The Gospel of Luke: Fruit inspection | Works | Faith | Love | Mercy - Video

Sermon Notes: 3/2/25 Pastor: Brian Crawford Luke 6: 43-45 . Check us out at: https://citylightvicksburg.org/ Or check us out here: https://www.facebook.com/citylightvicksburg . When a tree dies and falls over, we often discover that the inside of that tree has been dead long before it ever fell. Long before we ever noticed the branches falling. Before we inspect our neighbor’s lives for righteousness and call them out on their behavior, we should inspect ourselves. Because when we inspect ourselves and struggle with our own behavior, quite possibly, when we inspect our neighbor, we will judge them much differently. We might even leave them alone entirely. Until you do self-inspection, a true inspection, you have no right to look to your fellow Christian and approach them about their own actions. Now, remember, fruit production is not salvation by works. You are saved for works; you are not saved by works. A life that is transformed by God, produces goodness! A pattern of life comes when you are saved by Jesus Christ. Your pattern should be filled with more mercy, more love, more giving and less selfishness, less self-righteousness, less manipulation. The product of the life, reveals the heart. Fruit production is a reflection of a deeply experienced new life. The ability to extend mercy comes from a deeply experienced inner life. So when I experience new life, and I recognize how much I am loved and forgiven, we judge less. We forgive more. Many times, our fruit production, in the middle of the temptation to produce bad fruit, we identify more with the old tree, than the new tree. Who are you? How easily you revert back to your old self, how easily your draw your identity from who you used to be. Stop resorting back to the old tree, because we produce who we are. Stop telling yourself you are that old person! Christ died for you. Christ called you His representative. He has made you a new creature. He has the power to do this. The changes in ourselves are gradual and progressive - over time, the changes in our hearts grow over years. Changes in attitude create changes in actions creates changes in relationship. For out of the abundance of our heart, the mouth speaks. Your actions are driven by where your identity truly is. And to change that, we need to go and inspect our heart. I can say I’m a kind and loving person… but do I produce it? Do my actions reflect my kindness and love?