You produce what you grow! – Matthew 7:15-20
You produce what you grow! – Matthew 7:15-20
By Pastor Lee Hemen
June 9, 2019
We have a garden that I plant every spring. We usually grow tomatoes and green beans. We keep it pretty simple. One year I planted a variety of tomato that we really liked but a different one grew instead. I went back to the place where I had bought the plant and the clerk said that we were not the first to complain but what evidently had happened was kids had switched the tags on the young plants thinking that it was funny. Needless to say, that although the tomatoes were okay, they were not what we expected.
People during Jesus’ day were dependent upon what they planted and there were a lot of factors that could be beneficial or detrimental to their future harvest. Weather, water, animals, and other things could influence the harvest. Jesus now uses familiar language about planting so that his listeners would fully understand what he meant about their spiritual growth as well. Let’s discover what Jesus taught concerning you produce what you grow…
READ: Matthew 7:15-20
God is in the business of growing things from plants to people. For people he grows us in him. Jesus related that in life you produce what you grow and in doing so…
I. Believers need to be aware of false prophets! (Vv. 15-16)
Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?
1. I have found it interesting but as soon as God began to interact with his people there were those who immediately tried to horn in so-to-speak. A biblical prophet was God’s messenger and spokesperson, a representative of God before his people. The prophet delivered and interpreted God’s messages and on occasion, also interceded with God on behalf of the people. False prophets living in the surrounding nations performed similar roles, although with non-existent gods. The Israelites were warned time and time again not to intermingle with pagan nations and thus imitate or participate in their religious rituals. We also find numerous accounts in Scripture of false prophets originating from among God’s chosen people. Jesus knew therefore that after he had resurrected and gone back to heaven this would occur and so later on he tells his disciples, “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. (Matthew 24:4-5 NIV)” In fact Jesus knew that there would be many false prophets who would come claiming to be the Messiah, but none of them were or are! So here we find Jesus telling the crowd, “Watch out for false prophets.” He knew there were those like the Pharisees, Sadducees and Teachers of the Law who were already trying to incite others into thinking that Jesus was false. So he goes on to tell them, “They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Jesus was purposely relating to the fact that he had already publicly been called “The Lamb of God” by John the Baptist and many in the crowd would have known that. He confronted the false teaching that those who claimed to be the Messiah were not and those who claimed he was a false prophet were wrong! They could discover the truth for themselves because “By their fruit you will recognize them.” False prophets proclaim themselves as such in order to aggrandize themselves! The focus is not on the Lord but them! Anyone who would be willing to look closely at who Jesus was and what he did and why he did it would immediately recognize his authenticity! Jesus asks, “Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?” And the answer is: “Of course not!” Therefore believers need to be aware of false prophets and not be fooled by those who claim to be the Messiah!
EXAMPLE: False prophets or false beliefs always try to deceive their adherents into thinking they made a mistake to trust Jesus alone. I often call them the “yeah but” religions. They usually teach something like: “Yeah Jesus was a good man but he also taught….” It is faith alone in Jesus alone or it is meaningless! Jesus taught that he was God and if you followed him you followed God: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him. (John 3:36 NIV)” Believers need to be aware of false prophets!
In growing good things whether people or plants you have to have good stock. And Jesus continued to teach his listeners that you produce what you grow and so…
II. Believers need to know good fruit from bad! (Vv. 17-20)
Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
1. I have a nice apple tree in my backyard that looks beautiful when it blooms but produces some of the worst worm-filled apples ever. This year I’m trying something different to see if I can get some good apples from it. If I owned an apple orchard I would not waste my time on it and would have cut it down a long time ago. Jesus knew that just like fruit trees there are those who claim one thing about being God’s spokesmen but only produced poor results. So he goes to say, “Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” If their spiritual leaders continually produced poor results aren’t they poor spiritual leaders? The same could be said for many of our politicians today! They make all kinds of promises but few deliver and when one comes along and finally does do what he promised today’s media and those who want to remain in power vilify him just like the Pharisees did with Jesus! People who try to fool others are soon discovered for what they truly are but sadly far too often those they have influenced either become disillusioned or remain deceived! What’s the answer? Jesus teaches that just like a good farmer who sees that his tree is bearing bad fruit there might be only one answer: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” God will not remain being mocked by people’s false lies and teaching. There will come a day of recompense. And next week we will discuss this even further. John would write, “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. (1 John 3:21-24 NIV)” False teachers and false prophets are rotten fly-infested fruit that live only to please themselves and fool the unsuspecting! Jesus taught that you produce what you grow and that believers need to know good fruit from bad!
EXAMPLE: While we do not know who is saved or not we can however be fruit inspectors of those who claim to know Jesus. Recently I had someone who claimed to be a Christian say he believed there were “many ways to God”. I asked him if he truly believed what he just said because it was completely contradictory to what Jesus taught about being the only way, the only truth, and the only life and no one comes to God but by Jesus alone. He looked kind of confused so I patently explained to him that many are deceived into thinking that they are being “nice” about God by thinking that he allows many ways to him but he does not. Christians need to know good fruit from bad!
Conclusion:
Believers need to be aware of false prophets! Believers need to know good fruit from bad!
---
This article is copyrighted © 2019 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
By Pastor Lee Hemen
June 9, 2019
We have a garden that I plant every spring. We usually grow tomatoes and green beans. We keep it pretty simple. One year I planted a variety of tomato that we really liked but a different one grew instead. I went back to the place where I had bought the plant and the clerk said that we were not the first to complain but what evidently had happened was kids had switched the tags on the young plants thinking that it was funny. Needless to say, that although the tomatoes were okay, they were not what we expected.
People during Jesus’ day were dependent upon what they planted and there were a lot of factors that could be beneficial or detrimental to their future harvest. Weather, water, animals, and other things could influence the harvest. Jesus now uses familiar language about planting so that his listeners would fully understand what he meant about their spiritual growth as well. Let’s discover what Jesus taught concerning you produce what you grow…
READ: Matthew 7:15-20
God is in the business of growing things from plants to people. For people he grows us in him. Jesus related that in life you produce what you grow and in doing so…
I. Believers need to be aware of false prophets! (Vv. 15-16)
Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?
1. I have found it interesting but as soon as God began to interact with his people there were those who immediately tried to horn in so-to-speak. A biblical prophet was God’s messenger and spokesperson, a representative of God before his people. The prophet delivered and interpreted God’s messages and on occasion, also interceded with God on behalf of the people. False prophets living in the surrounding nations performed similar roles, although with non-existent gods. The Israelites were warned time and time again not to intermingle with pagan nations and thus imitate or participate in their religious rituals. We also find numerous accounts in Scripture of false prophets originating from among God’s chosen people. Jesus knew therefore that after he had resurrected and gone back to heaven this would occur and so later on he tells his disciples, “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. (Matthew 24:4-5 NIV)” In fact Jesus knew that there would be many false prophets who would come claiming to be the Messiah, but none of them were or are! So here we find Jesus telling the crowd, “Watch out for false prophets.” He knew there were those like the Pharisees, Sadducees and Teachers of the Law who were already trying to incite others into thinking that Jesus was false. So he goes on to tell them, “They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Jesus was purposely relating to the fact that he had already publicly been called “The Lamb of God” by John the Baptist and many in the crowd would have known that. He confronted the false teaching that those who claimed to be the Messiah were not and those who claimed he was a false prophet were wrong! They could discover the truth for themselves because “By their fruit you will recognize them.” False prophets proclaim themselves as such in order to aggrandize themselves! The focus is not on the Lord but them! Anyone who would be willing to look closely at who Jesus was and what he did and why he did it would immediately recognize his authenticity! Jesus asks, “Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?” And the answer is: “Of course not!” Therefore believers need to be aware of false prophets and not be fooled by those who claim to be the Messiah!
EXAMPLE: False prophets or false beliefs always try to deceive their adherents into thinking they made a mistake to trust Jesus alone. I often call them the “yeah but” religions. They usually teach something like: “Yeah Jesus was a good man but he also taught….” It is faith alone in Jesus alone or it is meaningless! Jesus taught that he was God and if you followed him you followed God: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him. (John 3:36 NIV)” Believers need to be aware of false prophets!
In growing good things whether people or plants you have to have good stock. And Jesus continued to teach his listeners that you produce what you grow and so…
II. Believers need to know good fruit from bad! (Vv. 17-20)
Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
1. I have a nice apple tree in my backyard that looks beautiful when it blooms but produces some of the worst worm-filled apples ever. This year I’m trying something different to see if I can get some good apples from it. If I owned an apple orchard I would not waste my time on it and would have cut it down a long time ago. Jesus knew that just like fruit trees there are those who claim one thing about being God’s spokesmen but only produced poor results. So he goes to say, “Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” If their spiritual leaders continually produced poor results aren’t they poor spiritual leaders? The same could be said for many of our politicians today! They make all kinds of promises but few deliver and when one comes along and finally does do what he promised today’s media and those who want to remain in power vilify him just like the Pharisees did with Jesus! People who try to fool others are soon discovered for what they truly are but sadly far too often those they have influenced either become disillusioned or remain deceived! What’s the answer? Jesus teaches that just like a good farmer who sees that his tree is bearing bad fruit there might be only one answer: “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” God will not remain being mocked by people’s false lies and teaching. There will come a day of recompense. And next week we will discuss this even further. John would write, “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. (1 John 3:21-24 NIV)” False teachers and false prophets are rotten fly-infested fruit that live only to please themselves and fool the unsuspecting! Jesus taught that you produce what you grow and that believers need to know good fruit from bad!
EXAMPLE: While we do not know who is saved or not we can however be fruit inspectors of those who claim to know Jesus. Recently I had someone who claimed to be a Christian say he believed there were “many ways to God”. I asked him if he truly believed what he just said because it was completely contradictory to what Jesus taught about being the only way, the only truth, and the only life and no one comes to God but by Jesus alone. He looked kind of confused so I patently explained to him that many are deceived into thinking that they are being “nice” about God by thinking that he allows many ways to him but he does not. Christians need to know good fruit from bad!
Conclusion:
Believers need to be aware of false prophets! Believers need to know good fruit from bad!
---
This article is copyrighted © 2019 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.
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