CANNOT BE GOTTEN FROM AN EVIL NATURE.

Jesus said, “For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they gather grapes from a bramble bush” (v. 44). Thorns and brambles are relatively useless things. There is no delicious fruit to be gotten from them. And in fact, much harm to be gotten from coming into too close a contact with them. If someone wants to gather figs, they must go instead to a tree with an essential nature that is consistent with the growth of figs; and if someone wants grapes, they must go to a vine with an essential nature that is consistent with the growth of grapes. Only a fig tree will produce figs; and only a grapevine will produce grapes; and only a godly nature will produce godly behavior.

The apostle Paul once warned Pastor Titus that he needed to stop ‘idle talkers’ who were destroying the church family. He warned that their behavior was showing forth that they had an evil inner nature; and that nothing good would come from them:

To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work (Titus 1:15-16).

As we go on in Jesus’ words, we see the principle that …

4. A PERSON’S OUTWARD BEHAVIOR COMES FROM AN INWARD SOURCE.

It’s something that is as sure as the fact that water flows downstream—and it applies to both the good man and the evil man. He said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil” (v. 45a).

The word “treasure” is one that refers to a storehouse—a place where valuable things are kept and stored-up. The ‘treasure-house’ being referred to is the treasure-house of the heart; where one’s values and priorities and beliefs and thoughts reside. It speaks of the very deepest levels of one’s conscious being. But just having such a treasure-house doesn’t mean that good will come from it; because it is only from the “good treasure of” the heart of a good man that good comes forth. The “evil treasure of” the heart of an evil man brings forth only what is evil. That’s why we can determine the true nature of someone’s inner being—whether it is good or evil. We can tell by what is brought forth outward from the inner treasure-store.

This is why it is so important for us to make sure our hearts are right before God through Jesus Christ. The place to begin is not by trying to reform the outward life. Such temporary, superficial ‘clean-up’ projects won’t last if the condition of the heart has not been changed. Instead, we must first be born again. Jesus once told the religious leaders of His day;

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also (Matthew 23:25-26).

King Solomon put it this way:

Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23).

And Jesus gave us a very evident way in which to see, from outward behavior, what the condition of the heart is. He showed us that …

5. SOMEONE’S INWARD CONDITION IS REVEALED BY THEIR WORDS.

He said, “For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (v. 45b). An “abundance” is a way of describing an overflow. You can tell what fills up someone’s inner-being by what spills out over the edge when they get “bumped” by the trials of life—and not necessarily by their ‘teaching’ or ‘professions’. Do they thank God in times of trial? Do they praise Him in hardship? Do they express trust in Him and pray to Him? Or instead, do they curse, and complain, and murmur in times of difficulty? Do the speak ill of others? The words that someone speaks—whether they are a good person or an evil person—are an outward sign that reveals the inward truth.

Jesus used this same form of instruction on another occasion—even using the analogy of a tree and its fruit. He was speaking to the Pharisees who were opposing Him. They were accusing Him of working through the power of the devil; and they were blaspheming Him. He said to them;

“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:33-37).

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Now; these are hard words from our Lord. But He spoke them to His followers in order that they might be on the alert—discerning good from evil. He has shown us how to judge the tree by looking at its fruit.

Let’s heed His warning then. And let’s also make sure that we ourselves stand the test, and that what comes forth outwardly in our life shows clearly that we have been made inwardly right with Him by faith.

EA