Beware of the false prophets - Build upon the Rock

Matthew 7:15-29 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? ¹⁷ So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ So then, you will know them by their fruits.

²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. ²² Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶ Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷ The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

²⁸ When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; ²⁹ for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

Shortly after saying: “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”  (Matthew 7:1-5)   In today’s text Jesus says:  “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.”   So while we are not to judge others, we are to know them by their fruits. Typically we associate this verse were false Christian prophets, those who, in the name of Christ teach false or misleading doctrines. In truth though, there are prophets of every religion and of every school of thought known to man. Along with the spiritual meaning of a prophet, a prophet is defined as:  one gifted with more than ordinary spiritual and moral insight; especially : an inspired poet  :one who foretells future events :  an effective or leading spokesman for a cause, doctrine, or group    It could be said then that Al Gore is a prophet of global warming or climate change. Regarding spiritual matters, 1 John 4:1-3 says:  Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.   As we saw yesterday, Jesus Himself says:  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)  So as believers in Christ, we should beware and regard as false, any prophet or prophecy that does not confess Jesus as Christ.

As for those who speak in the name of the Lord, we should judge them by their fruits. If we were to apply this standard to Mr. Gore, we would see that as a prophet of climate change, he has personally profited millions of dollars. We would see that he lives in a way quite contrary to the values, principles and predictions he declares. Jesus says of spiritual prophets:  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”   Declaring that Jesus is Lord is not enough if the fruit of our lives tells the world another story. If the fruit of our lives is personal gain, to satisfy our own greed, if the fruit of our lives is deceit and debauchery, then Jesus says:  “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”  

According to what Jesus says then, we should first be sure to remove any bad fruit from our own lives. In John 15:1-8 Jesus says: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.”  It is vital to our Christian life, first that we do bear fruit. It is said that something is either growing or dying. According to what Jesus says, if we are not bearing fruit, we are drying up and there is no evidence or proof that we are His disciples.. The fruit that we bear then will also be tested to see if it is good. Our fruit will be good if we abide in Christ. We cannot practice lawlessness if we remain in Him.  

Jesus finishes today’s text saying:  “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”   If we build our lives upon the foundation of anything but Christ, it is an uncertain foundation. Jesus says:  “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) The rain, the floods and the winds may come. There will be tribulation in this life. We will remain secure if we build our lives on the solid foundation of abiding in Christ.

May the words of this hymn be our prayer and our declaration and may the fruit of our lives be bourn from its truth: