A TREE AND ITS FRUIT

Passage: Luke 6:43-45

Key verse: 45

NIV

A Tree and Its Fruit(A)

43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit.(B) People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.(C)

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Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source: BibleGateway

ESV

A Tree and Its Fruit

43 “For (A)no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for (B)each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 (C)The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces (D)evil, (E)for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Source: BibleGateway

1. Known by its fruit (43-44)

The fruit a tree produces tells us what kind of tree it is. Even though a congregation meets in a beautiful building, if its ministry produces no people who love God and their neighbors, then something is wrong. On the other hand, even though a Christian fellowship does not fit the conventional cultural patterns, if it produces Christians who know God's grace and who love Jesus and love their neighbors, then that fellowship is surely pleasing to God.

2. Out of the heart the mouth speaks (45)

A good man is one whose heart is right with God. If Jesus dwells in one's heart, then Christ-like words and deeds will come from his life. If one's inner thoughts are full of worldly desire, greed, envy, anger, hatred or lust, then these things will be reflected in one's words or deeds at some time or another. If Jesus does not dwell in our hearts, then the sinful nature reigns.

Prayer: Lord, cleanse my heart and come in to live and reign.

One Word: Is your heart right with God?