Know the by their fruit

Matthew 7:14–20 ESV

14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. 15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Ever since I was a kid I've struggled with one question “Who can I trust?” I didn't grow up with bad parents or anything like that but I did grow up relatively sheltered and as I grew up I realized that not all people are trustworthy. I would share things with people in confidence and come to find out they had mismanaged my information. I was burned many times and eventually learned that not everyone values trust, and not everyone can or should be trusted. So back to my question, who can we trust?

Jesus starts with pointing out the important truth that teachers, preachers and people in general can act like sheep, but are really wolves. When we fully understand this we can become very cynical, jaded and maybe pessimistic about pastors, friends and possibly even family. Many of us have experienced this in our own family, personal or church lives. BUT Jesus brings us a good idea of how to find out Who we can trust. As Christians we have a responsibility to

”be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16)

We are to be wise about who we listen to and trust but yet remain innocent. Whether we are looking at pastors' friends or even our own souls, we have a command to be wise but we also have a standard to know if we or someone else is a sheep or a wolf,and that standard is the rest of our passage.

A tree with no fruit looks like it has potential, but we can’t build trust on potential. We can’t build relationships on potential, we have to build relationships and build trust on patterns. A pattern of good fruit is an indicator. A pattern of bad fruit is an indicator. But a tree with no fruit has potential for both good and bad so we must look at the patterns.

Matthew 7:16–18 ESV

16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.

Now comes wisdom, if we look at someone and see the fruit of the spirit in them then we know that they are sheep and have the spirit of truth in them

Galatians 5:22–23 ESV

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

But if we see the fruit of the flesh at work in them or even in us then we know that they are not of God's sheep and if we or anyone else isn’t with God they are against Him (see Matthew 12:30) So who can we trust? Well we can trust Jesus, He is perfect and will never leave us or forsake us (see Hebrews 13:5) Jesus is the one we can ultimately trust and we can also trust those who look like Him, not those who only look good on stage, in a pulpit, or in front of others. But those who are truly producing fruit that can only come from the Holy Spirit.

19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Now that we know who we can trust, I want us to take a very important look at our own lives. Can we see “good fruit” in our own lives? I'm not asking you to make sure there isn’t “Bad fruit” in your life. I am talking about Good fruit. The absence of bad fruit does not mean there is automatically “good fruit” ether. The standard is “good fruit” : anything less doesn't have the Holy Spirit, anything less hasn't been changed by the gospel of Jesus. When Jesus came to a fig tree that didn’t produse fruit He destroyed it. And when Jesus comes back on the final day He will look for good fruit. And anything less will be thrown into the fire… so let me ask you. Are you producing good fruit? Is the Holy Spirit present in your life? If you are struggling with this I highly recommend you talk to your location pastor or growth community leader. Jesus wants all of us to be saved. He wants you, He loves you, and has given you a chance to be saved.