Beloved, I am glad to share with you today on the next window of the said temple, namely the fruit, the key test of life. Taking the image of the fruit tree, the Savior said in Matt 7.15-20: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”
The Lord Jesus recalls that in order to walk surely on the path of truth, one must beware of the seductions of error, that is to say of the false prophets who, in his mind were in the first line, the doctors of the law, the Pharisees and the chief priests. For they are like their predecessors, as we read in Jeremiah 28, and which led the people to their ruin. And we read in Luke 6.26 “Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets.”
In addition, the Lord knew that false teachers in his Church would also claim to speak in the name of God. The two passages below clearly show that he was thinking of this future peril: Matthew 7. 21-23, and especially Matthew 24.11,24.
Hidden behind sheep’s clothing, with the appearance of gentleness, innocence, truth, but on the inside, these false teachers are considered considered from within, according to their true nature, that is, they are ravening wolves or raptors, which kidnap and devour the sheep.
This is why the Lord Jesus gives in these verses, a mark by which we can recognize the false prophets, namely their fruits. The below compilation will edify you further in this important subject.
- THE TREE AND ITS FRUITS
The fruits are on the one hand, the practical consequences of the doctrines announced, consequences which are not long in appearing in the churches; and on the other hand, the spirit of those who announce them. Not that false teachers are necessarily impious or immoral men, and true teachers of saints, but spiritual discernment is not mistaken about the essential characteristics of Christian life:
- The wolf, as a type of villain
Matt 10.16 “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” John 10.12“ The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it.”; Acts 20:29 “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.”
- Evil, as a characteristic of the wicked heart:
-stubbornness: Ecc 8.11 “When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people’s hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong.”
– madness: Ecc 9.3 “This is an evil among all that is done under the sun, it is that there is for all the same fate; therefore the hearts of the sons of men are full of wickedness, and madness is in their hearts during their lives; after which they go to the dead. Because who is excepted? ”
-depravity: Jer 17.9 “ The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
-Extortion and excess: Matt 23.25 “ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.”
-source of all evil: Mark 7.21 “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,”
-source of disbelief and lust: Heb 3.12 “See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”; 2 Peter 2.14 “With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood!”
- False Prophets
Matt 24.11 “ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” Isa 9.14 “So the LORD will cut off from Israel both head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day”; Mark 13.22 “ For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”
-source of disbelief and lust: Heb 3.12 “Beware, brother, that someone of you has a wicked and incredulous heart, that you turn away from the living God.”; 2 Peter 2.14 “Their eyes are full of adultery and insatiable for sin; they prime ill-established souls; their hearts are trained in greed; they are children of a curse. ”
- Examples of hypocrisy:
Matt 15.7 “ You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:”; Matt 22.18 “ But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me?”; John 12.6 “He said that, not because he was worried about the poor, but because he was a thief, and that, taking the purse, he took what was put in it.”
- coats, figuratively:
1 Th 2.5 You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness.”; 1 Peter 2.16 “ You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness.”
- PROOF OF FRUIT
- Bad works are condemned:
John 7.7 “ The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that its works are evil.”; John 8.41 “ You are doing the works of your own father.” “We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”; Gal 5.19 “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;” James 3.16 “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. “
- Saints like trees of life:
Gen 1.11 “Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so.”; Psa 1.3 “ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers.”; Psa 52.8 “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.”
- The spiritual fruit
-it is produced in every period of life: Psa 92.14-15 “ They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, 15 proclaiming, “The LORD is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.”
-it is perpetual: Eze 47.12 “Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.”
-it grows only in good soil: Matt 13.8 “Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
-the fruit has many varieties: Gal 5.22 “ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”
-it is without fault: Eph 5.9 “(for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth).”
-it produces heavenly wisdom: James 3.17 “ But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”
- The bad fruit is the fruit of sin: Gal 5.19 “Now, the works of the flesh are manifest, they are immorality, impurity, dissolution,”
-it is bitter: Deut 32.32 “ Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are filled with poison, and their clusters with bitterness.”
-it is natural: Isa 5.2 “ He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.”
-he is selfish: Hosea 10.1 “Israel was a spreading vine; he brought forth fruit for himself. As his fruit increased, he built more altars; as his land prospered, he adorned his sacred stones.”
-it is deceitful: Hosea 10.13 “But you have planted wickedness, you have reaped evil, you have eaten the fruit of deception. Because you have depended on your own strength and on your many warriors,”
-it is corrupt: Matt 7.17 “Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.”
-it is carnal: Gal 5.19-21 “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
- Sinners are compared to bad trees: Luke 3.9 “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Jude 12 :“ These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead.”
- The last judgment according to works
Jer 17.10 “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”; Matt 16.27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.”;
- The end of the bad people:
Php 3.19 “ Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”; Rev 21.8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
- Life manifested: Matt 7.20 “ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”; Luke 8.17 “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”; John 2.11 “What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.”; 2 Tim 3.9 “ But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone.”; 1 John 3.10 “ This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”
From the above, we note that the false prophets are hidden behind sheep’s clothing, with the appearance of meekness, and truth. But inside, they are considered according to their true nature, like ravening wolves or raptors, which kidnap and devour the sheep. The Lord Jesus gives a mark by which one can recognize false prophets, namely their fruits. Only good trees give good fruit and these good fruits are expected from each soul who listens to his word. Our prayers are with you all in your efforts in this direction.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite anyone who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me as follows :
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you and ask forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as my Lord and personal Savior. I acknowledge that you died on the cross of Calvary and that you rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me each day to eternal life you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal to me and strengthen my heart and my faith so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus, for accepting me in your divine family so that I too can contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterpoint to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
To you all worship, power, and glory, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be glad to respond to your queries and comments as necessary, before sharing with you next week on the last window of the temple of truth, namely obedience, a solid foundation.
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May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you profusely.
David Feze, Servant of the Lord Almighty.