Good Trees, Good Fruit

Matthew 12:33-37, Matthew 7:15-20, Galatians 5:16-26

Lumber Jubilee Church Service 

Sunday, June 28th, 2026

It’s The Lumber Jubilee so today’s sermon is about trees, more specifically good ones and bad ones.

Trees are mentioned many times in the Bible. 

• In the beginning of Genesis when we read about the literal Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil(Genesis 2 & 3)

• When King David describes how God’s Holiness and Majesty can break and splinter cedars and strip oak forests bare(Psalm 29) 

• When King Solomon used lumber from cedars, cypresses, and olive trees to build the temple(1 Kings 6)

• When the tax collector Zacchaeus(who was very short) climbed a sycamore tree to try and see Jesus(Luke 19)

•  When Jesus used them as metaphors and parables during His ministry here on Earth (Matthew 7 & 12)

Trees are an excellent metaphor for the spiritual state of our hearts. We read about this multiple times in the New Testament from Jesus and the Apostles.

• When Jesus educated and warned the Pharisees who were trying to condemn His disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath(Matthew 12:33-37)

³³ “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. ³⁴ Broodof vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵ 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. ³⁶ But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. ³⁷ For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Here Jesus emphasizes the importance of where our hearts are at with our intentions, priorities, and efforts.

If we are a good tree we will produce good fruit through our thoughts, words, and actions. However, if we are a bad tree it will be the opposite. 

Jesus made sure to draw a line of distinction and point out that you can’t be both a good tree or a bad tree no matter how it looks on the outside. That the truth of what kind of tree we are will be evident by our fruit and that in the end we will be judged accordingly by it. 

• This reinforces what Jesus had said earlier in His ministry when He was preaching The Sermon on the Mount.(Matthew 7:15-20)

¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

So then what do these bad fruits and good fruits look like?

• We read about the description of these fruits in The New Testament in the book of Galatians. (Galatians 5:16-26)

¹⁶ I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

(Bad Fruits)

¹⁹ Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, ²⁰ idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, ²¹ envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

(Good Fruits)

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. ²⁴ And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Now that we know what bad fruits and good fruits are, we must ask ourselves when it comes to this metaphor. 

What kind of tree are we? What state is that tree in?

• Are we a good healthy tree that produces good fruit, provides shade, shelter, and that can weather the storms that life throws at us?
• Are we a tree that appears to be healthy and fruitful on the outside but when the storms come it breaks and reveals a weakness or defect that was rotting from the inside?
• Are we a tree that is struggling to survive because environmental factors such as lack of water, disease, or pests have caused it great stress leading to decline?
• Are we a tree that produces bad fruit, in the process endangering ourselves and others?
• Are we a tree that’s already dead, just waiting to fall over?

Well the good news is no matter what kind of tree we are or what shape we’re in, because of Jesus we can be a good healthy tree that produces good fruit! 

(Mark 10:26-27)

²⁶ And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?”²⁷ But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”

Jesus can do it all, nothing is impossible for him.  

• a light pruning here and there 
• a serious reduction of dead/diseased limbs 
• a much needed relocation
• a total transformation 
• a complete restoration.

If you want to be a good tree that produces good fruit, then choose to let Jesus save you and work in your life. 

If you’ve already made that choice then choose to continue to let Him work in your life, stay walking in the spirit, live by faith, talk to Him through prayer, and keep on going to church so that you can fellowship, learn, and encourage one another as “good trees”.