Big Idea: What do our actions, especially the things we say, show us about our hearts (spiritual condition)? Jesus gives us a proper test to know what needs to change. It isn’t so much our behavior as it is our inner man. The internal drives the external. To change the external we must first change the internal. Only Jesus can transform our inner man, which then produces truly good fruit.
A _____________________ Analogy
Luke 6:43–44 (ESV) — 43 “For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush.
What Jesus is saying is, you can tell the condition of the root of a tree by examining its fruit. However, this does not mean we can change the condition of the root by changing the fruit. If the root is bad, you can do all that you want to the fruit, but the fruit will continue to be rotten because the root has not changed.
In order for the fruit to change, you must tend to the root.
No good tree, that is to say no good tree at all, produces bad fruit. No bad tree, that is no bad tree at all, produces good fruit.
Our external actions and reactions are indicative of our internal condition.
What kind of heart do you have?
A ___________________________ Test
Luke 6:45 (ESV) — 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
The tongue is the best indicator of our spiritual state, because the tongue, or what we say, is the purest representation of our hearts.
James 3:5–8 (ESV) —5 So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
The point is that our tongues, or the things we say, most readily show us the condition of our hearts. The tongue has a direct connection to your heart.
If our hearts are bad, what hope do we have of producing good and eternal fruit. Fruit suited to the kingdom of God. The solution is a new heart. The solution is the good news of Jesus Christ. The solution is for Jesus to perform heart surgery.
Ephesians 4:20–24 (ESV) — 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Questions to Consider
In what ways is Jesus teaching you that your heart is bad by the things you say?
How might you trust in Christ this week with your tongue in order to produce good fruit, fit for his kingdom?
