[Note: This is the prepared text for a sermonette given to the Tampa, Florida congregation of the United Church of God on Sabbath, November 29, 2025.]

Introduction

Fruit is one of Scripture’s most powerful pictures of the life of a believer. It is simple, common, unmistakable, and profoundly revealing. Jesus and the apostles repeatedly use fruit to describe the outward expression of the inward work of God. And the consistent biblical message is this: true fruit cannot remain hidden. It is inevitably external, visible, and witnessed by others. It is the unmistakable evidence that a person is walking with God.

Fruit is not an internal emotion or a private spiritual impression. Nor is it a mystical quality known only to God. Fruit is the outward manifestation of God’s work in the believer — the kind of life and character that other people can see, experience, and be blessed by.

In this sermonette, we will reflect on the inevitable outwardness of biblical fruit by considering four foundational NKJV passages:

• Matthew 7:17–20
• John 15:1–8
• Galatians 5:22–23
• James 3:17–18

These passages reveal that true fruit is:

1. Visible
2. Inevitable
3. External in its effects
4. Public in its witness
5. Spirit-driven, not self-manufactured

Let us look closely at how Scripture teaches this truth.

I. Fruit is Inevitable: You Cannot Hide What You Are

Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount are among the clearest ever spoken about the outward nature of biblical fruit:

“Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”
—Matthew 7:17–20 (NKJV)

This is not a command. This is a reality, a law of spiritual life, an inevitability. Notice several truths Jesus emphasizes:

1. Fruit is predictable.

A tree produces only what its internal nature allows. The same is true of people — character inevitably expresses itself outwardly.

2. Fruit is visible.

Jesus does not say “you will know them by their feelings” or “you will know them by their claims,” but “by their fruits.” Fruit is the outward, observable expression of inward reality.

3. Fruit is inevitable.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit. A bad tree cannot bear good fruit. It is not about effort, but about nature.

4. Fruit is how God evaluates.

The tree with no good fruit is cut down. God judges fruit because fruit reveals the truth.

From this passage, a biblically grounded truth emerges: You cannot separate a person’s relationship with God from the outward evidence it produces. Nothing in Scripture supports a fruitless spirituality. Fruit is inevitable. Fruit is visible. Fruit is public. Fruit tells the truth.

II. Fruit Is External Because It Comes From Union With Christ

If Matthew 7 teaches that fruit is inevitable, John 15 teaches why fruit is inevitable — because fruit flows from Christ Himself. Jesus says:

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit;
for without Me you can do nothing.”
—John 15:5 (NKJV)

And again:

“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.”
—John 15:8 (NKJV)

These verses show that fruit-bearing is not an optional spiritual upgrade. It is the very purpose of the believer’s life. Jesus clarifies several things:

1. Fruit is the inevitable result of abiding.

If a branch stays connected to the vine, it bears fruit. The branch does not force fruit; it receives life from the vine. Just as life flows through the vine, so fruit flows through the believer.

2. Fruit is external because Christ’s life is outward.

Christ’s life is not hidden, passive, or self-contained. He came “to seek and to save,” “to serve,” “to give His life.” If we are connected to Him, His outward, self-giving life becomes our outward fruit.

3. Fruit glorifies God because others see it.

John 15:8 ties God’s glory to visible fruit. Fruit that cannot be seen cannot glorify the Father.

4. Fruit is the proof of discipleship.

“You will be My disciples,” Jesus says, not based on inward feelings —but on outward fruitfulness. Simply put: Fruit is what abiding looks like, and it is always outward.

III. Fruit Is Outward Because the Spirit Produces Outward Qualities

One of the most famous passages on fruit is Paul’s list in Galatians:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control.”
—Galatians 5:22–23 (NKJV)

What is remarkable is that every one of these “fruits” is relational — they require other people to be visible. Love — cannot be hidden; it reveals itself in action. Joy — shines outward; people see it. Peace — creates harmony with others. Longsuffering — you can only practice it toward someone. Kindness — is outward in its expression. Goodness — blesses others. Faithfulness — is visible in relationships. Gentleness — expresses itself toward people. Self-control — is evident in conduct.

Not one of these is private. Not one of these is internal only. Not one of these is invisible.

Paul makes this clear earlier in the chapter:

“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this:
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
—Galatians 5:14 (NKJV)

The fruit of the Spirit fulfills the law precisely because it produces outgoing concern. Fruit is visible because it is expressed in relationship. Fruit is known because it is experienced by others.

And Paul adds:

“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
—Galatians 5:25 (NKJV)

“Walking” is observable. Walking is public. Walking is visible. The Spirit does not produce fruit for us to hide —He produces fruit for others to taste.

IV. True Fruit Is Pure, Peaceful, and Publicly Demonstrated

The apostle James adds another dimension as he contrasts earthly wisdom with heavenly wisdom. He writes:

“But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield,
full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”
—James 3:17–18 (NKJV)

James emphasizes the same outward truth:

1. Heavenly wisdom expresses itself in peaceable conduct.

You cannot be “peaceable” in private. Peace is a relational fruit.

2. Heavenly wisdom produces gentleness.

Gentleness is always felt by others.

3. Heavenly wisdom is “full of mercy.”

Mercy is something given, not hidden.

4. Heavenly wisdom is “full of good fruits.”

James does not treat fruit as a metaphor for private virtue. “Good fruits” are seen, known, and experienced.

5. Righteousness is planted in relationships.

The “fruit of righteousness” is sown in peace and by peacemakers. Fruit grows where relationships are healed, strengthened, and blessed. James teaches that wisdom is proved publicly. A person’s fruit shows whether the wisdom they claim is actually from above. Just as Jesus said, fruit reveals the truth.

Conclusion: Fruit That Cannot Hide

All four passages — Matthew 7, John 15, Galatians 5, and James 3 — teach the same essential truth:

Biblical fruit is inevitably external, visible, relational, and witnessed by others.

There is no such thing as hidden fruit. There is no such thing as invisible fruit. There is no such thing as private fruit.

The Bible consistently shows:

• A good tree cannot hide its good fruit.
• A branch connected to Christ cannot avoid bearing fruit.
• The Spirit’s fruit always blesses others.
• Heavenly wisdom produces peace people can feel and see.

The believer’s life is meant to be a public testimony to the power of God — not through self-promotion, but through visible love, peace, gentleness, mercy, faithfulness, and goodness. When Christ lives in us, fruit appears. When the Spirit fills us, fruit grows. When the Father prunes us, fruit increases. When we walk with God, fruit blesses others. Fruit is inevitable because God is faithful. Fruit is visible because God is light. Fruit is public because God uses His people as His witnesses. Let us therefore abide in Christ, walk in the Spirit, listen to heavenly wisdom, and allow the inevitable fruit of God’s work in us to flow outward — blessing, nourishing, encouraging, and strengthening all who encounter us. May our fruit be unmistakable. May our fruit glorify our Father in heaven. And may our fruit never hide the One who produces it.