Turning once again to in the
word of the Lord, to Luke chapter 6. Luke chapter 6. And I'm taking the title for
the message from the first line in verse 44 of Luke chapter 6. For every tree is known, every
tree is recognized, known by his own fruit." Fruit. Fruit. Every tree is known by
his fruit. In the scriptures, believers
are often compared to trees. In Isaiah 60 verse 21, the planting
of the the branch of my planting, the
work of my hand, that I may be glorified." Now hold your place
there and let me show you a couple of scriptures. Turn first of
all to Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61. I'm trying to make
good on that statement. Believers are often compared
to trees. trees of the Lord's planting,
the work of His hand. Isaiah 61, look at verse 1. The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings
to the meek. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and opening
of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort
all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give
them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment
of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees
of righteousness." You see that? trees of righteousness, the planting
of the Lord, that he may be glorified. Now turn to one other scripture,
find Psalms, the book of Psalms, and then Psalm 92. Psalm 92. It says here in verse 12 of Psalm
92, the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. Now how are
sinners made righteous? Boy, if you know the answer to
that question, you're a blessed man. How is a sinner made righteous? Well, the righteous shall flourish
like a palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar, a
cedar tree in Lebanon. Those that they planted in the
house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They
shall still bring forth fruit in old age They shall be fat
and flourishing, to show that the Lord is upright, He is my
God, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." Trees the Lord has planted. Now look back to Luke chapter
6, Luke chapter 6 verse 43. For a good tree bringeth forth
not corrupt fruit, neither does a corrupt tree bring forth good
fruit." Now, he makes a comparison here. A good tree, as it says
there in verse 45, turn there, verse 45. A good man out of the
good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good. An
evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that
which is evil. For of the abundance, or out
of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks." Now here we
have a comparison between a good tree or a good man an evil tree
and an evil man, a good tree or a good man out of a good treasure
of his heart, and that is a new heart given in regeneration. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature, brings forth that which is good. Confessing
the Lord Jesus Christ as all of his salvation, as all of his
righteousness before God. That's the blessed heart of faith. That's the good heart, the good
treasure out of the good man. Now the comparison is made here
to an evil tree or an evil man. Out of an evil treasure of his
heart brings forth that which is nothing but evil. Confessing
with his mouth that his hope of salvation depends upon him
alone, not Christ. Depends upon his work alone,
not the Lord Jesus Christ. His hope depends upon something
he did rather than the Lord Jesus Christ. That's evil. That is
most evil. That will land you in the land
of condemnation. Well, out of the abundance of
the heart, look at verse 45, the last part. Well, out of the
abundance of the heart, the heart of man, the mouth speaks. Words, someone said, words are
one of the great evidences of the condition of the heart. Words,
your heart, your mind. Your heart is your, not talking
about this organ, it talks about when the Scriptures talk about
your heart, it's your will, it's your mind, it's your affection,
it's the spirit of man. Words, words of the heart. Words, the word of the heart
is an outward and visible manifestation of what is in the heart." In
other words, words reveal the heart. That's what the Lord says
here. I've said to you over the years, and I heard this saying
years and years ago, 30 years ago. Someone said this and it
just stuck in me, stuck with me. What is in the well of the
heart, what's in the well of your heart, will always leak
out through the bucket of the mouth. Mark it down. It always
will leak out sooner or later. We read a moment ago in Matthew
12, for by words thou shalt be justified, and by your words
you'll be condemned. What do you speak when you speak
about salvation and forgiveness? Now, in this one parable, the
Lord gives four different parts. Today, we have part three of
this one parable that is given, and I'm giving it this title,
using this title, Every Tree is Known by Its Fruit. Apple trees produce nothing but
apples. I planted some apple trees over
in the yard, and I hope by the Lord's grace to someday have
some blooms and some apples. Briar bushes produce nothing
but briars. That's pretty much common sense,
is it not? You don't expect peaches on the
briars. You expect briars. And here's
the point the Lord is making. Sinners produce nothing but sin. A corrupt tree brings forth nothing
but corruption, sin, and evil. A good tree that is made good
by God's grace, a sinner justified by God's sovereign grace brings
forth that good fruit. Now let me show you what I'm
talking about. Turn to John, hold your place there and find
John 15. You remember in Galatians chapter 5 when the apostle described
the fruit of the Spirit? Before in Galatians 5 he talked
about the works of the flesh. And then he talks, it's a gruesome
list. And then he talks about the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, temperance. Faith is
the fruit of the Spirit. Unbelief is nothing but an evil
heart of unbelief. In John chapter 15, Notice verse
5, the Lord said, I am the vine, you are the branches. He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much
fruit. For without me you can do some
things. Without me you can do nothing.
If a man abideth not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and
is withered. And men gather them, and cast
them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me,
and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it
shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples,
the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, and peace. If the heart
is right, made so by His power, His grace, then the fruit of
the heart is right and glorifying unto God. If the heart is only
evil, the fruit will always be that which is contrary to grace. It will always be evil. When you get right down to it,
here's the bottom line. There are only two kinds of people
in this life. Two kinds. I don't care if it's
white, black, red, or yellow. It doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter denomination or what nation. There are only two kinds of people
in this life, saved and lost. Those justified in the Lord Jesus
Christ, justified freely by His grace, and those who were lost
and dead in their sin. There are just two kinds of people
in this life. Those dead in sin and those made
alive by the quickening power of God's grace. You hath he quickened
who were dead in trespasses and in sin. There are just two kinds
of people in this life. Those who are nothing but corruption
and evil and those who are made good and righteous in Christ. For He is made unto us. Wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I have no righteousness
of my own. The righteousness that I have
that's been given to me is freely imputed by His grace. We'll read
that in just a moment. Now, let's go back and consider
two things. Who are those that are evil? Who are those that are evil men
with an evil treasure which produce nothing but sin? Where do we find such a person? Where could we go to find such
a man as this? You know what? You're looking
at one. And you know what? I'm looking
at one. Every time you look in the mirror,
that's the evil man. The flesh is nothing but flesh. You don't have to go very far
to find this evil man. It is you yourself. It is you and it is me. You say, Preacher, surely you're
not an evil man. Boy, if you only knew. Just ask
my wife, she'll tell you. We are by nature most sinful,
are we not? That's what every man is by nature.
We're born in sin, shapen in iniquity. We come forth from
the womb speaking not the truth, lies. The carnal man will not
receive the things of the Spirit of God. This is not my description
of you and me. This is God's description of
you and me. There's absolutely no goodness
in us whatsoever. Go back to the beginning. Find
Genesis chapter 6. And it all happened when Adam
sinned against God and God said that you'll die and that you'll
have a fallen, depraved, and sinful nature, so much so, Genesis
chapter 6, verse 5. Now, look at this carefully.
I want everyone to turn and read this. Because, you know, it's
for one thing for me to say, well, he's an evil man, I'm an
evil man. And that's true. But this is what God says of
us, every one of us. Verse 5, And God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination... Now, notice if you have the Cambridge,
on the word every is the number 7. The marginal reference has
the whole imagination. The Hebrew word signifies not
only the imagination, but also the purposes and desires. is only evil continually. The imagination of the thoughts
of the heart, of the heart, the heart is only, was only evil
continually. The marginal reference on the
word continually there is every day. You say, well that doesn't
describe me. Well, if you descend from Adam
it does. And Adam all died. Unless you
descended from a monkey, maybe you don't have the problem that
I do. But I descended from Adam, and I'm a sinner. And you are
too. You see, this is God's description
of us. Now, I want you to find Matthew
15. Matthew 15. Let's use the Word of God and
let's read it and believe it. Matthew 15. Verse 15, Matthew 15, 15. Peter
said unto him, Lord, declare unto us this parable. And the
Lord said, Are you without understanding? Do you not yet understand that
the things which enter into the mouth, they go into the belly,
they're cast out into the drought, down the sewer, down the commode,
but those things which proceed out of the mouth, they come forth
from the heart. You see, our problem is not what
we put in here, The problem is what comes out. That's our problem. Those things which proceed out
of the mouth, they come forth from the heart, and they defile
the man. For out of the heart proceeds
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies. These are the things which defile
a man. But to eat with unwashing hands, that's not the problem. They were concerned about the
disciples eating food without washing their hands. And he said,
that's not the problem, what you eat. The problem is the heart. Now, it affects the whole person.
Turn to Isaiah 1, describing the evil man. This is God's description
of what we are, Isaiah chapter 1. We talk about total depravity. We are totally depraved. Isaiah
1. Verse 4, "...a sinful nation,
a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children
that are corruptors, they have forsaken the Lord, they provoke
the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backward, Yea,
why should you be stricken any more? You will revolt more and
more. The whole head is sick, the whole
heart is faint, the whole head, the whole heart, from the sole
of your foot even to your head. There is no soundness in it but
wounds, bruises, putrefying sores that have not been closed, neither
bound up, neither mollified with ointment, with oil. from the
top of our head to the bottom of our feet, nothing but corruption. Turn to Isaiah 64. Therefore, everything that we think, say,
and do in this flesh has one stamp upon it, evil, evil. It's only, now I'll get to the
good part in a minute, but I'm going to take us down, I'm going
to tear us down and I'm going to build us up. Okay? I'm tearing
you down right now, Isaiah 64, look at verse 6. We are all as
an unclean thing. All of our righteousnesses, plural,
are as filthy rags. And we all do fade as a leaf.
Our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. There is
none that calls upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take
hold of thee. Thou hast hid thy face from us,
and hast consumed us because of our iniquities. But now, O
Lord, thou art our Father. We are the clay, thou our potter,
we are all the work of thy hand." If God is going to make this
sinner good, He has to do it. He has to justify us. Back to the book of Psalms, find
Psalm 14. Psalm 14. This is God's description of
the evil man. that hath an evil treasure, that
brings forth evil things. Psalm 14, the fool hath said
in his heart, there is no God. Verse 1, they are corrupt, they
have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. There
is, N-O-N-E, none that doeth good. You see, there's none good
but the Lord. The Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand
and seek God. They're all gone aside. They're
all together become filthy. There is none that doeth good,
no, not one." Does that include me? Does that include you? Yes. Yes, it does. You see, you say,
well, that's the Old Testament. Okay. Okay. Romans 3, turn there. Romans 3. You see, man at his
best state is altogether vanity. You know, one of the evidences
of knowing God and believing God, one of the evidence of being
regenerated, is when you read these descriptions of yourself,
you say, yep, the Lord got that right. Yep, the Lord got that
right. That's me. That's me right there. In my
flesh there is no good thing. That's me. Romans 3. Verse 9, what then? Are we better
than they? The Jews any better than the
Gentiles? No, and no wise, for we before proved both Jew and
Gentile, they're all under sin. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they've used
deceit, the poison of snakes, aspirin under their lips, whose
mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift
to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in
their way. The way of peace they've not
known. There's no fear of God before their eyes." Boy, that's
brutal, isn't it? How did we get that way? Turn
to Romans 5. In Adam, all died. Verse 12, when Adam sinned, we
sinned. When Adam received that fallen,
depraved, sinful nature, we did as well. Wherefore, Romans 5,
12, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and
death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned, or the marginal reference on the word for, For that, or
in whom all have sinned in Adam, all died." Okay. Now, look back to Luke 6. The evil man, out of the evil
treasure of his heart, bringeth forth that which is evil. For
the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Now, let's look
at the flip side. A good man, out of the good treasure
of his heart, bringeth forth that which is good, and only
that which is good. Now who are these who are made
good? How are they made good? And what
is the good treasure and this good fruit? We know that none
are good by nature, right? We also, we know We also know
there is nothing truly good and truly righteous but those things
that God gives and those things that He freely imputes unto His
people by His sovereign grace through the gospel. James chapter
1 verse 17, Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from
God of His own will, be yet He with the word of truth. In Adam, we die. Sin entered
in, but in Christ, we're made alive. By one man's disobedience,
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of another, shall
many be made righteous." In Christ, we're made alive. In Christ,
He is our righteousness. In Christ, we've been freely
given to us righteousness that's freely imputed. Now, that's a
word that we need to be very familiar with. Turn to Romans
chapter 4. In this chapter, Romans chapter
4, he uses the word imputed, counted, and reckoned about seven
or eight times. Imputed, counted, and reckoned. You know what imputation means,
don't you? All of you have a credit card,
or most of you do. All the younger ones do. When
you take your credit card and you use it, that charge is imputed
to your account. You're responsible for it to
pay the debt. Okay. Look what it says right
here. That's the meaning of the word, to charge to one's account. Luke 2, Romans 4, "...for if
Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof the glory, but
not before God. For what saith the Scripture,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness."
Our Lord said, Abraham rejoiced to see my day, he saw it and
was glad. Now to him that worketh is a
reward, not reckoned of debt, of grace, but rather of debt.
But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth
the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even, verse
6, as David also described it, the blessedness of the man unto
whom God, now underscore these two words, God imputeth. God imputeth righteousness without
works. God reckons a righteousness wrought
out by Christ unto His people, saying, verse 7, Blessed are
they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed
is that man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. What a blessing we have in the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, who are these good men? Well, there's none good but God
and only those in the God-man mediator, the Lord Jesus. I want you to turn to Mark 10.
Let me show you what I'm trying to say right here in Mark chapter
10. Who are these good men? For there is none good but God,
and only those in Him. in Christ, our righteousness.
Now, you remember the rich man who came to the Lord in Mark
10, 17, when he was gone forth into the way, there came one
running and kneeled to him and asked him, Good Master, what
shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And the Lord said
unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but
one, and that is God. The Lord Jesus Christ is saying,
I am God, and I am the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the
people. There is none good but God. Oh, taste and see, the psalmist
said, Psalm 34 verse 8, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Who are these good men? Well,
they're sinners by nature, but they're made good by God's grace. And this is my second point.
How are they made good? Well, let's turn to 1 Peter chapter
3. First, how are they made good?
Well, it's not by what we do. It's not by works of righteousness
which we have done. 1 Peter chapter 3. How are we
made good? How are sinners justified? Well,
by the work of Christ for them, by the work of Christ for them,
1 Peter 3.18. For Christ also hath once suffered
four sins, the just four, the unjust, that he might bring us
to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the
Spirit. He bare our sins in his own body
on the tree." I know we have all memorized this scripture,
but let's find it one more time. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 21. by the work of Christ for them,
the just dying for the unjust. And it says here in verse 21,
2 Corinthians 5, For He hath made Him to be sin for us who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. How are we made good? In Him. God made Him to be sin. reckoned
our sin to Him, laid our sin, the sin of God's elect, laid
our sin upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He fully paid for those sins
and He reckoned unto us righteousness, a justifying righteousness before
God. How are they made good? By the
work of Christ for them and the work of Christ in them, in you. Find Philippians, the book of
Philippians chapter 1. The work of Christ in you. Christ
in you is the hope of glory. But of Him are you in Christ.
And then Christ is in us too. We're in Him and He is in us.
In Philippians chapter 1 verse 6, being confident of this very
thing, that He who hath begun a good work in you will finish
it, will perform it, finish it until the day the Lord Jesus
Christ comes back. Turn one page, Philippians chapter
2 verse 13, For it is God which worketh in
you. Salvation is a work of grace
in the heart. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature, a new creation. For it is God which worketh in
you, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Ezekiel 36, the Lord said, I
will take away that stony heart and I will give them a new heart. A heart that loves the Lord Jesus
Christ. A heart of faith that loves Him. Ezekiel 36, 25 through 29. Peter called it that we are in
the new birth, we are partakers of a divine nature. Find 2 Peter
chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1. Look at verse 3, 2 Peter 1 verse
3, According as His divine power hath given to us all things that
pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him
hath called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding
great and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers
of a divine nature, a good nature, a righteous nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world to love." I have that old
man, that old nature, that corrupt nature, that produces nothing
but evil, and then in the new birth, I have that new nature,
that new heart, that loves God, that cannot sin, John says, because
it's given of God. How are we made good? In Christ. by his work for us and his work
in us. Now, what is this good treasure?
This good fruit? Well, it's Christ in you, the
hope of glory. Let's turn to Matthew 13. Let
me show you this. Matthew 13. You remember the
parable of the sower? Some seed was sown among the
hard ground and the stony ground and the thorny ground. And then
he says here in Matthew 13, Verse 23, you remember some seed was
sown upon good ground. Matthew 13, 23. But he that receives
seed into the good ground, now here's the good ground that's
prepared by God the Holy Spirit, and we call that Holy Spirit
conviction. But he that receives seed into
the good ground is he that hears the word, understands it, which
also beareth fruit, bringeth forth some hundredfold, some
sixty, some thirtyfold. By their fruit you shall know
them. In Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and in Christ we stand complete." Now
look back in Luke chapter 6. Verse 45, the last part of verse
45, the last two lines. For out of the abundance of the
heart, the mouth speaks. Out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaks. We read a moment ago in Matthew
12, the Lord said, by your words you'll be condemned and by your
words you'll be justified. What are these words by which
you'll be condemned? Well, we have a very good illustration
of that back in Matthew chapter 7. Turn there. By your words
you'll be condemned. What are these words of condemnation?
I don't want to speak them. Do you? Look at Matthew 7. Verse 21, Not everyone that saith
unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but
he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. For
many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in your name? And in thy name we've cast out
devils. In thy name we've done many wonderful works. You see,
they're revealing what's in their heart, aren't they? Lord, look
what we've done. We've done this. We've done that.
We've done the other thing. Then I'll profess unto them,
I never knew you. Depart from me, you that work
iniquity." They were words of condemnation. They were speaking
what was in their heart. Lord, look at us. Look what we've
done. He said, I don't know you. Depart from me, you that work
iniquity. Bragging upon what you have done
will only bring condemnation upon your soul. Now he says,
By your words, turn over there again to Matthew 12. Matthew
12, verse 37. Let's look at this one more time,
and maybe you want to mark this in your Bible. Matthew 12, verse
37. For by thy words thou shalt be
condemned, and for thy words, by thy words you'll be justified.
Now we just read what these words of condemnation are. What are
these words by which we'll be justified? justified justified
bragging and believing upon the lord jesus christ is the evidence
of being justified by his great other words remember revelation
one it's under him who loved us and watched us from our say
it in his own blood to him be glory and honor both now and
for ever the apostle paul called those words over in colossians
chapter 4, verse 6, don't turn, let me just read it to you. He
said, "...let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with
salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man. Be
ready to give every man an answer that would ask you of the hope
that is in you." What is your hope? Well, you know, I... uh-oh, trouble. What is your
hope? Christ. Period. Over. He's all our hope. We have a
good hope through grace. By your words, you'll be justified. What are these words of justification?
Well, let's read them. Turn over here to Romans 10.
Romans chapter 10. Here are the words of justification.
Bragging upon Christ what He has done. Romans 10 verse 6,
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise,
Say not in your heart who shall ascend into heaven, that is to
bring Christ down from above, or who shall descend into the
deep, that is to bring up Christ again from the dead, but what
saith it? The words nigh thee, even in
thy heart, in thy mouth, in thy heart, that is the word of faith
which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, or Jesus to be Lord, and believe in thine heart
that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Words
of justification. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the Scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed, for there is no difference
between Jew and Greek. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all that call upon Him. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be justified by your words,
you be condemned by your words. You'll be justified. By Him all
that believe are justified from all things which could not be
justified by the law of Moses, Acts 13, 38 and 39. May God give us much grace in
our heart to make us in the Lord Jesus
Christ an object of His love and a trophy of His grace and
a vessel of mercy. that we might show forth the
praise and honor of the blessed Savior. And may God give us grace
to look to Him, to trust Him. He said, looking unto me, coming
unto me, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, thou shalt be saved. A good man, out of the good treasure
of his heart, speaks forth that which is good. What is good?
Christ. He's all my goodness. He's all
my hope. All my salvation.