Recognizing Good Fruit

Matthew 7:15-20

How To Recognize Good Fruit

Intro: I grew up on Bugs bunny/Warner brothers cartoons and every once in a while they had a cartoon about Sam the sheepdog, who was tasked with watching his flock. And of course there was a wolf, Ralph the wolf. It was funny because Ralph and Sam would clock into their jobs, and then the wolf proceeds to try and catch a sheep of course,for the wolf it is just grocery shopping but Sam has to protect the sheep.

One way Ralph would try to get the sheep is by dressing up to look like a sheep. That way he could sneak in to the flock, creeping by Sam the sheepdog’s watchful eye and then take one of the sheep. Of Course Sam is there to stop Ralph before the sheep go too far.

Main Point: Jesus warns us against being false teachers and how to recognize when we see one.

I. Who are the False Prophets?

Jesus warns his audience to be on the lookout of the pseudo prophets! People who look like they are telling the truth about God but are not living it out. Jesus is not talking about the false teachers, but actually he is pointing to the many people in the crowd who claim to be followers, but look nothing like what Jesus described in his teachings.

The interesting thing about sheepdogs is that they are generally bred to blend in with the sheep so the wolves do not know or can't tell if the sheep dogs are in the herd.

The dog is always alert, watching for any movement on the sides of the field so the sheep stay safe.

But the difference in the sheep/wolf scenario is what Jesus is telling the crowd; for each person to be on the lookout and be aware.

What does this do for us as Christians:

It does two things

1) It allows us to look at ourselves to make sure we are teaching the correct truth.

This takes us back to Jesus' instruction on taking the log out of our own eye before we try to complain about the splinter in someone else’s eye.

We see this interconnectedness of Jesus’ sermon that makes it an actual sermon and not just a recording or collection of sayings

2) It allows us to identify for other people who are not teaching correct truth

Here we are fully allowed to judge others because we are evaluating and applying our critical thinking skills to what we already know with what is being taught by a person.

It is not just the words that matter, because you, me or another person can say all the right things in the right way and still be evil or have ill intentions. They can talk the talk, but can they walk the walk. The wolf can put on the sheepskin, but he is still a wolf underneath.

II. What do they Look Like?

Jesus Changes his example a little bit by moving from a wolf in sheep’s clothing to comparing the type of fruit that different trees bear. Good trees will bear good fruit and bad trees will bear bad fruit.

Jesus Goes on to say that the bad trees are good for nothing but burning.

We have a lot of lavender and the bees love the plants. On Thursday, I came out to get some sunshine and pull some of the weeds growing and if it’s quiet, you can hear the bees buzzing away. And as I was thinking about this passage,I wondered if the bees know fake plants from real ones. Veronica and I placed the artificial flowers in the lavender bush. And the bees did not go anywhere near it. Now, I’m not sure if they knew without a doubt that it was fake or they couldnt sense or smell the flower but they definitely avoided the flower.

Likewise some people that come to church or say they are chirstians are easy to spot.

Others though are not so easy to spot and spotting our false prophet-ness if that is a word, is sometimes even more difficult.

So the question is and the significance of the trees is, has Jesus Christ changed your life and are you bearing the fruit of that change?

Because as Jesus asks in Matthew 7:20, they shall know you by your fruits

What kind of fruits should you be looking for in yourself and in others?

The best list comes from Paul in Galatians 5:22-25 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

What Paul says is pointing jesus’ teaching in a nice package or list that we can understand.

But having the list and living with all of those fruits is a lot of work.

We watched a documentary the other night about a family that moves from Santa Monica to Moorpark to buy a 200 acre farm that they named Apricot Lanes, that was essentially dead and they brought it back to life. They had all kinds of crops, including 75 kinds of fruit. The movie shows all the work it took to plant the saplings and have them grow to fruit producing trees. It takes a lot of work to keep the fruit growing and keep the trees healthy.

Application:

1)The tree has to be planted in Good soil—Jesus brings this up in the next section about building your house on a solid foundation. The soil the Apricot farms was hard dead dirt that looked more like clay than soil that could sustain life. They had to put in a lot of work to get useable soil.

2)The good soil will provide good food—But God Transplants you from your dead non nutrient dirt to his rich soil that contains everything you need to live according to His will.

3) God’s word will nourish you. Deuteronomy 8: 3 He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then he gave you manna to eat, which you and your ancestors had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.

Jesus is the Living water and the bread of Life. that is necessary for life. God is the Vine in which we are dressed into.

4) Keep the weeds and pests away.

Proverbs 24:30-34

I passed by the field of the sluggard

And by the vineyard of the man lacking sense,

And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles;

Its surface was covered with nettles,

And its stone wall was broken down.

When I saw, I reflected upon it;

I looked, and received instruction.

5) It is a never ending process-the sanctification process continues until you die.

Conclusion:

Isaiah 55:13

“Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up,

And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up,

And it will be a memorial to the Lord,

For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off.”

When the world looks at you, do they see a bush that bears some kind of fruit that looks good. To eat, but is actually poisonous and can kill them. Or do they know that you are an apple tree or a berry bush that yields the sweet fruit