This week we have been looking at a section of a famous
sermon that we know today as the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7:15-20, we Jesus
reveal for us a timeless truth about the true
nature of what it means to obey the message and teachings of Jesus and the true
nature of a lifestyle that is living a right relationship with Jesus in that a right relationship with God is revealed by
the results that are produced
The timeless reality is that it is the fruit,
or the results that are produced in our lives, that reveals what is going on
internally when it comes to the place that God has in our lives. Once
again, we see Jesus move past externals to the issue of the
heart. Once again, we see that Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition.
Jesus is concerned with our internal heart condition because Jesus knows, and
human history has shown, that what is in the heart will eventually spill out.
And what spills out of our hearts is the fruit, or the results that are
produced as a result of our internal heart condition.
And
that fruit cannot be faked for any significant period of time. Sure, you might
be able to fool some people for some period of time, but eventually your
behavior will betray what you say is going on inside to instead reveal what is
truly going on inside. You see, you can only fake it for so long before you
become exhausted trying to produce fruit externally that you are unable to
produce because of what is present internally. We see Jesus reveal this reality
in what He says next in Matthew 7:21-23:
"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22 "Many
will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and
in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' 23
"And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU
WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
Now Jesus statement here, if communicated in the
language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this:
“Not everyone who claims that I am in charge of their lives actually has a
right relationship with Me and will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Instead,
it is the one who lives their lives in a way that carries out in obedience the
desires of My Father that reveals the reality that they have a right
relationship with Me and will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who are false
prophets will say to Me on the day when the Kingdom of Heaven arrives in its
fullest sense ‘Didn’t you see all the spectacular things that we did for you?’
And I will declare to those false prophets ‘All the spectacular things that you
did in My name were done to deceive people so as to destroy people. You were
not carrying out the desires of My Father; you were coopting My name to deceive
people. And because of that reality, the results that were produced in your
life reveal your true lawless nature of rebellion against Me and the reality
that you were not interested in knowing, following or obeying Me. And because
you do not truly heave a heart relationship with Me that desires to live
according to my desires, you can depart from Me.’”
Jesus point is that it is the fruit that is produced
in the life of a person that is driven to follow God’s desires for their lives
as they strive to live in obedience to Jesus that reveals the reality of a
genuine and authentic relationship with Jesus. Jesus point is that it is the
results of daily obedience, not the occasional, spectacular act of an otherwise
disobedient life that reveals the reality of a genuine and authentic
relationship with Jesus. Jesus point is that a one day a week, 75-minute, check
the box on Sunday, Christianity that is betrayed by a lifestyle that goes
against the message and teachings of Jesus the rest of the week are the results
that are produced in the life of a person externally that does not know Jesus
internally.
You see, at the end of the day, Jesus is concerned with
our internal heart condition. Jesus is concerned with our internal heart
condition because Jesus knows, and human history has shown, that what is in the
heart will eventually spill out. And, as Jesus points out in this part of His
famous sermon, a right relationship with God is revealed
by the results that are produced.
So, with that in mind, here is a question to consider:
What does the fruit, or the results that are produced by your life, reveal
about your internal heart condition? Are you exhausted from trying to
produce fruit externally that you are unable to produce because of what is
present in you internally? Are the results that are produced in your life
betraying what you say is going on inside to instead reveal what is truly going
on inside?
Because,
the timeless reality is that it is the fruit,
or the results that are produced in our lives, that reveals what is going on
internally when it comes to the place that God has in our lives. That is why Jesus consistently moved past
externals to the issue of the heart. Jesus is concerned with our internal heart
condition because Jesus knows, and human history has shown, that what is in the
heart will eventually spill out. And what spills out of our hearts is the
fruit, or the results that are produced as a result of our internal heart
condition.
And
the reality is that a right relationship with God is
revealed by the results that are produced…
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