Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49: How to Check Your Heart video audio notes. The parable is obvious in meaning. Both houses looked fine with simple observation, but one is deceptive. There’s no foundation. When, not if, both houses go through the torrent – a flood or catastrophic experience – it becomes obvious which house was real and which one was deceptive. When we simply say, “Lord, Lord,” but do not do what we know Jesus said to do, we’ve moved into a deceptive house.
Collapse and destruction always come when there is no foundation. When we do what Jesus said to do, no torrent or flood so much as shakes the house.
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE CHAPTER 6
by Delbert Young
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49: How to Check Your Heart
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Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49: How to Check Your Heart
Scriptures: Luke 6:43-49, Genesis 2:16-17, Matthew 7:21-23
We conclude our study today on the Sermon on the Plain and we also conclude our study of Luke chapter 6. We’ve been in Luke chapter 6 for four months, with most of that time spent on the twelve apostles.
Though we can read the Sermon on the Plain in a few minutes, this sermon by Jesus himself was probably long. Jesus spoke about how things we call blessings are often woes. For example, he said, “Blessed are the poor, but woe to you who are rich.” Jesus preached, “Love your enemies, and do good for those who hate you.” He preached that if we only love those who love us, we are as lost as the lost.
Jesus preached not to judge with the intent of condemning people. If we do, it will come back upon us. He preached we needed to get the logs out of our own eyes before working on the specks in the eyes of others.
He preached to not follow a blind leader or we would both fall into the same ditch, and he preached when we do these things, we prove we are children of the Most High God, blessed, and living like God – godly. I’ve told you over and over this sermon is about knowing if we are real, or if we’re a hypocrite playing the church game. He concluded the sermon with this:
Luke 6:43-49 “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 briers. 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. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice.
He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49 audio video notes
Jesus concluded his Sermon on the Plain not with an altar call but instead with two parables: (1) The Tree and its Fruit and (2) the Wise and Foolish Builders. The final point, as always in this sermon, is there is a visible, recognizable difference between true and false faith. Jesus is giving us insight into how God knows if we are real or hypocrites playing church.
In the parable of The Tree and its Fruit, we see two truths: (1) people who are children of the Most High God – good people – produce good fruit, and evil people produce bad fruit. (2) We find what we desire in life from people producing it.
Luke 6:43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
To Jesus, there are only two kinds of trees – good trees and bad trees, but Jesus didn’t give a horticulture and botany lesson. We do realize he’s talking about people. Good is kalos {kal-os’} meaning beautiful, handsome, excellent, choice, surpassing, precious, useful, commendable, admirable. Bad is sapros {sap-ros’} rotten, putrefied; corrupt, no longer fit for use. Both trees produce fruit.
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49 audio video notes
It’s like one tree is bad and the other tree is good. Though you can’t actually see the heart of a tree, the fruit reveals what is there. If the tree is rotten, toxic, and corrupt inside, the fruit will tell the tale, producing sickly fruit, rotten fruit, or even poisonous fruit. If the fruit is good and healthy, then the tree’s heart is good and healthy.
I can’t simply look at a person and know if they have a heart for God. However, I can know they have a heart for God, not by a prayer they prayed or by what they say, but by what they produce. What would that be specifically?
Jesus told us in this sermon we’ve been studying – (1) keep the blessings and woes right side up. (2) Loving enemies. (3) Doing good for those who hate them, blessing those who curse them, praying for those who despise and use them. (4) Not judging to condemn. (5) Not following blind guides. (6) Getting the log out of their eye and not hypocritically pointing out the speck in the eyes of others. That’s the fruit Jesus told us he wants to see produced from our lives. These things are easily recognized.
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49 audio video notes
Luke 6:44 EACH TREE IS RECOGNIZED BY its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers.
Matthew 7:16 YE SHALL KNOW THEM by their fruits.
It’s not only recognizing fruit produced from our lives and from the lives of others. Jesus also talked about where we search for what we desire to find. If you’re looking for figs, don’t search out thorn bushes. Figs are not there. If you’re looking for grapes, don’t look to briers. If you want grapes, you need a grapevine. “Well, daaaaa…” Aren’t you happy Jesus clarified that for us? That’s a “no-brainer,” and that’s exactly the point. As simple as it sounds, our nature is to eat from the wrong tree. Eve went looking for the wrong tree.
Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for WHEN YOU EAT of it you will surely die.”
God didn’t say, “If you eat, you will die.” He said, “When you eat…” Our nature is to eat from the bad tree. Knowing it was a bad tree Eve deliberately went looking for and ate corrupt fruit. The fruit didn’t magically appear in her hand and mouth. She went to the thorn bush and briars – the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and “she did eat” (Gen 3:6). She didn’t only get enough for herself, but she fed it to Adam for supper.
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49 audio video notes
Isn’t that what we do in life? I watch people go to toxic trees – toxic people – partake of their lives, then feed it to others, and wonder why they lost their gardens.
Let’s make it simple. If you want a good, successful marriage, go to people who have produced one. Do you want great children? Go to people who have raised some. If you want financial success, then partake in the lives that are. Do you want you, your spouse, and your children to be good, moral, and God-loving people? Don’t run with people who are not. If you want a good life, find trees producing one. It should be that simple, “daaaaa,” but it’s not.
I want to ask a question.
Is Jesus a good or bad tree? Of course, he’s good, right? So, if we are his fruit, you can recognize from what tree we came. If my children, my friends, you, or anyone came from Jesus, it’s recognizable. I’ll know you by your fruits. I want to say everyone is saved, but if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck… In the natural, if someone told me a duck was a person, I would say you’re insane and delusional.
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49 audio video notes
Yet, in the spiritual, we create and tolerate insanity and delusion about ourselves and others. Simply, Jesus said, you recognize people by what their lives produce. Jesus gave a clear explanation to the parable.
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.
Like the trees, Jesus only sees two types of people and hearts – good or evil. A good person – a good tree – produces from the good inside the heart. We could say they have a good heart – kalos – a beautiful, handsome, precious, admirable heart.
An evil person – bad tree – also produces from their evil – bad – sapros {sap-ros’} rotten, putrefied; corrupt heart. Of course, the first heart we must look at is our own heart. Good or evil is STORED UP in the heart, and our heart is connected to our mouth. The King James Version says,
(KJV) Luke 6:45 A good man out of THE GOOD TREASURE OF HIS HEART bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of THE EVIL TREASURE OF HIS HEART bringeth forth that which is evil
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49 audio video notes
NIV says stored up. The KJV says treasure. The Greek word translated stored up (NIV) and treasure(KJV) is thesauros {thay-sow-ros’}. Of course, we get our English word “thesaurus” from it. Thesauros means the place in which precious things are collected and laid up; a casket, coffer, or other receptacles, in which valuables are kept. A thesaurus is a treasure chest of word synonyms.
There are things so deep and held so precious in us that we will take them to the casket. To you, what you’ve stored in your heart are the most precious issues in all your life. From those issues your mouth will flow (Pro 4:23). It can be good or bad. It can be good memories or, sadly, bitter, rotten bad memories, and it can be good love or bad hate. Sooner or later, your thesaurus – a treasure of words and synonyms – will emerge.
I can’t read your mind, but I will hear your heart. What is stored up – treasured – in your heart? What is packed away inside you? Now, what will you take to your casket? What will be in your heart when you go?
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49 audio video notes
So, what’s coming out of you? Negative things? Profanities? Hate? Gossip? Rotten stuff? Or do good, hopeful, uplifting things come out? It’s a picture for the world to see of your heart and your real treasure. Are you good, or are you evil? Maybe we could say, are you saved, or are you evil? You can know if you have a heart for God by what comes out of your mouth. Jesus talked about what comes out of our mouths, and then he said this.
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not DO WHAT I SAY?
Is Jesus narcissistic? Or is he concerned about our true salvation? I mean, is his way the only way? Is it all about him and what he says? I detect some aggravation and disgust in Jesus’s words. Let’s ask ourselves and come to a true conclusion. Is it possible for us, for me, to do everything Jesus says?
Can I love my enemies, do good for those who hate me, bless those who curse me, pray for those who despise and use me? Is it possible for me not to judge or condemn people? Can I work on the log in my eye and not point out the speck in yours? Can I avoid following bind guides? Is it possible for me to understand some things I call blessings are actually woes? My answer is, “Yes, I can do all Jesus said. I simply decide not to.” I eat from the wrong tree.
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49 audio video notes
Jesus couldn’t care less about our patronizing him with “Lord, Lord.” Neither does he want excuses. He expects people to do what he says. He has this insane idea that if he’s truly our Lord and our King, we will do what he says. Matthew’s gospel says this:
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘LORD, LORD,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but ONLY he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. MANY WILL SAY to me on that day, ‘LORD, LORD, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I NEVER KNEW YOU. AWAY FROM ME, YOU EVILDOERS!’
It’s not about our works and playing the church game. It’s about obedience. I’ve got to realize Jesus isn’t playing horseshoes. Close doesn’t count. Have you ever heard someone call Jesus “Lord,” but nothing about their life reflected their doing what Lord Jesus said? The produce of their lives and the words from their mouth were in total contradiction to “Lord, Lord.” I hear and see it from many.
A person can’t be a follower and believer in Jesus and not do what he or she knows Jesus says. I’m not talking about the occasional mess-up we all do. I’m talking about continuous sinful disobedience and rebellion to what Jesus said. Jesus said many people are fooling themselves. It’s a dangerous deception. Here’s what they are like.
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49 audio video notes
Luke 6:47-49 I will show you what HE IS LIKE who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. WHEN a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”
The parable is evident in meaning. Both houses looked okay with simple observation, but one is deceptive. There’s no foundation. When, not if, both houses go through the “torrent” – a flood or catastrophic experience – it becomes obvious which house was real and which one was deceptive. It’s about the foundation. We’ve moved into a deceptive house when we say, “Lord, Lord,” but do not do what we know Jesus said to do. Collapse and destruction always come. When we do what Jesus said to do, no torrent or flood so much as shakes the house.
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49 audio video notes
This is one of the most amazing things to me. People who should have dug deep and laid a foundation on rock haven’t. They should be able to handle anything, but didn’t. You never know if Jesus is truly Lord until a torrent comes.
I read in California, especially in high earthquake risk areas, the houses are not only bolted to the foundation. Building codes require they anchor the house to the foundation with metal straps. It’s easy to see the houses anchored and those not after an earthquake. It’s easy to see a life, a marriage, a family, a relationship anchored to Jesus and those not after the torrent has passed. You know them by their fruit, and you know them by their torrents.
How does the produce of your life look? It’s recognizable. Is life good and sweet, or rotten and toxic? Eve, Adam, are you eating the serpent’s fruit or from the tree of life who is Jesus? Stop going to briars looking for the sweet grapes of life. A good tree produces good fruit.
What have you stored up in your heart?
Is it good, or is it evil? You can know by what’s coming out of your mouth. Ephesians 5:26 refers to a cleansing by the washing with water through the word. If you don’t like what comes out of your mouth don’t wash your mouth out with soap. Wash your heart with the word of God and do what Jesus says.
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49 audio video notes
Do you call yourself a “Christian?” There will be fruit. Is “Lord, Lord” only rhetoric with no foundation? You can know, and so can I, but more importantly, so can Jesus. I’ve watched some of you go through some significant torrents and come out of those torrents unshaken because you are bolted and anchored to Jesus.
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49 audio video notes
Trees Fruit Hearts Foundation Luke 6:43-49 audio video notes
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