Our Hearts

Last time I preached we dealt with what to do when we don’t have answers. We were guided through scripture to remember we serve a powerful Savior, He directs the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit lives in us. With that in Matthew Jesus continued after discussing the Spirit by letting His followers know how they can tell if they are living by the spirit or not. We have dealt with all the fruits of the spirit so you all know what the behaviors are of those who are filled with the Spirit. Today I want to discuss with you what Jesus said about how we will know that we are His and how we can test what others are and what spirit they are living in. The thing about it is that we care a lot about appearances. Jesus though did not care much about appearances, He cared more about the heart.

If you see a man holding a clipboard and looking official, the chances are good that he is supposed to be doing something menial.

Today you likely got up and spent time getting your hair just right, picking out the right outfit, and making sure your teeth were brushed and clean. Some folks were yelling at their kids and worried about what the kids were going to wear. I know because this is my house every Sunday! How many of us though woke up this morning concerned about where our hearts are and how we are going to offer our worship to our Father today? How many of us cared about where our hearts were in relation to how the relationships in our lives are. Many of us will come to church dressed up and nice, trying to worship God with hearts that are far from Him. Today turn in your Bible to Matthew 12:33-37 where we will find Jesus speaking to the Pharisees. In this Scripture we will get to see 3 things that Jesus taught in this small but powerful interaction. First we will see that the tree determines the fruit, Second the heart determines the mouth, and Third the mouth determines the judgment.

The Tree determines the Fruit

Matthew 12:33–34 ESV

33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Jesus in this statement calls the Pharisees on the carpet. Jesus tells them that they are all rotten. In this interaction Jesus rips the carpet from under these great religious leaders and He does so in front of their followers. In this very statement Jesus is telling the religious leaders that it does not matter how much they make themselves appear to be religious and how they dress up, how much they clean the temple, or what they do it is not enough if they do not change internally and begin to bear good fruit. We have all met the people who say I will follow God when I clean my act up and when I am able to do good enough. As a matter of fact there are some in here this morning who are waiting to serve God for a time when they can do good enough to feel like they are good enough to meet the standard of God. Well let me tell you, you will never be there. There will never be a day where you are able to do good enough to meet the expectations of God. Jesus had to die on the cross because we can never do good enough. Jesus was not concerned with how good you can make yourself look. There are so many people sitting in church today having driven a beautiful vehicle, having perfect hair, and smelling pretty but they are simply covering up to us that they are rotten. The fact though us that they will never be able to hide that from God. Jesus sees first the tree, then the fruit. Read again what He said. Matthew 12:33

Matthew 12:33 ESV

33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit.

change the tree if you want to change the fruit. It is our decision to either seek God and be a better tree which develops good fruit or we can simply put on fake fruit that will trick others into thinking we have it all together and we are good trees. Guess what though when they taste the fruit you are putting out it will disgust them. You may look pretty on the outside but when they get to know you and see what you are really about they will find out real quick that you are not who you say you are and one bigger fact is that God knows it. Let me ask you, are you a good tree or are you a bad tree with pretty looking fruit. What does it mean to make the tree good? Let’s look into this. What are the components of a good tree?

First a good tree is planted in the right place. Many people do not want to be planted in the right places. I am one to tell you and to be very honest with you that church does not fix everything and does not make things perfect. It does however surround you with people who care about you and want to see God do good things in and through you. You know where you wont find that? The bars, the parties, the group chats that don't honor God, the online chat rooms that surround you with things that do not honor God. Where are you planting yourself? Are you planted in a place where you are being grown in the faith and working out your salvation or are you in a place where you can simply slide back into ways that you know dont honor God but no one is going to call you out on it? What does the Bible say about this?

1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV

33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

2 Corinthians 6:14 ESV

14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

Proverbs 13:20 ESV

20 Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Psalm 1:1 ESV

1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

Please do not take this as my allowing you not to be witnesses. This is me saying that you become a product of your environment. When you choose to surround yourself in certain places you will become like the ones you spend the most time with. Plant yourself in a place where you are forced to grow in your faith not in places where people justify poor behavior and give reasons why you don't have to live your faith out.

Second good trees have good root systems. What are you taking in? Where are your roots digging into? Are your Tv choices holy? Are your music choices holy? What things are you taking into your heart as your nutrients? You do not have to look very hard at me to see that I am not a salad eater! In the same way it does not take long for others to see believers who do not take in good nutrients. When things around them get tough they revert back to old behaviors, when push comes to shove they will choose themselves over their neighbor. Why? Because they have never moved beyond taking in their source of nutrients from the same old places they did so before. We must ensure that we are getting the things of God into our root system and feeding ourselves the right things. Reading the Bible, turning off the TV, listening to the right music, all of this is what affects our root system and the type of tree we are.

Psalm 81:13 ESV

13 Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!

Proverbs 2:2 ESV

2 making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding;

2 Corinthians 10:5 ESV

5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

We are made good trees when we seek God and we root ourselves in the things of Him. Jesus said to make the tree good and the fruit good or make the tree bad and the fruit bad. We get to determine what type of tree we are going to be. Funny thing about a tree with good fruit and a tree with bad fruit is that you cannot tell until you eat the fruit.

When I was in Ukraine we were told not to eat the fruit or drink the water. I in my mind believed they simply told us that so we would spend more money on the store goods. I had no idea that this was a real thing that our bodies could not handle the differences in the ways things are processed. We were out in a field doing a summer VBS and spending time with the kids at VBS when I saw it from across the field. It was so beautiful and it was just what I was looking for. At 93 degrees outside I was looking for something refreshing. The plum tree was just what I was looking for. Kristie the music ministers wife from First Baptist Church was interested in seeing if she still had her cheer leading skills and had a few of the girls build a pyramid for her to climb to the top of. I asked them to move the pyramid to the tree and see if she could get me some fruit from the tree. She said it was a bad idea but I was too smart to listen. They got me 6 plums from the tree and I ate 2 of them. The first one was ok but the second one was bitter and did not taste all that great. Everything seemed fine until the next morning when I spent the entire day eating chunks of charcoal and never making it far from a toilet. The toilets by the way were in many places holes in the middle of an open room where everyone could see you and you could see everyone. It was a very uncomfortable experience both physically and mentally. I later found out that the tree I ate from was planted next to a creek that often would be filled with waste materials, yeah you know what I mean by waste materials too.

The tree determines the fruit. Are you a good tree? Are you taking in the right nutrients and planting yourself in the right place? Jesus said the tree determines the Fruit but He also said that the Heart determines the mouth.

The Heart Determines the Mouth

Matthew 12:34–35 ESV

34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

You might be able to say something nice every once in a while but if you are not a good tree, rooted correctly and taking in the right nutrients, eventually your fruit will sour. The words that come out of your mouth will not be things that honor God and they will not be the things that you are proud of. Jesus said it is out of the heart that the mouth speaks. How does your mouth speak? What are the things that come to mind when you think about other people, or people that don’t look, smell, sound the same as you? How do you react when you are brought to the place to display your fruit? It is easy showing good fruit when everyone is looking but what about when they are not? Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees and He is telling them that they cannot say anything good because nothing is good in them. Their hearts are driving their words? What were the words of the Pharisees? Thats right they were always talking bad about those around them. To them they were the greatest believers, they were the smartest ones in the room, they were the best of the best and their words were used to tear others down. Let’s talk about this for a minute. How do you talk about those in your family who do not make the choices you think are best? What things are you saying about them and how is your heart towards them? What are you saying about your co-workers who are not the people you think they should be? How is your heart towards them? I find it funny when people say something and then they follow it up with just kidding. The fact is that most the time they are not kidding and even if they are they are kidding about things that should not be joked about. I am going to say this as a believer. No christian should be making any kind of racial joke. To make jokes about race is to say that you see yourself as superior to someone else. No christian should make jokes about a persons mental health or lack of. Jokes of this nature indicate you think you are better than they are. You know why I joke about myself so much? Because I would rather see where I fall short than those around me. We should think of others more highly than we think of ourselves. That is a heart of a good tree. Your mouth will show others what your heart truly says. Have you ever reflected on the things you say? What does the Scripture say about the words we speak?

Proverbs 18:21 ESV

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Proverbs 13:3 ESV

3 Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.

Ecclesiastes 10:12 ESV

12 The words of a wise man’s mouth win him favor, but the lips of a fool consume him.

Proverbs 26:18–19 ESV

18 Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death 19 is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!”

Our tounge is not able to be tamed.

James 3:8 ESV

8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Unless you change the heart you will never control your tongue. We must see others as more important than ourselves. We must not joke at the expense of others. We must watch the negative things we say about others. I have a rule at work. If I cannot say 3 good things about an employee I will not bring up 1 thing they need to change and if I cannot find 3 good things about the employee I need to spend more time with them. We must live differently and that comes from a changed Heart.

A man working in the produce department was asked by a lady if she could buy half a head of lettuce. He replied, "Half a head? Are you serious? God grows these in whole heads and that's how we sell them!"

"You mean," she persisted, "that after all the years I've shopped here, you won't sell me half-a-head of lettuce?"

"Look," he said, "If you like I'll ask the manager."

She indicated that would be appreciated, so the young man marched to the front of the store. "You won't believe this, but there's a lame-braided idiot of a lady back there who wants to know if she can buy half-a-head of lettuce."

He noticed the manager gesturing, and turned around to see the lady standing behind him, obviously having followed him to the front of the store. "And this nice lady was wondering if she could buy the other half" he concluded.

Later in the day the manager cornered the young man and said, "That was the finest example of thinking on your feet I've ever seen! Where did you learn that?" "I grew up in Grand Rapids, and if you know anything about Grand Rapids, you know that it's known for its great hockey teams and its ugly women."

The manager's face flushed, and he interrupted, "My wife is from Grand Rapids!"

The young man interrupted

"And which hockey team did she play for?"

The tongue can build up or tear down. You must choose to be a good tree bearing good fruit which comes from making choices to feed on the things of God. Why must you do this? Because the tongue determines the judgment.

The Tongue determines the Judgment

Matthew 12:36–37 ESV

36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

When you stand before God giving account of your words, will your good words outweigh your negative speech? Will you have been the person who lifted people up with your words or tears them down with your words. The fact is that if you choose today to be a tree that is good with good fruit, it will not take long for you to see the result. I make it a point when someone is saying something negative about anyone to find something good to say about the other person. It will often times get the other person out of their normal patter because the fact is that most will stand and justify the feelings or behaviors instead of pushing the person to be like Jesus. We are all going to stand before God one day and guess what we are going to give account for? How we loved and how we spoke about others.

2 Corinthians 5:10 ESV

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

Revelation 20:12 ESV

12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done.

Matthew 7:1–5 ESV

1 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

2 Timothy 2:15 ESV

15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

How are you going to present yourself to God? Are you going to strive to be a good tree? Some in here need to uproot and replant in a place that is healthy for their growth, giving more time to Bible study, Godly music and tv, and being around believers who hold them accountable for living like Christ. Some in here need to give their lives to God and start the process. Some in here need to remember that they will be judged for their words. Our hearts direct our actions and our words. What are your words and actions saying about the one you claim lives inside of you?