Everyone who hears and acts on these words...

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 ^[d]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.

In today’s text Jesus says:  “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.”   Surely we want to be wise and build on a solid foundation. We want to hear and act on the words of Jesus. Whenever we see the words therefore in scripture, we should look at what precedes it so that we know what it is there for. What are we supposed to hear and act on?

In yesterday’s text from Matthew 7:1-2 Jesus said: “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.”   In today’s text, just a little later He 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 the sin of others, we are to know and judge the fruit they produce; whether it is good or bad. In doing that, in knowing their fruit it is important that we remember that it is not we or not society or culture that determines what is good and what is bad. In Isaiah 5:20, God says: Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!   God is the one who defines good and evil; darkness and light. When we know and judge fruit, it is according to His standards, not ours or anyone else’s. In Matthew 3, it says:  Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”…  when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance.  True good fruit is in keeping with repentance. It is produced by someone who is changed by God.  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.”   Look again, Jesus says:  …he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.    People will argue that many who are not Christians do good things and certainly that is true. But good works alone will not save either the doer or the receiver. If we are His disciples, the fruit we produce and bear will have eternal affects. Fruit in keeping with repentance will bear fruit of repentance. Apart from Jesus, we cannot bear the eternal fruit of repentance leading to eternal life. Jesus says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6) Apart from Jesus there can be no eternal fruit, nothing that will last beyond this life.

Look at what else Jesus says we should hear and act on.  “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.’”   It is not enough that we identify with the name of Jesus. Fruit in keeping with repentance, the good fruit of eternal life, is fruit that glorifies the Father. As Jesus says:  A bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Those who practice lawlessness do not glorify God. Only those who do God’s will, those who bear fruit in and of Christ, will enter the kingdom of heaven. If we then want to bear good fruit, if we want to do the things that Jesus did, we must abide in Him. We need to not only hear what Jesus says, we need also to act on His words. We need both to repent and bear fruit in keeping with repentance.  

Today’s text ends saying:  When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.   We too need to recognize the amazing authority of Jesus teaching. We need to hear and act on His words.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. You made a way that not only could I be redeemed from my sin, but by believing and abiding in Jesus, You also abide in me, by the Holy Spirit, and so, abiding in You I can bear much fruit, fruit in keeping with repentance, to your glory.   Amen.