It's All About Fruit

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If you are new to our church today, it would be helpful for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.

What that means, is we believe the Bible is best taught by taking books of the Bible and then breaking them down from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. Our goal, to better understand not only what God’s Word says, but what it means in our lives today.

We are currently walking through the NT book of Matthew.

We are going to Jump Back in to Matthew Chapter 12 today.

If you have your Bibles turn with me to Matt 12:33

As we look at this section I want to do so by first answering last weeks questions.

1. Who are the Players?

2. Where is this taking place?

3. Who is the intended Audience?

4. What was going on in the situation?

5. Who was the Speaker Speaking To?

Jesus is Speaking to the Pharisees in front of a large crowd.

Pray

Matthew 12:33–37 CSB

33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit will be good, or make the tree bad and its fruit will be bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. 35 A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil. 36 I tell you that on the day of judgment people will have to account for every careless word they speak. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

So there is a lot to unpack here. Let’s get Started

Matthew 12:33 CSB

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

We have always had a problem with fruit............

This week as I was studying for this message and attending a Conference..........Pastor Chris Hodges pointed us to.

Genesis 2:9 CSB

9 The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:16–17 CSB

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

Notice the tree had the knowledge of Good and Evil..............

The Pharisees are grafted into the wrong tree.

The Fruit of The Pharisees

Self Righteousness

Pride in Their Ability to Fulfill the Smallest Details of the Law.

Busying Themselves with Religious Activity

Adherence without Deviation to Tradition

Attempting to Impress Others

All these things led to a life filled with Offense and Oppression

Keep in mind the Pharisees are Gods people. They are not the outsiders................

Yet here we see Jesus calling them out for their fruit.

Matthew 12:34 CSB

34 Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.

For the Pharisees it wasn’t about Getting People to God it was about Cleaning them up to Look Like a Person of God.........

Matthew 12:35 CSB

35 A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil.

Jesus has come to teach us how to be grafted to the tree of life............

Dillon Short..........

What does a life connected to the Tree of Life look like?

Relationship

Genesis 3:6–11 CSB

6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and delightful to look at, and that it was desirable for obtaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 So the Lord God called out to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” 11 Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil destroys relationship.........

Jesus has come to restore to Restore Relationship

Hebrews 4:14–16 CSB

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens—Jesus the Son of God—let us hold fast to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.

Relationship with God is not found in the ability to follow Laws or Church Rules.

Relationship with God is Found through.

Time

Time in the Word

Time in Worship

Time in Prayer

Time in Community with Fellow Believers

Time in Service to God

And this is what the Religious Elite of Isreal don’t get. They thought that the exile to Babylon was due to the breaking of the law.

When in actuality it was because they had lost their relationship with God. They had given their hearts over to other idols.

We have to guard our hearts from replacing Relationship with God for Reliance on Good Deeds in Actions.

Matthew 12:35 CSB

35 A good person produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil person produces evil things from his storeroom of evil.

You can always tell what storeroom a church person is producing from.

Matthew 12:36–37 CSB

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

Here is the issue we face. Someday we are all going to face Judgement...............

Some of us in this room are going to miss the the Aquittal

Matthew 7:21–23 CSB

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ 23 Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!’

Right here Jesus declares it is not your works that get you into heaven it is your Relationship.

The Key to Heaven is not found in Good Deeds.

The Key to Heaven is Found in Relationship with Jesus.

So what have you been relying on?

Some have been in Church their whole lives yet still don’t know Him

Some of you have never made a decision to start that relationship with Him

We Believe at Freedom Chapel that if we will order our lives around three goal: Be with Jesus, Become Like Jesus, and do what Jesus Did we will see our lives, our homes and our communities changed.

Today, I want to invite you whether you have been in church your whole life or today is your first day to begin your journey of following Jesus.

Romans 10:9 CSB

9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.