Luke 6: Part 2 (5)

Pray Psalm 92.12-15.
The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those who are planted in the house of the LORD
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be fresh and flourishing,
To declare that the LORD is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

Sing Psalm 92.11-15.
(Sweet Hour: Sweet Hour of Prayer)
My eye my vanquished foe shall see; my ears hear those who threaten me.
Yet in God’s house, where he belongs, the righteous like a tree grows strong.
Then let us green and fruitful be and flourish like a mighty tree,
to tell God’s righteousness abroad: He is our Rock, our sovereign God!

Read Luke 6.1-45; meditate on verses 43-45.

Preparation
1. How can you know a good person?

2. What is the role of the heart in bringing forth good fruit?

Meditation
We have been created in Christ Jesus unto good works, that we should walk in them, that our lives should express and be always characterized by good words (cf. Eph. 2.8-10; Gal. 6.1-10; Tit. 3.8, 14; Rom. 12.21; Matt. 5.13-16). We’re not saved by good works. But as Jesus implies in our text for today, we’re not saved without them.

Good works flow from a good heart, so if we concentrate on nurturing positive affections, we may be assured that good works will follow. When we desire that which is good, long for it, concentrate on and delight in it, and when we suppress all desire for what is not good, we build up the treasury of goodness in our soul, thus preparing us for good works at every opportunity.

Only God is good, and we must seek Him by all the means whereby He reveals Himself to us, in His Word and in His world, but especially in our Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 1.3; Col. 3.1-3). As you come to the Scriptures each morning, let your prayer be that of those ancient Greeks: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” (Jn. 12.21). Jesus is throughout the Scriptures (Jn. 5.39; Lk. 24.27). Our reading and study of God’s Word are incomplete until we gain some new understanding of, insight to, or vision of Jesus from wherever we are reading. The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to make us more like Jesus (2 Cor. 3.12-18), and we can be sure that good fruit will follow in our lives as we submit to His teaching.

Seek Jesus and all the goodness which is to be known in Him. Cherish the knowledge of God (Jn. 17.3), and delight in Him (Ps. 37.4). Thus, you will always be ready, eager, and able to do what is good, whether by words or deeds.

Treasures Old and New: Matthew 13.52; Psalm 119.162
Nobody is exempt from the need to be taught by Jesus. Nobody. In our verses for today, Jesus is teaching His disciples, but on another occasion, He said something very similar to the Pharisees: “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things…For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12.35, 37). And to His disciples He said, “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks” (Lk. 6.45).

David wrote, “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully.
He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from
the God of his salvation” (Ps. 24.3-5).

Solomon wrote, “ Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4.23).

As an extra encouragement for us to clean up our hands and heart, God wants us to know that:
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?
I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways,
according to the fruit of his doings” (Jer. 17.9, 10).

We can surely see from these Scriptures that what goes on inside us determines what happens outside of us. And that in all actuality, nothing truly good is going to happen in our Personal Mission Field unless it is first occurring in our minds, hearts, souls, and lives.

Each of us is known by our own fruit (Lk. 6.44). And if our hearts are fertilized and watered by the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God, then we will bear fruit worthy of our repentance (Matt. 3.8). Good fruit will be born in and by us when we keep our hands clean and our hearts pure with all the diligence we can muster.

For reflection
1. What can we do to ensure that our heart is always clean?

2. Why are good works so important for following Jesus?

3. What does it mean for you to seek Jesus?

If anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord resists the Lord’s commands by living perversely, it is evident that the good that the tongue has spoken has not been brought out of the good treasure in his heart. It was not the root of a fig tree but that of a thorn bush that produced the fruit of such a confession—a conscience, that is, bristling with vices, and not one filled with the sweetness of the love of the Lord. The Venerable Bede (672-735), Homilies on the Gospels 2.25

Pray Psalm 92.1-10.
Thank God for His many blessings, especially for His Word and Spirit, which He has given to equip us for every good work (2 Tim. 3.15-17). Ask Him to show you what fruit you need Him to bear in you today.

Sing Psalm 92.1-10.
(Sweet Hour: Sweet Hour of Prayer)
How good it is to thank the Lord and praise to God Most High accord;
by day to let His kindness ring, His faithfulness by night to sing.
With ten-stringed lute, resounding lyre, and sweetest harp we’ll lift You higher.
For You have made our souls rejoice; we sing Your praise with blended voice!

How sweet Your works, Your thoughts how deep: The fool cannot such knowledge keep.
Like grass the wicked rise each day; in judgment they are swept away.
But You, O Lord, abide on high; Your enemies shall fall and die.
All those who sin shall scattered be, but, Lord, You have exalted me!

T. M. and Susie Moore

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Except as indicated, all Scriptures are taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. For sources of all quotations, see the weekly PDF of this study. All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (Williston: Waxed Tablet Publications, 2006), available by clicking here.