Be a Fruit Inspector!
Matthew 7:16-20 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? (17) So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. (18) A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. (19) Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (20) Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
This may frustrate many non-believers but… Christianity is a Thinking Religion. Certainly there are elements of emotion that belong in this cause, but Christianity is not defined, driven, or dependent upon emotion for its success. Instead, the Bible teaches that our minds must be engaged in order to be pleasing to God.
Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Luke 14:28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not sfirst sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?
Our passage today, from the Sermon on the Mount, relies SOLEY on logic. In fact, it is elementary level logic. There are 3 steps to this passage
1. Principle 1 - Fruit Identification:
Jesus uses this as the foundational, logical principle for what he is trying to teach us. If you see an orange(s) hanging on a tree…We can and must conclude that the tree is an Orange Tree! If you see an apple hanging on a tree… It must is an apple tree. Or as Jesus states it, you don’t find grapes growing from thorn bushes. As humans, at times we simply have to draw logical conclusions.
2. Principle 2 - Good Fruit Verses Bad Fruit
He builds on the first step of logic to help us to the next level. We do not have to be college trained and professional Botonists to ascertain the difference between good fruit and bad fruit. Small, mis-shaped , discolored and blemished fruit is not as desirable as plump, ripe and healthy fruit. That is an observation that a 5 year old can make. Again Jesus concludes that healthy trees produce healthy fruit and undesirable fruit comes from sickly trees.
3. Application - Know Them By Their Fruit
Let’s be real, Jesus doesn’t really care about fruit. He did not leave the glory of Heaven to live on this earth for a strawberry. He did not die on the cross for a watermelon. He did not sacrifice for a peach. Jesus did what he did for mankind. Therefore, there is an application that he wants us to know. We are to use our God-Given common sense, logic and reasoning abilities to make conclusions about people. If someone openly professes that they are living in a particular lifestyle that the Bible declares unequivocally as being sinful, we can conclude that this person is living In sin. We recognize their sinful fruit and know them for that fruit. Let's be clear. Jesus does not say this for the purpose of making us feel superior. He does not say this so that we can degrade them. This information should NEVER be used as a weapon against any one because we all have some rotten fruit in our past.
In the immediate context, Jesus says this in regards to warning us about false teachers. We can know a false teacher…If we want to, but they fruits of their overall life. But this same logic and reasoning applies across the spectrum.
Why might this be helpful? Evangelism. We can see the obvious sin in a person’s life and KNOW that we need to teach them about Jesus. We can know that they have sins they need to repent of and go to them in love and teach them about the love, grace and forgiveness of Jesus.
Reflecting the SON,
Dennis Hogan
Questions, comments or further explanation? Contact me at: dennis.hogan@icloud.com
