FRUIT TREES AND EVIL HEARTS

Good and Bad Trees

Jesus had good fruit because He is good.

Hebrews 7:26 “For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.”

The Pharisees had bad fruit because they were evil.

John 8:44 “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (See Revelation 12:9)

Jesus said our words and works reveal what kind of person we are.

Matthew 7:20 “Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”

The Abundance of the Heart

Our words are the overflow of our hearts.

Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

Genesis 6:5 “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Mark 7:21–22 “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.”

An evil heart produces evil words.

Cussing or profanity, dirty jokes, gossip, slander, mocking, lies, using God’s name in vain, grumbling, complaining, hateful words, angry outbursts, boasting, judging, false teaching

Romans 3:13–14 ““Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.””

An evil heart produces empty professions of faith.

Mark 7:6 “And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;”

Titus 1:16 “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.”

Every Careless Word

The average person speaks about 13,000 words per day. You could fill around 50 pages in an average sized book with 13,000 words. You would average speaking around 4,745,000 words per year. Over 80 years, we would speak around 379,600,000 words. That means we will have about 1,460,000 pages of everything we have ever said. That would equal 3,000 to 5,000 full length novels, depending on how long you wanted them to be. Jesus said we will be judged for every single one of those words.

We will be judged by our words because our words reveal who we really are.

Ecclesiastes 12:14 “For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.”

See Revelation 20:11–15, John 12:48, Hebrews 4:12-13...

Our words and works don’t save us. They are proof of our salvation.

Ephesians 2:8–10 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

See Romans 10:9-11...

Our only hope is to receive a new heart by believing in Christ.

See Ezekiel 36:25-27...