The Eighth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 7:15-23 “The Fruit of Doctrine”
July 26, 2026 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank You that You have caused us to come to the knowledge of Your Word. We pray: Graciously keep us steadfast in this knowledge unto death, that we may obtain eternal life; send us, now and ever, pious pastors who faithfully preach Your Word, without offense or false doctrine, and grant them long life. Defend us from all false teachings, and frustrate the counsels of all who pervert Your Word, who come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves, that Your true Church may evermore be established among us, and be defended and preserved from such false teachers; through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 160)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 7th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
[Jesus said:] “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.
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who is calling you into the kingdom of His righteousness, that He is the way, the truth, the life, and He has known you since the foundation of the world was laid, dear fellow redeemed:
Hearing the words, “We the people…”, and your mind has already thought of what the next words are to the Constitution. Why do these words come through so clearly in your mind? These words are the founding principles for our country and they are why we get along. We get along because in our Constitution we are meant to work together. Since there is so much meaning in these words, we know it is good for us to defend them. Are there other “words” worth defending? Well, as we celebrated forty years this year, we know our own church has a constitution. While these words are important to us, these words are the top layer of other collections of writings we hold dear. Our Constitution sits on top of doctrine, which sits on top of God’s holy Word. As we hold God’s Word in faith in our hearts, it is the fruit of the doctrine we have that we will use to defend what we believe. There are many who look to attack what we hold dear. Some don’t understand what we have and some are attacking it maliciously. No matter the attack, no matter how much we endure, this fruit will continue to sustain us as we continue to sing, oh taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! (Psalm 34:8) Refuge in the doctrine we hold near and dear.
Out of all of the doctrines we hold dear, there is one we know we can’t lose and that is the doctrine of justification. This gift of the Lord Almighty declaring us not guilty of our sins out of His divine and pure grace on the account of Christ and not works is the only thing that will ever be our comfort. And believe it or not, there are many who are trying to take this away. By ingraining this doctrine into our minds and hearts, it will be easy to spot the attacks against it as Jesus says, “You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, 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.” Even as some will try to be sneaky, the fruit of what is believed will not lie about their intentions.
The enemies of Jesus’ had bad fruit that was very visible. Jesus wants His disciples to be able to see it as He warns them about this more than once. The fruit that they are willing to hold on to is borne with an action that is contrary to the actions of following Christ and His message. For the hypocrites will only work for show and they will not toil for what is right. The delicious food of Christ comes with much suffering. This is one of the biggest reasons as to why many would rather not eat of it. Even with the different thoughts on how to apply works, and it can be foolish to even argue with them. There will eventually be a great separation from those who do not bear good fruit. While it should be easy to push all of this bad fruit aside, the false prophets will usually have large followings. Many still followed the Pharisees as Jesus teaching became hard for many to hear, understand, and bear. As Jesus taught the people, out of all His teachings which are all important, the most important teaching is the belief in Him as the Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son (1 John 5:10).
Is this really the extreme side to not believing in Jesus as the Son of God? Is it really true that to not have faith in Christ is to call God the Father Almighty a liar? This is why we must take what we believe seriously as there are serious implications. The false teachers don’t care about the implications. Again, they are mostly not on their own, and they love when everyone is joining them. They love to be in disguise, not advertising that they are false teachers. Since it is a race to grow in number, some may think they are following Jesus’ will but it is the devil working to lead people to destruction. And he can do it simply by changing one doctrine, the doctrine of justification. With the doctrines of the church continuing being changed and especially when it is done maliciously against the firm foundation of Scripture, to call God a liar means they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed (2 Thessalonians 1:9-10).
These words of St. Paul echo the faith he was willing to put it all on the line for. It was the only testimony that can be grabbed onto by the people and help them with the comfort of their souls. As the false prophets at some point will have their finger on the scale as they tell you what actions you must do to aide in your salvation, the good fruits of the foundational doctrines of the church stand at the ready. The first step is to prepare the heart for the gift. Following the will of the Father includes repentance and faith. As we heard not so long ago, we make amends as we “come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison” (Matthew 5:25). The prison sentence for believing in salvation in anything other than Christ, it is going to be a long one. For the good fruit to make amends goes bad to selfish gain. No matter how hard we can try to find a better way, God’s way through life has always stood firm over any false prophets no matter how bad we may think it appears. The Father’s will continues to be that people believe in Jesus and have eternal life, for this faith desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4). This knowledge sees the Word taught in its truth and purity and the sacraments are rightly administered no matter the worldly outcome.
Throughout history in the world, the bad fruit has spoiled over one person. The false prophet’s goal is to take Jesus and rip Him apart. Recent and historic controversies either try to rip Jesus’ humanity from His divinity or they will try to rip the divinity from His humanity. As the world attempts to disprove Him, Jesus told them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). They couldn’t destroy Jesus then and they can’t destroy Jesus now. The divine Son of God is the gift of the world who will always disprove the false prophets. As hard as it can be for us to make amends, and we don’t deserve to have amends, this gracious and saving will of God is witnessed as Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:29). For He sent the world’s salvation in the only form that would work to undo all of the damage that had been done. The terror of the false prophets is short lived.
It is short lived, because no matter how much the world attacks, no matter how much they try to make us sound like we are the crazy ones, the doctrines of the church stand firm. They do not sway; they do not bend. And the bad fruit is easy to find and defend against, even for you to make your stand. And even if there is a topic, when it is difficult to judge the doctrine, the doctrine of your church has given you the tools to know if it is correct. Turning to the creeds and the catechism, and you will see if it carries any merit. For in the creeds and the catechism, you see a small faith that burns ever so brightly. It is the faith in Words that are always worth defending as you hear how comforting they are. For in your confession, a confession made revealing your unworthiness, revealing the times you may have wanted it easy, the confession points to the God man who was looked on as the lawless one. Who had the Father depart from Him as He suffered the death of the lawless one on the cross. And in that suffering and death, the will of God is revealed. For this is the will of God, your sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Sanctification that proceeds from the declaration of your justification in front of the Almighty God. The greatest doctrine of love you will forever know!
It is only because of this undeserved love of Jesus Christ you are able to strive to do what is good in the sight of God. He is with you, gifting you all of your triumphs and He sees all of your mistakes. He knows the world is still trying to discredit Him and rip Him apart. He has given you Words to live by in the doctrines you hold dear. It is these doctrines of the church which have already held up over the testament of time that will sustain you. And chief among them is the one that allows you to stand today with confidence. The wolves can’t take away your declaration of innocence in front of the judge who has taken away all of your sins with His death on the cross. And this doctrine will continue to be professed as men continue to be sent out by God with this statement of Paul, that according to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building up on it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it (1 Corinthians 3:10). The work of the church is to continue to see her built up. And you will see this beloved work in the Words you hold dear. The Words of Scripture, the creeds, and the catechism will be your go to because they have been instilled into your head and heart. When the ravenous wolves think they have you surrounded, they rot to the sound of the confession of your Savior, whose fruit feeds you forever and ever. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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