5/15/06 What Sort of Fruit Are You Producing?
Matthew 7:16-20
“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? [17] So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. [18] A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. [19] Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. [20] So then, you will know them by their fruits.”
False prophets, though they may look like you, talk like you, dress like you, etc., there is a time when you will see them for who and what they really are. Not coming from a long line of horticulturalists, I do not have the wherewithal to walk into a nursery and detect the difference between a pear tree and an orange sapling. When I walk into HEB or Wal-mart, I can tell the difference in a pear and an orange. In time, whether you are well versed in the differences in the shapes and textures of the bark or the size and shape of the leaves of the various fruit trees, we would all know what the various trees are by what comes out of them…their fruit. We are able to clearly differentiate trees when the fruit starts to appear. Did you know that it is the same in the life of a person? Jesus said in Luke 6:45, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. (NIV)
The phrase, “By their fruits you shall know them” is clearly a parallel description to Luke 6:45, that what is in the heart of man will come forth. The heart of man is akin to the cortex or stele of a tree. It is where the essence of the life of the plant generates itself. So it is in man. The heart is where that which identifies man by nature and by spirit is born. It is from this human “stele or cortex” that the nature of a man is revealed.
There are certain characteristics of a fig and a grape that are unmistakable in nature. You may have grown up in an area where figs and grapes are harvested. Living in proximity to that kind of agronomous industry, you would have become very familiar with the kind plant life associated with each. You would have known that grapes are the product of one particular plant and figs from another. You would have been able to detect one from the other as easily as you would have detected the fruit, itself.
Though both grapes and figs come from plant life, the structure of both is significantly different. You would not have gone to a vineyard looking for figs, nor would you gone to an orchard looking for grapes. Neither should we look for the wisdom and character of God in the fleshly thinking of man. You see, there are two kinds of “life-fruit.” One kind can only be produced by the Spirit of God. The other is the natural outcome of the sinfulness of man’s heart. One of them Jesus says is “good fruit.” The other is “bad fruit.” The fruit comes from different sources. Each of the two “fruits” is representative of the respective “trees.” Bad fruit cannot come from good trees, nor can good fruit come from bad trees.
When Jesus spoke of the fruit, what was He speaking of that which flows from within the person. Jesus establishes a foundation for addressing several issues out of our verses today. First, that good trees produce good fruit (fruits of righteousness). Second, the word produce in verse 18 is in the passive voice which is different than in verse 17. Third, the analogy between trees and people breaks down a little bit in verse 17 because the verb produce refers to the ongoing mood in the Greek. Fourth, we are told that we will know people by their fruit.
Let’s look at the first aspect of our text. People of righteousness produce good fruit of righteousness.
What are some of the aspects of the fruit of righteousness. Well, there are fruits of words and fruits of action. God’s word is replete with different categories of the righteous life. Though many don’t specifically use the term fruits of righteousness the meaning is implied.
James 3:18
And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
Hebrews 13:15
Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.
Hebrews 12:11
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Colossians 1:3-6
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, [4] since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; [5] because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel, [6] which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;
Colossians 1:9-10
For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, [10] so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Ephesians 5:7-9
Therefore do not be partakers with them; [8] for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light [9] (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth),
Galatians 5:22,23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
Graciousness, humility, agape-kind-of-love, spirit of forgiveness, true wisdom and even a desire for godly discipline are fruits that reveal our “core.” However, even good things like memorizing scriptures, being present for every church service, teaching a Bible study, singing in the choir are not considered “fruits of righteousness.” We must remember that we don’t do good things to get good fruit. Good fruit comes from the Vine. Jesus said in John 15:4, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” When you are a fruit producer, it is much easier to be a fruit inspector.
The second area that we need to see is that Jesus uses a different form of producer in verse 18. Verse seventeen we have a positive statement…good produces good. In verse 18, we are told that good cannot produce bad or visa versa. There is an interesting aspect with this negative form. It is a passive form. Passive verbs indicate action outside oneself or action against oneself. The important meaning here is that that which is outside of the person cannot change the inner quality of one’s fruit. No person is saved by good works, but every believer is saved for good works. "For we are His workmanship," Paul tells us, "created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10)
When we lived in Japan, we had a peach tree in our back yard. The missionary that lived there before we moved in told us that it was a peach tree, but he did not mention that it had problems. Each of the first three years we lived there all we got were gnarly, small, weepy-skinned excuses of peaches. After several attempts of fertilizing, spraying, pruning, etc., I knew that the peach tree could not be helped. The issue was not the fruit itself. It was in the tree. There was something in the core of that tree that infected and affected the fruit producing capacity. I could have planted flowers at the base. I could have hung beautiful banners from the limbs. I could have posted signs around the tree with pointers directed at the tree with writing, “This is a peach tree.” And none of those things would have changed the substance of the fruit. After spending three frustrating years of avoiding the puss-like peaches on the ground I decided, against all persuasion, to cut it down.
Those who have not come into the kingdom of God, i.e., those who have not been shown by the Spirit of God that they are spiritually impoverished, who subsequently have not mourned their sins, who have not been brought to a place of humility, who do not have a hunger for righteousness, etc., do not live for God’s righteousness, but live for the purpose of pursuing their own glory. It is not a part of their nature to produce good fruit of righteousness.
Another important thing to understand in this passage is that the verb produce is a present active indicative verb. This is especially important in that none of us are perfect. We will from time to time “hang out” bad fruit like, getting angry, lust for something, have inappropriate desires for things, act selfish, act demandingly, etc. This is why the Apostle John’s first epistle is so important to us. 1 John 1:9 is critical to our sanctification. The verb is a participial form in verse 19. The most accurate way to render it is: “the one who is not in the mode of habitually bringing forth out of the natural overflow of the Spirit’s work, is cut down.” What is a person’s general tenor? Where is his heart? What is at the core of his being? Has he been re-born by the Spirit o God? These questions help us to understand the essence of the tree…whether good or bad.
Lastly, those who reflect in their lives the abiding presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, have the capacity for spiritual recognition, for spiritual identification. God did not give to the body of Christ the spiritual gift of fruit inspection. He has given us wisdom, discernment, understanding and knowledge.
A person’s basic character—his inner motives, standards, loyalties, attitudes, and ambitions—will eventually show through in what he does and how he acts. John the Baptist told the hypocritical Pharisees and Sadducees who came to be baptized to first "bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance" (Luke 3:8). Their manner of living showed that they did not really love God or serve Him with pure motives. When the multitude then asked John what good fruit was, he replied, "Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none; and let him who has food do likewise" (v. 11). To the tax-gatherers who asked what they should do, John said, "Collect no more than what you have been ordered to" (v. 13). John was saying that the person who is genuinely repentant and who truly trusts and loves God will also love and help his fellow man (cf. James 2:15-17; 1 John 3:17; 4:20).
As with everything that is godly and righteous, true fruit-bearing begins on the inside, in the heart. Paul speaks of our "having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ" (Phil. 1:11) A person who belongs to Jesus Christ and who is called by God and given God’s message will give evidence of good fruit both in his attitudes and his actions. A person who does not belong to God, especially a false prophet who claims to be God’s messenger, will sooner or later manifest the bad fruit that the bad tree of his sensual life inevitably produces.
False prophets can disguise and hide their bad fruit for a while with ecclesiastical trappings, biblical knowledge, and evangelical vocabulary. They can cover it by belonging to Christian organizations, associating with Christian leaders, and by talking about divine things. But how they talk, act, and react when not in the view of Christians will eventually expose their true loyalty and convictions. What is in the heart will emerge, and corrupt theology will result in a corrupt life. False teaching and perverted living are inseparable, and eventually will become manifest.
Peter tells us that the true and mature believer will be growing in faith, moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. "If these qualities are yours and are increasing," he says, "they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:5-8). Those, on the other hand, who are false and deceiving prophets, in "speaking out arrogant words of vanity… entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption" (2 Peter 2:18-19). And their false believers may temporarily escape "the defilements of the world," but they will eventually return to their "vomit" and "to wallowing in the mire" (2 Peter 2:20-22).
Unless those who claim to be God’s spokesmen give evidence that their deepest motives and life patterns are to honor, glorify, and magnify God, and to grow in humility, holiness, and obedience, we can be sure that God has not called or sent them. If they are oriented to money, prestige, recognition, popularity, power, sexual looseness, and selfishness, they do not belong to Jesus Christ. If they are proud, arrogant, resentful, egotistical, and self-indulgent, they clearly are false prophets. The true test, a beatitude attitude of humility, can be summed up in Jesus’ words: "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the one who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him" (John 7:18).
There are three Greek words that are translated “know.” One meaning is to “know by intuition, or sensing.” Another refers to “know through study or knowledge.” The other is to “know through relationship.” The context that we have in our text refers to the knowing through relationship (this involves the wisdom and knowledge of God). What you know about God through the work of the Holy Spirit in your life and what you know about God in His Word gives you the ability to discern and test “the fruit” in another’s life.
This is a totally different paradigm posed by the Lord earlier in His sermon when He said, “Judge not, lest you be judged.” (7:1) Remember, we saw that the word “judge” implies a sentence upon people in which we imprison them to the place where they are; it implies that we are somehow better and look down on them; it rejects the power of God’s grace working in their lives for change. Knowing that there is bad fruit in another’s life and pronouncing sentence upon them for their sin are two different things. In one of the verses from last week, we heard John’s words, “test every spirit to see if it is from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).