Righteousness and Fruit
The Greatest Sermon Ever Given • Sermon • Submitted
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Once again, it is a privilege to be here and to bring the Word of God to our congregation. A few months ago, we started putting our sermons out on Podcast and through that process a new tagline kind of came to my mind that you may have seen shared around online or here on some of the slides every now and then. It is, “Here, you will hear the Word of God.” That is the ultimate goal that we have for any of our services, our teachings, or our gatherings. We want people to hear the Word of God and not just our thoughts or opinions. We will absolutely share personal stories and testimonies, but the main thing we want to be focussed on and draw everything from is the all-sufficient, inerrant Word of God as recorded in Scripture.
With that intention, we have spent the last three weeks walking word by word through chapter 7 of the Book of Matthew. Today we are going to be primarily looking at chapter 7 and start in verse 15 if you want to turn there and hold your place. Chapter 7 is the third and final chapter of the Greatest Sermon Ever Given, the Sermon on the Mount, given by Jesus to His disciples and the crowd that then formed around them as He was teaching.
Thus far we have seen Jesus juxtapose worthless self-righteousness and the righteous demands of the Holy God. We see that we all fall short of God’s Standard, thus we are exposed of our need for atonement. That is, our inability to be righteous on our own merit explains why Jesus would have to die for our sins. So the primary response to the Sermon on the Mount, as I’ve stated throughout this series, the primary response is to mourn over our sinfulness and Christ says that those who mourn will be comforted. At the same time, we are told that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be satisfied. When we truly desire to honor God with righteous living, we understand that true righteousness is given to us from Jesus and through faith in Him and the power of the Holy Spirit, we are empowered to actually live righteously. Now, I bring this up for a few reasons. One is that as we walk through our Scripture today, we will see how saving faith is a prerequisite to doing any real good or righteous action. We’ll come back to that idea later. But I also want us to remember that when we really have faith in Jesus, we are ACTUALLY empowered to live righteously. I am not claiming that any of us are going to be perfect after we have faith in Jesus. If we say we have no sin, we are lying to ourselves, others, and God. However, while the teachings within the Sermon on the Mount are lofty and we wont ever and always perfectly follow what our Lord commands therein, it is important to remember that Jesus is also giving practical instruction that we are to apply in our daily lives. I am saying that mourning over sin and subsequent faith and comfort in Jesus not only saves the individual eternally, it transforms them into a new creature in the here and now.
If you know Christ as your Savior, your priorities ought to be different than the world’s.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
If you’ve truly had your eyes opened to salvation by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ, then your attention is drawn upward. That means you now give a higher attention to the things that glorify God. Not only that, but you are actually empowered to overcome the sinful temptations that you use to fall into. I was talking to a brother this week and he brought up this verse:
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
This verse is often misused to say that God will never give you more than you can bear. That’s not what it says. God may very well give you a burden that leads to your death. There is going to come a time for all us in which the physical strains on our life are more than we can bear and we can no longer take another breath. I don’t say that to be morbid, but rather just to explain the reality we all face in this mortal body. What 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us, is that in any and all circumstances God will not let us be TEMPTED beyond our ability. That means that God has enabled those who truly love Him to remain focussed on Him in every situation and to run from sin. In fact verse 14 there in 1 Corinthians says “Therefore, flee from idolatry.” So we are taught in Scripture that when we are reconciled unto God through faith in Christ, we are eternally saved and changed in the here and now. We are enabled to fix our eyes on what is above and we know that we can flee from temptation because God will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can stand. Even in very difficult circumstances we can go through them without giving in to sinful temptation.
I wanted to make that point first this morning, because when we hear Jesus teaching us here in the Sermon on the Mount, it most definitely convicts us and points us to our need of a Savior, but it is also direction that we are called to apply in our efforts to glorify God, seek the things that are above, whilst fleeing from temptation. Jesus is giving His followers at that time and us here today, actionable guidance on living a holy, set apart life for the glory of God. And there has been so much good, good teaching throughout this sermon. If you’re just joining us here recently, go back and re-read chapters 5 and 6 of the book of Matthew. It is a goldmine of divine instruction for all those who are seriously following Jesus to consider. He gives direction on anger, lust, marriages, making oaths, retaliation, loving your enemies, giving to the needy, how to pray, how to fast, what to work for, anxiety, judging others, and more. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount truly is a holistic teaching that shows spiritual need, glorify God, and gives great practicality to the hearer.
And towards the end of this Sermon, where we are going to pick things up this morning, Jesus gives a warning. Look at verse 15 of chapter 7 in Matthew.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Beware of false prophets.
Here’s what we know. Jesus is not a false prophet. Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one. The one true anointed Priest, King, and Prophet. Earlier in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus even says that He has come to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. That means that all the things that the prophets spoke of in the Old Testament culminates in Jesus. So the pinnacle of the prophets, the absolute source of divine revelation, tells those who follow Him to beware of false prophets.
It is at this point that we have to figure out exactly what a false prophet is. Who is it that Jesus is telling His followers to watch out for?
The concept of a prophet would not be foreign to those hearing Jesus’ sermon. Through their Jewish upbringing, they would have been taught about the prophets who were used by God to declare His message to the people. They would know that God had used guys like Jonah, Isaiah, even Moses to speak to His people. In the book of Jeremiah, one of the Prophets of the Lord, we find a helpful description of false prophets: The Lord is speaking through Jeremiah and says:
An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land:
the prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule at their direction;
my people love to have it so,
but what will you do when the end comes?
Later He adds:
And the Lord said to me: “The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.
What we gather from Jeremiah in regards to False Prophets is that they are claiming to speak on behalf of God, but they are just using that to push their own agendas. False prophets are manipulators who want to see their own increase and do not bat an eye at using the name of the Almighty God to get there.
They come to people with the appearance of godliness, but their false message is ultimately destruction. Their message is not from God and thus it points people to the wide gate that leads to destruction as Jesus’ had just been talking about in the verses prior to our section this morning. In our Scripture this morning, Jesus says
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
False prophets may appear as gentle lambs, but be on guard because they are really wolves! They lead people to destruction and destroy for their own gain. They will tell people what they want them to hear because it will lead to an increase in their own position or Influence.
But here’s the thing, people like to listen to false prophets. Why? Because false prophets and teachers will gas you up even when that’s not what is good for you. Look back to Jeremiah with me:
Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord.
False prophets fill you with vain hopes. That is to say they tell you what you want to hear so they can be liked. They have no interested in the truth of God’s Word in a situation, they just want to do whatever will lead to their increase.
People soak this up because it is much easier to hear what you want to hear rather than be confronted by divine truth!
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,
This describes a win-win situation for the false prophet and the people! False prophets get to teach whatever they want that people gleefully accept because it suits whatever debased passions they have. Everyone feels vindicate going about doing whatever they want. Any and every unrighteous behavior and disposition is called good and we all live happily ever after.
But the problem is that Jesus already told us
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
False prophets and those who accept their teaching are smiling their way through the wide gate, dead set on the path of destruction in hell.
Just to sum up where we are at: False prophets are anyone who claim to speak with godly authority but are not preaching the message given by the One True God. Jesus says to beware of such people. They look nice, but will eat you up. They lead you to destruction. They are ravenous wolves that have no regard for your well being.
Now that we know what false prophets are, why people like them, and how they are destructive, we have to learn have to mark and avoid such destructive forces. Jesus give His followers the basic principle for distinguishing false prophets:
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.
Jesus is telling us that we can identify false teachers by the products of their life.
When I was a kid we had a tree out back at our house that would grow the most beautiful little apples. They almost looked like miniature Granny Smith apples. I remember one time playing outside with my sisters and I thought, man I can’t stand it any longer, I have to get me one of them. So I picked off one of the beautiful little apples and took a big ole bite.
Immediately I regretted it. What we had growing in our yard was not a miniature granny smith apple tree. It was a crab apple tree. Now I know some people might use those for jelly or what not, but you will never convince me that crab apples are not a bad fruit. And wouldn’t you know it, but the tree they come from only produces that one bad fruit. As I’ve grown up I’m still far from an expert, but in general I can now tell the difference between a crab apple and regular apple. I definitely know that I don’t want to eat crab apples.
I’ll happily go to Echert’s Orchard and pick off a fresh blackberry or peach and bite right in. I’ve learned what good fruit looks like. I’ll avoid crab apples and holly berries. I know they’re sour or poisonous.
Just as we can distinguish the good and bad fruit produced by trees, we can distinguish the good and bad products in the life of a teacher as we evaluate if they are teaching God’s word, or a False Prophet we are called to be weary of.
One pastor suggests three areas of production to test a teacher and distinguish the type of fruit they bare. Character, Creed, and Converts.
Character is, “the aggregate of features and traits that form the individual nature of some person.” It is the inner motives, standards, and ambitions someone has. Character is who they are and what they do when they aren’t in the spotlight.
As I mentioned in the opening to this message, if you know Christ, your priorities ought to be different than those of the world. The one who is teaching the false prophet does not seek the things that are above where Christ is as it says in Colossians 3. They do not run from temptation when they are behind closed doors.
But the godly teacher practices what they preach. No man is perfect, but their lives are marked by a genuine desire to serve the Lord. They do good works for the glory of God!
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
You should be able to look at a teacher’s life and see that they are truly seeking to glorify God in all that they do. I believe this is why the local church is important and that everyone ought to be a part of local congregation where they know and see their pastor, not just when he is behind the pulpit. I’m not saying that everyone with a national platform is a false prophet, but you have no way of knowing what is happening in that teachers life when they are not behind the camera.
I am not saying that there cannot be corruption in the local church, but in our church you can see how I treat my wife and my child. You can work along side me in mission activities. You can go out to eat and see how I treat those who are serving me. You can see if there is love and genuine concern given from the position of the pulpit to the rest of the congregation. I am not saying that I am perfect, far from it, what I’m getting at is that we often put people on TV on a pedestal and while they may put out a very attractive message and sometimes even an orthodox message, it is incredibly hard to test their character. I would encourage everyone, even if you are exclusively on online listener to our messages here At Durbin, to get connected with a church in which you can know the pastor. It is important to evaluate the character of those who are teaching you.
You can also evaluate the creed. By creed I mean the doctrine that they are teaching. Is what they are saying actually congruent with the Word of God. We saw in our verses from Jeremiah that the prophets made up what ever suited them best. But that is the path that leads to destruction. Is the teaching given actually in line with the Word of God?
I know that fact checking online has become a bit politicized lately, but I want you to Bible-check everything you here from any teacher, myself included. If it doesn’t line up with a correct understanding of the Word of God, and the teacher wont accept correction even with mounds of biblical truth being brought to their attention, then you better run from that mess. Now, let me say, YOU may be wrong on something. So anytime we go to reprove a brother or sister’s doctrine, we should do so humbly and truly seeking the truth to be proclaimed.
But please, judge the teaching you receive by God’s Word. “When judging whether or not a teaching is from God, Isaiah counsels, ‘
To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.
Isaiah is saying that if someone espouses a teaching that is not in line with the Word of God it has no dawn which means no light. It’s useless.
So test the teaching. Here are somethings to look for. Do they add to the gospel. Remember the way is narrow that leads to life and that way is faith in Jesus Christ. It’s not Jesus plus.. It’s just Jesus. Do they shy away from calling sin a sin? Are they more worried about puffing someone up then dealing with the reality of fallen man? Are they a mile wide and an inch deep? One pastor said, “The creed of the false prophet, if he has any at all, will be vague, indefinite, and ethereal. No demanding truth will be absolute or clear-cut, and every principle will be easy and attractive.” Do they preach the whole truth? Or do they refer only to God’s love with no mention of His holiness?
These are only a few things to look for in the creed or the doctrine of a false prophet. The main thing is to test the teaching by the Word of God.
One last area to test the fruit of a false teacher is in their converts. Who is following this person?
And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
Do those who really follow this teacher exhibit biblical godliness and a desire for holiness? Or are they proud and self-centered. “They will be both self-oriented and group-oriented, but never God-oriented or Scripture-oriented.”
False prophets produce false converts.
They are wolves and their message is dangerous and destructive.
Ultimately they are outside of Christ and thus damned and damning those who would follow them.
Before we look at the last couple of verses, I want to quickly return to verse 18
A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
Diseased trees cannot bear good fruit. If the roots are bad, nothing good can come from it.
If you are not rooted in Jesus Christ, If your life isn’t fully planted in faith in Him, then ultimately, nothing good can come from it. I’m reminded of Isaiah where he says all of our righteous deeds are like filthy rags. If we are rooted in anything other than Jesus, we quite literally cannot bear good. So for our teachers, that means that if they are not rooted in Christ, their teaching is no good.
But remember what Jesus said:
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
When we are in Christ through faith, it is then that we are able to bear truly good fruit. And in the final few verses Jesus shows us just how eternally important it is to abide in Him and 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.
Here Jesus is telling us once more just how important it is to evaluate the false teachers who are producing bad fruit. Their message and teachings lead to them and their adherents being cut down and thrown in the fire. So you must recognize them, evaluate their fruit.
Here in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches us to beware of and avoid false prophets. Their message leads to destruction. Jesus, being the Anointed Prophet, is not to be avoided and His teaching is be accepted. As we are closing this morning. I want to point you to a similar teaching Jesus gives from John 15. We started looking at this a moment ago.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
Here we see that abiding, dwelling, being rooted in Jesus is the key to everything. Those who are not rooted in Jesus are thrown away, thrown into the fire. But those who abide are focussed on Christ, they ask in accordance with God’s will. The Father is glorified. They produce fruit. They actually live in a righteous way that glorified God! As we pursue holiness, that is righteous living that is not for own benefit, but in service and submission to the Lord, we are bearing fruit and prove to be true disciples, followers, of Christ.
Christ loved us and we know that because He died to take our sins. He was obedient to the Father. In perfect triune love. Those who love Christ, are obedient to Him. And in our obedience to the Lord, our joy is full. There is no better way to live both now and eternally than being reconciled to God through faith and abiding in Christ, in submission to Him. That is a life free from the bondage of sin and full of Joy in serving the Lord!
So let me ask, what are you rooted in? Are you rooted in false teaching? Do you evaluate the character, creed, and converts of the influences you take in your life? Or are you rooted in the Christ?
Know this, Jesus is the only one who died for sin and rose again. Jesus is the only one whose blood covers the debt of our sin. He is the narrow gate. The only way to salvation. Abide in Him. Come to Christ today.