Eighth Sunday after Trinity (2025)

Matt 7:15-23

Grace, Mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

My Brothers and sisters in Christ we have in our Gospel Lesson this morning that Jesus Christ our Lord gives clear warning to his disciples that they are to be warned against false prophets, that is false teachers, and those who would lead the flock of God away from the Lord, and into their destruction. This deals with the office of the Ministry and this passage here calls all to examine and make sure their ministers are teaching what God’s Word has said, and to not preach themselves or their dreams, or their visions but they are to proclaim God’s Word. For those who preach themselves do not benefit the flock of God, but lead people to their own destruction. So you dear Christian must be prepared!

The Danger of False Belief

Jesus says, Beware!

This means to be on your guard, and watch careful for them. For this no idle matter as we hear in our Old Testament Lesson. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are opposed to false teachers and false prophets who would seek to destroy the flock that belongs to God. They are not be tolerated or indulged, but we are to be on guard.

You will know them by their fruits.

So you are to watch them for there will be signs, if there were no signs, no warnings, no way tell who was a true prophet and preacher of God’s Word, and the flock would be in terrible danger, and the false prophets would have no issue over running the church in a heart beat, but make no mistake, that

Their end is fire which is to say hell.

For what good is a diseased tree? That bears ill fruit and leads the sheep of God away from the good shepherd and separates them from the God who loves them and cares for them. Therefore Christ gives this warning and this charge, but to whom?

Who is to Judge?

Jesus speaks to the sheep.

In our text, Jesus speaks to the flock. Entrusts to them this charge that they are to watch. Anyone who comes teaching and proclaiming something in the name of God, we are to be on guard about, and make sure that we do not let ourselves fall astray. Now some might say,

Isn’t this just for pastors?

Indeed Pastors are called to rebuke, and to correct false teaching and false teachers, but the flock also has a responsibility to make sure that the pastor and the church they are at is faithful to God’s Word. In order for that to happen,

Every Christian is to know the Word.

Why must we know the word? Well let me use a ridiculous example, let us say, my doctor was giving me advice that said I should start a diet of where I add a package of oreos to my daily regimen. There is a part of me, that would say, don’t worry sir I’ve been waiting for this day my whole life. Then that doctor leaves, and another doctor comes and says that eating a package of Oreos everyday is bad for me, what would I say, who is this heretic! That is here to ruin my life. Just as we need to know what is good for our temporal bodies, we must also know what is good for our eternal salvation. For who

Who are the Greatest Enemies?

It’s not those outside the Church.

We are not surprised when someone who is opposed to Christ, tries to sway us away from Jesus. It is no surprise that a Satanist would spread lies about Jesus, as would a Muslim, a Buddhist, a New Ager, a Yogi, or an Atheist. When they come in Sheep’s clothing, they become harder to spot, and much more destructive to the faith. That’s what was happening in Jeremiah’s time, and even in Christ’s time.

They will misuse the name of Jesus.

They will quote him, often out of context, or make difficult passages the lens through which they read the entire scripture. They will take God’s Word and tell you that when God said that are to flee from sexual immorality, fornication, adultery, they will tell you that union doesn’t need to involve marriage, so long as you love the person at the time, and they will take you down into the fire with them.

Don’t forget, Satan knows the Bible.

It should be no surprise that the agents Satan sends to destroy the church know it as well. That is why you are not called to be idle or passive when it comes to your sanctification, that is your Holy Living, yes you are justified freely by grace through faith, and it is the gift of God. Just as Satan raged against Adam and Eve, and sought their destruction, his hatred still rages against the Church. So Satan sends wolves to tear apart the flock, and they will show using Jesus name. So you dear Christian must know the Word.

What Hope Do We Have?

God gave us His Word.

His sure and certain Word that has stood the test of time, despite all of Satan’s attempts to undo it. In the time of the Reformation, they used the latin phrase, Verbum Dei Manet in Aeternam. The Word of God remains for eternity. For God’s Word cannot be broken, He keeps His promises and is Faithful to what He has spoken. In addition to that,

Jesus sent the Helper.

The Holy Spirit, the Encourager, who leads us into truth not just coming magically to show up, but through that Word which is God-breathed, God Spirited, for it was the Holy Spirit who inspired the writers of both Old and New Testament that we might truthfully call the Bible God’s Word. The Spirit is active there still for the Spirit is the one who opens our minds to the Word of God that we might understand it. For understanding the Scriptures is not about how smart, or how old you are, the faith is taught to us by the Spirit through the Word. So

You should not fear the Word.

You should be in the Word, studying the Word, hearing the Word, taking God’s Word to heart. Now the Word meditate is used in Psalm 1 about God’s Torah, often it is translated as Law, but it also means his instructions. It is not the pagan meditation of the East that has you clear your mind and look inside yourself for stillness, and the latent divinity that exists inside of you. It comes from the Hebrew word to Mutter, and to chew on it like cud. Thinking on it and taking it to heart, and inwardly digesting it. That is what your Pastor taught you to do, when he forced you to memorize the Small Catechism. You took each commandment and asked What does this mean? You took each petition of the Lord’s Prayer, and asked what does this mean? You looked at the Sacraments and asked again and again, what does God mean? That’s why you should still be going back to your Catechism and don’t let it gather dust on the shelf.

The Fruits of Faithful Servants

Much can be called sheep’s clothing.

If you look at the second half of this passage its important. Where Jesus says, there will be those who are surprised they aren’t getting in, because they used the name of Jesus, they did might works in his name, and they thought that they were furthering the Kingdom of God. Externally they looked great, just like the PHarisees in the time of Jesus. But even though the fruit on their tree was plentiful and at times seemed good and pleasing to the eyes of men, in the eyes of God it was filled with nothing but pus. Whereas

Good fruit is pure doctrine.

Your Pastors will be sinners, they will not indulge in manifest sins, but they will slip, they will forget, they will be feeble, they won’t get everything right, and you might not even like them. My father was my pastor, I wasn’t always happy to be there. But if that was how I was judging him, then I wouldn’t have been going for Jesus, I would have been going for a Pastor that I liked. The question the sheep must considered is whether or not the Pastor has pure doctrine, and then no matter how he looks, how young or old he is, what matters is that he is a faithful servant, and

Faithful Servants will point you to Jesus.

Not themselves, but to Jesus. There have been many folks that have had lovely pastors, and the church became about the Pastor and not about Christ, and when you have, then you’ve got a cult, and that’s the work of Satan.

So my dear Brothers, and sisters in Christ, the sheep of the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ be on guard, for it was Jesus who died for you, it was Jesus who saved you, it was Jesus who rescued you from sin, death, and the power of the devil because Jesus wants to see you in paradise. So beware false teachers, take his warning to heart, and learn the Word. Study the Scriptures, and I would strongly urge you to attend Bible Study, that you might be able to test what any person who comes speaking Jesus’ name to you say that you might know whether or not they are faithful servants, or wolves, but you have to be able to know are they teaching that Word of God which brings life, or are they just satisfying our itching ears. In Jesus name. Amen.