2nd
Sunday in PENTECOST
Rev. Norman F. Seeger
Matthew
7:15-29
15 “Watch out for
false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are
ferocious wolves. 16 By their
fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs
from thistles? 17 Likewise
every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good
fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will
recognize them.
21 “Not everyone who
says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who
does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day,
‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out
demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I
never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
24 “Therefore
everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a
wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose,
and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it
had its foundation on the rock. 26 But
everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is
like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose,
and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great
crash.”
28 When Jesus had
finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had
authority, and not as their teachers of the law.
Matthew
7:15-29
"FRUITS
IDENTIFY FAITH”
1. Watch Our for False Prophets
2. Watch Out for a False Faith
Dear faithful followers of Jesus
the Christ,
‘The proof is in the
pudding’ warns us not to assume dessert is delicious until we actually taste it
since some sour, stomach-turning ingredients may hide under appetizing exteriors. ‘Do not judge a book by it’s cover’ warns us
not to form final opinions about a person’s character based on a quick glance
at their outward appearance because pictures & promotional quotes on a book’s
jacket may differ from what we actually find when we turn this book’s pages to
read what is written. Warning us to “watch
out for false prophets,” Jesus teaches us to taste-test a prophet’s
pudding before I pull up my chair for a five-course meal. Jesus teaches us to criticually evaluate every
preacher’s message before I assume whatever any pastor says will benefit my
soul. Warning us to “watch out for false prophets,” Jesus
would also warn us today to watch out for a false faith we may see in a mirror. As we look at preachers who bring us God’s
truth today, we also look at the way we personally apply the Lord’s will in our
life.
Warning us first to “Watch
out for false prophets,” Jesus would remind us a wolf dressed in
sheep’s clothing is still a wolf. Who
dresses like a sheep? Pastors whose
names may be well known because television or radio regularly broadcasts their
sermons – preachers you might intentionally tune in to hear or may
unintentionally encounter as you are flipping channels – self-proclaimed
ministers for America who seem to step into the media spotlight whenever
controversial events occur in our country might be sheep or might be wolves
dressed in sheep’s clothing. Pastors who
are famous for writing many books lining the shelves in religious bookstores –
pastors famous for attracting large numbers of listeners to their services –
pastors who preach from this pulpit at Good Shepherd might be sheep or might be
wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing.
How will we know the
difference between a sheep & a wolf?
Why must we know who’s who? Why I
must recognize a wolf ought to be obvious if we picture Jesus’ faithful
followers like a flock of sheep. When
another little lamb is added to our flock as Elias Taylor is baptized, we
rejoice. If another sheep walks into our
midst as Pastor Werre comes to Good Shepherd, we rejoice. If a wolf were to appear, we would run for
our life because sheep know wolves are predators who will tear us to shreds. Sheep run away when they see wolves on the
horizon. When the devil asks for an
audience – when atheists offer us their opinions – we run away, we close our
ears & refuse to listen because we know the devil is trying to shred our souls. However, if a wolf dresses like a sheep, he
will not frighten the flock as he walks over the horizon. Instead of fleeing, sheep go on grazing until
this wolf in sheep’s clothing is prowling around in the middle of the flock
where he can suddenly pounce upon his helpless prey. When the devil dresses like a child of God – when
a false prophet labels himself one of our Lord’s preachers -- faithful sheep might
not run away nor close our ears, but may soak up the devil’s lies along with
our Lord’s truth, allowing our soul to be poisoned.
For safety’s sake – to
preserve our soul’s eternal life – to nurture rather than erode our faith
(which is why I am not too exicited nor really pleased to hear of some television
preachers our people listen to, some religious radio we absorb or some
religious books we at times appear to read as if they were the Bible’s truth) –
for our soul’s safety, we must avoid today’s spiritual wolves in sheep’s
clothing, we must “watch out for false prophets.” Jesus is adamant. So, how will we know who’s who when the devil
dresses like a child of God? How will we
separate false prophets from our Lord’s true preachers? Jesus explains, “By their fruit you will
recognize them.”
Faithful preaching
identifies a faithful prophet. Jesus orders
us to judge a prophet’s production, not just his outward appearance. You must not look at me as a sheep because I
may say “This is the Word of our God” as I step into this pulpit to
preach. You must compare what I preach
with the truth God has written for us in his Word. My message must be God’s inspired truth,
truth already recorded in the Scriptures. Anything else -- anything more or less than
God’s biblical truth – any different idea I might intentionally or
unintentionally offer, no matter how appealing it may be in your opinion – would
identify me as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, a wolf to run away from because
non-biblical or extra-biblical messages immediately begin to erode our faith.
If I preach – if Pastor
Werre were to preach -- anything other than God’s truth, people should flee
from Good Shepherd. Unfortunately – or
fortunately, perhaps, depending upon your perspective – people who walk away
from our congregation have not been fleeing false teaching. Different excuses are often offered, but no
one says -- no one shows us where -- our message is straying from God’s
inspired truth. If they would, I pray
the Lord would correct our teaching & preaching. Yes, I pray the Lord will guide you to
continually test my message against God’s Word to be sure I speak as a faithful
sheep, not as a ferocious wolf. I pray
you will also continually test every religious message you hear against God’s
Word because I fear, in our reluctance to condemn anyone who claims to be
religious, I fear we often allow wolves in sheep’s clothing to walk beside us
in our daily lives … a dangerous situation indeed.
Jesus’ warning is timely
-- “Watch
out for false prophets” – because spiritual wolves are prowling our
world today, as the Lord knew they would. Paul warned:
“The Spirit clearly says in later times some will abandon the faith &
follow deceiving spirits & things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical
liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry & order them
to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with
thanksgiving by believers who know the truth.”[1 TM 4] Paul describes “false
apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ – not a
surprise -- for if Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light, his servants
may certainly masquerade as servants of righteousness…”[2 COR 11]
Jude emphasizes how a spiritual wolf produces something different
than what we expect from a sheep, picturing false prophets in our world today
as “shepherds
who feed only themselves… clouds without rain, blown by the wind; autumn trees,
without fruit & uprooted --twice dead -- wild waves of the sea, foaming up
shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.”[JD 12]
Without a doubt, false
prophets will be ordered to burn in hell’s fires forever when Jesus judges them
the last day, but our Lord warns us not to let our souls be singed by their
deceptive doctrines. Will we “pick
grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” Will we look for oranges on an apple tree or
expect to pick raspberries from a rose bush?
No, of course not! Why would I,
then, ever expect my faith to be fed by false prophets whose messages are not
always preaching or teaching us all of God’s truth? Fortunately, our Lord who knew false prophets
would appear refuses to let our faith fail.
Looking to these last days, Jesus promised: “for the sake of the elect, whom he has
chosen, the Lord has shortened them… false Christs & false prophets will
appear & perform signs & miracles to deceive the elect -- if that were
possible. So be on your guard; I have
told you everything ahead of time. [MK
13]
“Be on your guard! Watch out for false prophets!” Watch out also for a false faith! Looking at preachers who teach us God’s Word,
Jesus also looks at the way we personally apply the Lord’s truth in our life,
explaining again, “by their fruit you will recognize them.” Just as faithful preaching identifies a
faithful prophet, so fruits of faith identify God’s faithful people. Jesus warns, “Not everyone who says to me,
‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will
of my Father who is in heaven.”
Jesus then pictures the
person “who hears these words of mine & puts them into practice” as
“a
wise man who built his house on the rock” while the individual “who
hears these words of mine but does not put them into practice” is
pictured as “a foolish man who built his house on sand.” When the weather is calm & the sun is
shining, these two houses may seem to be the same. When life is going good, an unbeliever may
seem to be as blessed as a child of God.
But when rain falls & the winds blow, a house set on sand will
collapse while the house built on a rock solild foundation stands firm. When our life brings us face to face with
sickness, financial setbacks; with all sorts of spiritual problem or personal
troubles, a believer’s response sets us apart from souls who do not know our
Savior’s promises or our Lord’s directions.
Without a doubt, my life
as a child of God will not necessarily be easy.
Paul & Barnabas warn us, “We must go through many hardships to enter
the
Am I a believer? Am I a sheep…a little lamb who faithfully
follows the voice of the Good Shepherd, Jesus, who laid down his life to give
us life? Or am I an “evildoer” who will hear
Jesus say “away from me” as he returns to judge us the last day? Why would anyone wait until it would be too
late to find out who I am? Let me look
at my life as you look at your life today.
Do fruits of faith identify me as a faithful child of God? Do I listen, do I really listen to the
Scriptures? Do I put our Lord’s words
into practice? Do I apply Jesus’
promises to myself & to my sins? Do
I follow Jesus’ instructions in my life?
Looking for fruits of
faith that identify God’s faithful people, I pray we will not fall into the
false prophets’ trap of assuming I will be saved because I work God’s
works. No, Jesus, as always, warns us to
never ever trust our own imperfect actions but to always rely upon Jesus’ perfection
being counted as our righteousness while trusting Jesus’ death for our
redemption. The fact is, you & I
will never be saved by what we do – we are simply & surely saved by what
Jesus has done for us -- but faithful children of God are indentified by the fruits
of faith produced in our lives. So, when
Jesus reminds us once more, “by their fruit you will recognize them,” I
pray your faith & my faith will not be a false faith but will be spiritual pudding
that tastes as good as it looks. When
Jesus warns us, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of
heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father,” I pray we will
truly listen & learn to totally trust in Jesus as our Savior & to
faithfully follow Jesus as our Lord while faithful preachers repeat Jesus’
proclamation: “My Father’s will is that
everyone who looks to the Son & believes in him shall have eternal life, &
I will raise him up at the last day.”[JN 6] Sheep of the Good
Shepherd, let’s work our Lord’s works – let’s believe in the Lord Jesus &
be saved!
Amen.