By Their Fruit

My texts are taken from Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:13, “Ye are the salt of the earth…” and Matthew 7:20, “Wherefore by their fruits, ye shall know them.”

The context and premise of this message comes from the sermon on the mount. Jesus was addressing the believers. He made a correlation between the believer and salt, and the believer and light. Jesus ended this thought with the command we just read in Matthew 5:16. However, before he ended his dissertation, he let us know that people who are on the outside looking in, will know the believers by the fruit they bare.

Firstly, Jesus commanded us to be an example before men. Notice the word ‘so,’ in the verse. This indicates how we should allow our light to shine. In verses fourteen and fifteen he had stated ‘how,’ “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” Our light needs to be visible, held high, and not hidden. In verse sixteen he finished with ‘why’ our light needs to shine, “…that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” From the beginning of creation God wanted a people that would worship him. Though he made Adam and Eve for this purpose, and communed with them in the garden, Adam’s sin of disobedience broke the fellowship between them. Ever since that time, God has tried to restore his relationship with humankind throughout generations. The entire Old Testament is filled with the testimonies of how God continued to plead with humanity to follow him.

How do we become a shining light to those around us? John 1:1-4 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him there was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” John continues in John 8:12 which says, “Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Jesus is the light, and by following him and maintaining a relationship with Him, we can let His light shine through us by His Spirit. Ephesians 5:6-11 states, “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather reprove them.”  Yes, we were in darkness once, but 1 Peter 2:9-10 tells us, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light; Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”

Secondly, we read in Matthew 5:13 how Jesus likened believers to salt, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt has lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”  Salt was a very valued commodity. It was used not only for flavor, but for preservation of foods as well. You can imagine the importance of this in a time without the convenience of refrigeration. However, Jesus shows how that salt is useless if it has lost its ability to flavor and preserve, because there is nothing else that can take its place. Believers carry an enormous responsibility in this world to show sinners the value of serving God, to bring them to repentance. If we cannot show sinners the advantages and benefits of serving God, then we have lost our usefulness to His kingdom. Mark 9:50 recorded it this way, “Salt is good: but if the salt has lost its saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves and have peace one with another.”

How can we be the salt that people in this world need? 2 Corinthians 2:14 says, “Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place.”  Once again, we see it is by following the Lord, and taking on his character and nature, through getting to know him, that this can be accomplished. Ephesians 5:1-2 states, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.”  Here are a few things that the Psalmist shared with us, that we as believers can share with the world that can act as a preservative just as salt, Psalm 36:6, “Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; thy judgments are a great deep: O Lord, thou preserve man and beast.” Psalm 40:1, “Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.” Psalm 97:10, “Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserves the souls of his saints;” Psalm 121:8, “The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.” Psalm 145:20, “The Lord preserves all of them that love him:” We can also make the offer that David offered, with enthusiasm from his own experience in Psalm 34:8, “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusts in him.”

Thirdly, those around us will know what we are and who we are as believers by what we do and say and the fruit we bare. In the context of this portion of the sermon on the mount, Jesus was teaching them how they could discern false prophets. Though we cannot step above our pay grade professing to be the judge nor the jury when it comes to others, we certainly have the five, and some say six senses, that the good Lord created us with. We can see, hear, taste, feel, touch, and discern right from wrong, good from evil, and light from darkness. We should not pretend that we have never sinned, but once we have come to the Lord, he begins making us into a new creature ‘in Christ’, and others can experience this as well; however, they will not want what we have, unless they see something that draws them and attracts them to the God that you say you love and serve. We must keep in mind that people can spot a hypocrite a mile away, so no amount of pretending will draw them to the Lord.

In Matthew 5:43-48 Jesus said we should go beyond what others do, if we are now professing to be a believer in Christ. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans do the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” The law of the Spirit is of much higher standard than the Old Testament Law, which was only a school master showing us what we were doing wrong, but it was powerless to change us; however, the Spirit gives us the power to right our wrongs and change our ways, so we are without excuse. Acts 17:30 tells us, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men everywhere to repent.” Ephesians 5:3-4 tells us a few rotten fruits we need to get rid of, “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks.”  Galatians 5:16 says, “This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.”

Let us look at some of these fruits mentioned here. Fornication, uncleanness, and covetousness can sum up every sin of the flesh, mind, heart, emotions, and spirit. Sin is committed when we are walking contrary to the words and commands of God. Things like unholy relationships, any unholy deed, greed, selfishness, pride, filthiness, obesity, foolish talking, gluttony, vulgarity, are just a few categories that come to mind. These should not be a part of the daily life of a believer. 1 John 2:15-17 admonishes us, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abides forever.”

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6:8-12, “…ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”  He states, yes, you could do these things, but they are not going to be to the advantage of your salvation, nor that of anyone else you may be trying to influence with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Galatians 5:19-21 continues with enumerating more of the fruit we should ‘not’ produce, calling them the works of the flesh. “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envying, murders, drunkenness, reveling, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” The consequences of just doing our own thing, placating to our own lust, seem obvious in this reading.

However, verse twenty-two of Galatians 5 continues with a ‘but’. The Assistant Pastor we had in our church in Indiana, Kent Miller, preached a sermon called, “What comes after the ‘but’ is more important that what comes before the ‘but’.”  The word ‘but’ gives an indication that though something may have happened before the but, that may not have been favorable, there could be something coming after the but, that will supersede it or replace it, that may be better. Indeed, this is the case here. Galatians 5:22-26 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”  The fruit of the Spirit is what we should be bearing and what others should see in our lives, and be able to partake of, with love leading the way. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 tells us about charity, aka love. “Charity suffers long and is kind; charity envies not; charity vaunts not itself, is not puffed up, Does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; Bears all things, believeth all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 John 4:7-8 tells us, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knows God. He that loveth not knows not God; for God is love.” Therefore, it makes sense that if we have the Spirit of the Lord and we are walking in the Spirit, we will have love, and therefore by extension, bear all the fruit of His Spirit. Peace, love, joy, long suffering, gentleness, faith, goodness, meekness, and temperance are manifestations of His Spirit.

Jesus is the best example for us to follow on how we should live our lives, when we are walking in the Spirit and bearing the fruit thereof. Jesus undoubtedly showed love and compassion wherever he went. We see love shown through his miracles and how he spoke to and dealt with people around him. Of course, his sacrifice on Calvary with the shedding of his blood for our salvation is the ultimate display of love. Joy is a direct attitude we gain when spending time with God, which we see Jesus did during his time on earth. He would steal away by himself to have time alone in prayer. Peace is a direct outflow of trusting that God has everything under control, and that you have no need to worry, which Jesus certainly displayed in the way that he lived. He often prefaced his statements with, “Be not afraid.”

With faith right on the heels of peace and trust, Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-33, “Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore, take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Jesus was longsuffering with his disciples, the multitudes that followed him, the hypocrites, and the religious leaders of the day who were constantly trying to cause an argument. Those of learning and those who could not understand. Those of high worth as well as the poor. Those who were well and those who needed him for the miracles he performed. He showed gentleness in Matthew 19:14, “But Jesus said, suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”  He demonstrated goodness at the wedding of Cana, John 2:1-11, “And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour has not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.” He allowed the host to save face when they had run out of wine at the wedding feast, even though He did not feel it was time for His ministry to begin yet. This demonstrates to us how that ministry is just an extension of ourselves in everyday living, when walking in the Spirit.

He showed a meekness of spirit when he specifically stopped at Jacob’s well, in the city of Sychar of Samaria. Not only were the Samaritans as dogs to the Jews, but he only had an audience of one. There was no lime light, fan fair, or multitudes around him. Also, the well was where mostly women went to draw water, yet he knew that this woman would be there at an odd time, because her lifestyle of sin was not acceptable to the other women. He asked her for a drink because he did not have a way to draw water from the well, then proceeded to offer her living water. In John 4:13-14 it says, “Jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinks of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

However, we should not mistaken gentleness, goodness, and meekness for weakness. Jesus was not weak in any sense of the word. He was able to talk straight and to the point even if there were hard sayings that needed to be conveyed. He was the no nonsense type, with no beating around the bush, yet his straightforward manner was accompanied with self-control. In Matthew 21:12-14 we see Jesus take care of business and then turn right around and begin to heal people. It says, “And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.”

The fruit of the Spirit is crucial for us and the souls around us; however, it does not happen overnight, or as soon as we get up from our altar of repentance and have just received the Spirit, also referred to as the Holy Ghost. Fruit trees take cultivation. It takes an effort on our part. My wife and I were recently planting a few fruit trees in our yard, which were still quite small, and we researched to see when they would bear fruit. The consensus is that it will be three to six years before a new fruit tree will bear fruit. However, my wife rightfully stated that if we never planted the trees, we would never have fruit. So, it was worth planting them and waiting for the trees to grow and to bear fruit. The Holy Ghost gives us a new starting point, like a newly planted fruit tree. We then begin to water it by the study of the word of God and prayer, so we can begin to produce fruit. It takes effort on our part, because the Spirit is contrary to what our flesh would normally want to do.

We should examine our hearts daily and see if we are living in obedience to the commands of God and see if the fruit we are bearing are becoming to a Christian. We must ask; Is the light of the Spirit shining through us in a world that is in darkness. Are we being a source of flavor and preservation to others? Does our lifestyle bring glory to God? Are we striving toward the perfection that we read about in Matthew 5:48? Perfection is relative to each person’s point of new birth, growth, and maturity in Christ. Just as a small sapling is perfect even without fruit at an early age, and will produce fruit as it flourishes and grows, so will we when we walk in the Spirit. We must not be discouraged in well doing or stopping before we see beautiful fruit come forth from our lives but begin the process and see it through until the end. This is such a crucial step and principle, that it is mentioned repeatedly in scripture. Romans 2:6-7 says, “God will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory and honor and immortality, and eternal life.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13 says, “But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.” And Galatians 6:9 states, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season, we shall reap, if we faint not.” If you have not already, start your journey with the Lord today. Your ‘due season’ will come, and you will not be disappointed.