Sermon for Sunday, February 15th, 2025 at First Presbyterian Church at Unionville, NY (BPC)
Old Testament Reading:
[Proverbs 15:1-9 ESV] 1 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. 2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. 3 The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. 4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. 5 A fool despises his father’s instruction, but whoever heeds reproof is prudent. 6 In the house of the righteous there is much treasure, but trouble befalls the income of the wicked. 7 The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools. 8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is acceptable to him. 9 The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, but he loves him who pursues righteousness.
New Testament Reading:
[Galatians 5:16-26 ESV] 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Gospel Reading:
[John 8:39-47 ESV] 39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father–even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 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. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
Sermon Text:
[Matthew 12:33-37 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. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 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.”
Introduction
When I read this text – especially the verse “the tree is known by its fruit,” I think just how DIFFICULT it is to discern a person’s status before the Lord. Perhaps it is impossible. There are unbelievers who do what appears to be good deeds, and that there are professing believers, who like Judas, depart from the faith showing that they “came out from us, but were not of us.”Then we know that believers are not without sin. So it is very difficult to discern whether a person is elect of God or not. Indeed, even a session of Pastors and elders in a Presbyterian Church in examining in a person for membership only judges based on a “credible confession of faith,” not claiming to know absolutely the heart of that individual. So what does it mean “the tree is known by its fruit”? If the passage is telling us that we have the ability to discern who is a believer, it can only be general and not absolute, for we could be mistaken.
There is, I contend, something else in focus here.
When we read and understand the passage in context we’ll see that the major point at issue is that Jesus is proven by HIS fruit to be good and the pharisees are proven by their fruit to be evil.
I. Fruit: Jesus vs. the Pharisees
The context of our passage is that it follows upon that dialogue between Jesus and the Pharisees where they had claimed that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Satan. And Jesus proved the absurdity and falsity of that claim.
Now, Jesus is turning the tables, and saying, in essence, “My GOOD deeds show who I am (a truly good man), while your evil deeds and evil words show who you truly are (evil men). The Pharisees can claim all they want to be priests and followers of God, but their actions prove otherwise.
That is Jesus main: He is not under the power of Satan, but the Pharisees are.
Jesus, in fact, calls them “a brood of vipers:” that same phrase that John the Baptist had used of them.
Perhaps some might be surprised in our day in age that Jesus would use such “harsh” language. But truly he is speaking the truth. The Pharisees, like venomous snakes hiding among the rocks, are only out for themselves and are in fact dangerous to others. And there is a place for this type of language. Not only does Jesus call the Pharisees “a brood of vipers” but Jesus says in John 8:44 to the religious leaders “you are of your father the devil.” In Matthew 23:16 he calls them “blind guides.” In the next verse he calls the Pharisees “fools” and elsewhere “hypocrites.” He doesn’t mince words. He speaks the truth.
There is a place for this, and it was more commonly used among Reformers of the church in the Reformation. Martin Luther is well-known for calling out opponents of Christ as antichrist, fanatics, blasphemers, and idolaters. This is not “name-calling:” it is the truth.
I recall once seeing a person upset when they were casually referred to as a heathen. Would you want to be called a heathen? It has a bad connotation. But what does it mean? It is a person who doesn’t believe in God or hold to any religion. And when the person – originally insulted – was told the definition of “heathen,” he admitted “yes, that’s right, I am a heathen.” (And maybe then he was a bit less angry about the truth that was applied to him)
No doubt, we don’t want to go around calling people names, but when it is for the benefit of the people of God, we must warn about evil people. Paul, in Acts 13 calls the magician Elymas a “child of the devil” and in Titus he speaks of the Cretans being “liars and evil beasts.”
Thus, one theologians has right said “Name-calling, accurately done, is not only not a sin, it is virtue. It is identifying a person for what he is.”
So Jesus is identifying the Pharisees. THEY are evil; not Him.
Their fruit proves this. Their words are evil; blaspheming the Holy Spirit; denying that Jesus is sent by God, and in fact erring so atrociously that they have said Jesus is casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul. Such false and evil accusations come from their evil hearts.
On the opposite side, the actions of Jesus prove that he is of God. It is a GOOD thing to cast out a demon. (In fact all of Jesus’s miracle are good works; for the benefit of someone, not just to show off.) His actions prove his heart is good. And ultimately, because only Jesus is truly Good among all men, the verse mentioning “the good person” is only fully fulfilled in Him. Jesus is “the Good person” from whom “all blessings flow.”
So that is the main point of the text, JESUS’ actions prove that he is good, and the Pharisees’ action prove that they are evil.
II. The Need for a Change of Heart
Only as a second point, do we then see that our actions — especially our words — evidence the status of the heart. Many will say “therefore, watch your tongue” and that is true enough, but there is something more important here – we don’t so much need a change of tongue, as we need a change of heart. Change the heart, and the tongue will follow.
a. Language issues.
The focus of the text is about the particular action of speech; of speaking.
Jesus says to the Pharisees:
“How can you SPEAK good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth SPEAKS.”
And he says:
“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they SPEAK, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
So we are indeed warned about the ill-use of our tongue; of our language.
We are to avoid blasphemy, lying, cursing, profanity, gossip, and even sarcasm.
Blasphemy has been in the context, with that “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit” (that hardened heart against God) being the worst of sins. But lying, is also in the context. You could call it lying or maybe “intentionally wrong judgements” for the Pharisees seem to be attacking Jesus in saying he is casting our demons by the power of Beelzebul; they can hardly actually be believing that.
Other ill-uses of the tongue are not specified in the passage, but we must include profanity and cursing. And we must include even gossip; all of these things that are not beneficial, not good for yourself or others. Then, I mentioned sarcasm, that comes from the Greek “sarx” meaning flesh. Sarcasm is literally translated “ripping the flesh.” Sarcasm can positively be harmful and so should be avoided.
We’ve all experience this truth: words hurt. Words sting. Sometimes we remember things said many years ago, and they bring much pain. The tongue can bring out much evil, evidencing the evil heart of the one who speaks in that evil way.
One other, that should be mentioned. Emotional outbreaks. These, we must be clear, are sinful. We cannot separate the intellect from the emotions and claim the former to be sinful, while giving the latter a pass. Too often in our society, EMOTION is sacrosanct; you can’t say anything against; uncontrolled emotions are said to be good and not to be fought against. That is a grave error. Being emotional is not a virtue. Emotional outbreaks are not good fruit. And the words spoken in such instances are not good words. It is not emotion, but self-control, that is a fruit of the spirit.
III. The Fruit of Life
Now, instead of evil words we are to have a treasure of goodness to bring forth.
“the good person out of his good treasure brings forth good.”
I naturally think of treasure as diamonds, gold, and rubies, etc. in a treasure chest, probably on a deserted island.
And there is a sense in which the treasure is those “good things.” Instead of diamonds and gold, we are to bring forth good WORDS. To speak truth and to love others through our language.
But I think the text here is using the term “treasure” or “good treasure” more as the QUANTITY than the Quality. Yes, the quality must be good, but we are to have a STORE of good treasure; an amount of it, ready for use. So we must develop and prepare to have good words. We must be ready with them for when they are needed.
So we ought to learn not only to avoid evil language, but to be prepared with good words.
Yet, this is ONLY POSSIBLE with a change of heart.
It is the heart that produces the actions and words.
Evil actions and evil words show that the heart is evil.
And good actions and good words show that the heart is good.
So if we want those good actions and good words, we must have a good heart. And that can only happen if the Lord changes our heart.
The heart of man, so says the Prophet Jeremiah, is “deceitful about all things, and desperately wicked.”
So we need a new heart; renewed by the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is where we must look because just fixing our language isn’t going to work. We need a heart that is fixed. And fix the heart and you will have fixed the language as well.
A person redeemed of the Lord has speech that is different because it comes from his renewed heart.
That speech is part of the “fruit of the spirit.” The Spirit of God works in us so that we produce good fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And each of those good fruit come out in our language, in our words.
We are to speak with love.
We are to speak with patience.
We are to speak with kindness and goodness and gentleness and self-control.
And those who do so evidence their good heart; and evidence the Lord working in them.
It is truly “Fruit OF THE SPIRIT.” We cannot do it on our own. As Jesus says, we must ABIDE in the vine if we are to produce good fruit. Without the Vine (which is Christ) we (the branches) would shrivel up and die. But we Christ, we produce good fruit.
So Jesus says: “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.”
What he is saying to the Pharisees is “stop pretending you are good if you are only going to do evil things.” Be one or the other! Admit that you are evil, OR admit that being good requires a changed heart and pray that the Lord would change yours.
That message applies also to us today. Don’t claim to be good if you are evil. Don’t claim to be following the Lord if you are not. But admit your sin and the look to the Lord for salvation and a changed and renewed heart from which you may store a treasure of good words to shine forth the glory of God.
Application: Watch your speech, watch your thoughts.
This is to take it a step further. We are indeed to avoid evil speech. But, say you did that, if you’re still thinking evil thoughts, you’re no better before the Lord. So we must suppress evil in deeds, words, and thoughts. Ultimately, going back to the earlier point, that can only be done with a change of heart; the Lord working in us to renew us. We ought to yet pray “Lord, change my words, change my thoughts, change my heart, to be more like Christ.”
Conclusion
And above all, know that Christ is good; truly good, so that he was the perfect sinless lamb who died to satisfied the justice of the Father.
We proclaim that truth – Jesus, the Son of Good, the perfect man – against the lies of the Pharisees and all others in the world today who are against Christ. Yet, we stand on that one truth, the only truth that saves man – Jesus is Lord.
Let us pray.