Bible Study Aug.22
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Whose Kingdom are you Living For
Whose Kingdom are you Living For
Parable—an earthly story with a heavenly or kingdom meaning. There is one central meaning to the parable, some or most of the metaphors are directly related, but the earthly portion of the story may not always have a direct correlation to heaven or the kingdom.
Metaphor—A Metaphor is a figure of speech that makes an implicit, implied, or hidden comparison between two things that are unrelated, but which share some common characteristics. A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable; a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
Matthew 7:15-27
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable; a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else
This section, Matthew 7:15-20, begins with a warning, what is it?
Beware of false prophets, they come dressed is sheep’s clothing but they are ravenous wolves.
What is a wolfs desire?
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
He wants to tear the sheep apart and devour them.
John 10:
Who or what are false prophets? Whose kingdom are they living for?
A prophet is a spokesperson for God biblically, but in a real world sense and contextually, a prophet is anyone proclaiming to have the answers to life and how to live it and calling people to follow.
According to Jesus how will we recognize false prophets?
By their fruit.
What is “fruit”? How do you know it’s good and not rotten?
Fruit is how they live, not only in public but in private.
With close inspection a false prophet will be a hypocrite if they are claiming to be religious, or will be openly living contradictory to God’s laws.
That being said, good fruit is not only actions done according to what God desires, but also done with the right heart and motivation.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
What does Jesus mean when He says that “trees that don’t bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire”?
This is where the parable breaks down or at least is not black and white. We will at times, as good trees, bear bad fruit, but it is, hopefully, not the norm for our life. A bad tree will, for the most part, produce bad fruit, their life will be filled with actions with impure motives or are outright contradictory to God way.
Matthew 7:21-2
Matthew 7:15-
That being said, His point here isn’t hell, but rather in real life this “bad” tree is useless for the farmer, so it will be removed so a good tree can take it’s place. The tree’s purpose is to produce good fruit, if it’s not, it is of no use.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Now, in keeping with all that we’ve learned from the Sermon on the Mount, who are the “not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord”?
These are the lives defined by being hypocrites and the false prophets.
Look at the end of verse 21, but the one who does the will of my Father. If they weren’t doing the Fathers will, whose will were they doing?
Let’s not get caught up in what they claim they did, what Jesus is addressing is who they did it for. Remember the section of giving, praying and fasting, all so others would see them. Now these people have progressed to wanting to destroy God’s “sheep” for their own personal gain.
So what’s the key in verse 23? How do we get there?
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
In verse 24, what are “these words of mine”?
All that Jesus has just taught in this section and for us all that He taught.
What does He mean by, “and does them”?
A lot are hearers of the Word, but not doers as well. Jesus tells stories about these people and James talks fo them as well. We have to put into practice what we hear and learn, otherwise once we learn it and don’t do it we are being disobedient.
Jesus is describing a storm, what is the difference between the two houses?
One has a solid foundation able to withstand the storm, the other’s foundation is unstable, and in reality foolish to build upon.
What’s the storm?
In real life a “storm” is any uncertain, unexpected, turbulent time, it’s scary, and can create anxiousness etc. but clearly if our foundation is in the rock our house, our life will not collapse, the storms will not destroy us but rather prove how strong our foundation is as we withstand it.
Matthew 7:28
And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
We started in chapter 5 talking of how Jesus was putting His teaching right up next to and even as deeper and more correct than their previous understanding of the “law”. Here we see the people as astonished and recognizing the authority that Jesus possess.
What does it mean for us that Jesus has authority?