Look chapter 6 and verse 43. For a good tree bringeth not
forth corrupt fruit, neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth
good fruit. For every tree is known by his
own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather
figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. 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, for of the abundance of
the heart his mouth speaketh. Amen. May the Lord bless to us
this short reading from his word. Our Lord Jesus is speaking here about the transforming
power of grace in the life of a believer. And grace makes men
and women what we never could be without the converting power
of God and the indwelling spirit of Christ. Grace makes people
good. It doesn't make us perfect. We
saw that in the actions of David and Bathsheba in a very egregious
way just at the weekend. But it does make us good. Not holy in all that we do or
say, but good. And we'll come back to this in
a minute. Grace instigates an alteration
in the life of a man and a woman, a conversion in our attitudes
and our awareness of God. Grace implants a desire to honour
our Lord Jesus. It bestows a sense of gratitude
for what we've been given And it engenders empathy, compassion,
love, if you like, for our brothers and sisters in the family of
God, and even for those who are outside of Christ and still dead
in their sin. And these facts alter the way
that we think, the way that we act, and the way that we speak
in this world. However, grace also makes us
very aware of our own faults and our failings. And we lament
our inability to serve the Lord as we should and to live up to
the new desires that grace inspires in our hearts and souls. In this
passage, the Lord is pointing out the difference that grace
makes in a believer's life. Now elsewhere, I think it's in
the context of where the Lord was speaking to the rich young
ruler. Elsewhere, the Lord tells us,
none is good save one, that is God. And we know from the epistles
that all have sinned. All are fallen and corrupt of
heart. And again, it is the Lord who
says, out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries,
fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things
which defile a man, but they are in his heart. They come from the core of his
being. They come from the essence of
fallen creatures, the natural man. So that here, in depicting
a good man and an evil man, the Lord is contrasting the different
conditions of a man's heart. He's comparing one who is made
good by God, a new creation, and one who is still subject
to the old Adam nature. And the Lord is comparing them
by looking at the output or looking at the product, the produce,
the fruit of their lives in the way of their walk and their conversation. And he uses the picture of a
tree and the fruit it bears to press home the application. And here's a point of principle
that I want us to know, I want us to hear and remember this,
because sometimes we find these things a little bit confusing.
But here is a point of principle that the Bible establishes that
we should do well to note and remember. Good works, whatever
they may be, are truly good only when they emanate from a renewed
heart. Because of the fall and the sin
that resides in our nature, it is impossible for any man to
please God or to perform a good work in himself. Anything that is good in a man
must be put there by God and must derive from the goodness
of God in man. All good in man must therefore
be attributed to the grace of God and be attended with faith. Since where there is no faith,
There is no pleasing God. Without faith, it is impossible
to please God. And what is not of faith is sin. The reality is that when God
looks for good works in an individual, in a man, in a woman, he is seeking
perfection. And there is no one on the face
of this earth able to provide that perfection. Now this is
not to say that unbelievers cannot perform works of kindness or
demonstrate charity. Certainly they can. However,
the best of works performed by the best of men in the best manner
possible are necessarily flawed and imperfect. Why? Because they flow from a heart
that is deceitful and wicked. No one is good in the sight of
God regardless of how they appear to men. And nor can we say in
reality that the works of believers are in themselves perfect, because
indwelling sin, even where a renewed heart is present, means that
the best of our works are spoiled with nature's stain. And in this
sense, we understand Paul's words in Romans 3, verse 12, where
he says, However, there are good works
that please God and they're spoken of here by the Lord as the works
of a good man that flow out of the treasure of his heart. The works of a good man that
flow out of the treasure of his heart. Now this heart is a new
heart. It's a heart of flesh. It's not
a stony heart of nature. It's a heart in which Christ
dwells. And indeed Christ is himself
the treasure of a believer's heart. Acceptable good works, works
that are acceptable to God, are works done in faith, works done
in the service of the Lord and for the glory of God. They're works done because of
who Christ is and what he has done for us. These good works
include worship, they include prayer, they include fellowship,
as well as our interactions with this world. And they are acceptable
to God because they are cleansed and purified by the blood of
the Lord Jesus. And because they are the product
of the Lord's own workmanship in a believer's life. Because
God has purified unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of
good works. Peculiar people there means a
precious people, a distinct people, a separated people, a people
that he has purified unto himself who are zealous of good works.
These are those that he has loved and chosen from eternity, who
are predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ. And we
are created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained that we should walk in them. And it's such that the
Lord is here talking about when he speaks about this good tree.
A good tree brings forth good fruit. A good tree is one of
the Lord's regenerated people, one of those in whose heart the
Lord resides and for whom the Lord is the treasure of that
individual. So he's calling them here good
trees. That's the analogy that the Lord is working with. A good
tree brings forth good fruit because the Lord has ordained
it to be so. And every tree is known by his
own fruit. That which is made good by God
is suitably fruitful towards God. The change, the transformation,
the conversion that God has made in the hearts of His people means
that there is a fruitfulness in that life which is glorifying
to God. The man or the woman, the men
or women who are acceptable to God will be known as belonging
to Him by the fruit that they produce. Let me add a particular
example here because I think this actually merits the example. Indeed, it may be this is exactly
what the Lord was directing to because he's speaking, remember,
to his disciples, he's speaking to his apostles, he's speaking
to basically the first preachers in the new church. When the Lord speaks here, he
is speaking about preaching the gospel. And I don't think that
that is out of place to make this assumption. Because what
the Lord says is that he is speaking concerning the abundance of the
heart, out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh. We've been speaking about Jonah
over the past few weeks. And what the Lord says here about
speaking applies to ministers of the Gospel who are set apart
and sent to declare the good news of Christ's Kingdom. The Lord says, A good man out
of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is
good. A good man is a man made so by
the Lord, by the cleansing of blood, by adoption of grace,
and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And these spiritual
qualities supply the abundance in a preacher's heart. When he
preaches, it's out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. A man of faith preaches faithfully. He speaks about what is in his
heart. He speaks about what his heart
treasures. A spiritually fruitful ministry
can be harvested only as a consequence of spiritual quickening and divine
teaching. That man has to be himself saved
and he has to be taught by God, for of the abundance of the heart
his mouth speaks. A good man, a redeemed man, speaks
of the love of God in forming a purpose to save a people for
himself according to the covenant of grace. He speaks of election
and predestination and justification and effectual calling. Why? Out of the abundance of the heart
his mouth speaketh, because he has learned these things to be
true and to be comforting to his own soul. He speaks of forgiveness
because he has felt the blessedness of God's mercy in his own heart
and conscience, and he desires others might feel it too. He
speaks of sovereign grace because he knows as a weak and guilty
sinner, that's what weak and guilty sinners need and want
to hear. Out of the abundance of the heart,
his mouth speaketh. He speaks of eternal glory because
the Lord has given him a glimpse of the everlasting promises that
lie ahead just over the horizon in heaven for those who love
the Lord and those who are called according to his purpose. He
speaks of Christ, who died and rose again, and now is ascended
on high, ever living, ever interceding, watching over his little ones
in this world. Out of the abundance of the heart,
his mouth speaketh, because he himself has tasted that the Lord
is good, and that which he treasures most, he wishes to share with
others. It is God who first imparts the
treasure of Christ to our hearts, and then prospers the good treasure
in our hearts. For every tree is known by his
fruit. For of thorns men do not gather
figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. We cannot expect
to harvest gracious blessings from a preacher who has never
learned the gospel or known the truth, or felt the power of grace
in his own soul. So may the Lord raise up preachers
for his church today who are fitted to convey the treasure
of grace, and out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. Amen. Amen. Amen.