Matthew 7:18

THE TREE AND ITS FRUIT

‘A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.’

Matthew 7:18

A man’s actions show what he is. If we judge of others at all, we can follow no other rule than this.

I. Judging others.—But it is a general rule that we are not to judge others more than is absolutely necessary. ‘Judge not,’ says our Lord, ‘that ye be not judged.’ We should never be rash, or hasty, or fond of judging others, but the contrary; and when we are obliged to do so, we must take the plainest marks we can get, and judge by them; if we go beyond this, we are in danger of un-charitableness, and so of losing the mark which shows us to be Christ’s disciples. It is our own fault if we are led away by false teachers, or if we judge of them harshly, for in our case such a sign is given us; it is the sign of lawful authority; this is our appointed guide.

II. Judging ourselves.—But in our own case it is plain we must go much deeper than this. We must take to ourselves the whole force of our Lord’s words, and consider that as our hearts are, so our actions will be. God will judge us by our actions. This, therefore, is the rule by which our own characters must be determined. The heart is deceitful above all things; but the actions which come from it cast back a light upon it, and by their light we see what its state really is.

III. Lack of honesty.—Many perish from lack of knowledge; but many more perish from the want of honesty; they know God’s will; they know the conditions of their salvation. But, because the way of obedience is hard, they will not walk in it; and then, in order to quiet their consciences, it becomes necessary to deceive themselves; and so they say that it is not their actions but the heart to which we must look, i.e., they set aside the plain rule our Lord has given us, and say, in direct contradiction to His words, that the tree may be good, though the fruit is evil. If truth and honesty are wanting in our dealings with ourselves in God’s sight all is wanting to us, and there is no hope for us.

The Rev. J. Currie.