The Eighth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 7:15-23 “The Recognizable Fruits”
July 21, 2024 | 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, the good shepherd who fights the wolves on our behalf and who is our Word as we speak against them, dear fellow redeemed:
If you are going to plant a garden, you are going to have a variety of fruits and vegetables. If everyone here plants a garden, because of our different tastes, we will most likely have different produce in our gardens. One might consist of peas, beans, cabbages, lettuce and tomatoes. Another might have radishes, bell peppers, ground cherries, cucumbers and rhubarb. You get the idea. As you plant the fruits and vegetables, you might have the rows mark, but even if you didn’t, you would know what is in the row as the plants grow. By knowing what the plant looks like, you know what the fruit or vegetable will be on the plant. I think I just explained our text for today. Well, there is a little more to our text than that, and it is a serious message. This is a warning from our Savior as He is telling us how we can recognize the fruit of those who wish us harm.
And they do wish us harm. If they didn’t, Jesus wouldn’t have told His disciples, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” That is a very serious accusation. This is coming after Jesus tells the crowd, “Judge not, that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). Is Jesus contradicting Himself? He is pointing out a difference when it comes to the way we judge one another and the way His Word judges and points out those who are false prophets. One is using the Word; the other is not. Both are serious. The warning for today is very important as a false prophet can create a spiritual problem. Jesus says they look like a sheep, but their teeth are deadly.
Jesus is not going to let the people figure out who the wolves are by themselves. “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.” It should be as easy as identifying plants. However, the people had no such luck in identifying the false prophets among them. We know this because of how they are hanging on every word that Jesus preaches to them. If the religious leaders of the day were doing their job, the people wouldn’t have been starving and thirsting for the real food that Jesus brings through God’s Holy Word. The people should be able to see it now. We know though, that it is not until much later for the disciples to see the false teachings of the Pharisees.
So, how easy is it for us to see who the false prophets are? We hear Jesus’ Words as He says, “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.’” Not only does Jesus point out how serious it is that we identify someone who speaks about God’s Word falsely, but He also teaches how serious the penalty is for someone who speaks falsely. In the end, if the teaching is not Scriptural, it very likely can lead a person astray.
This is a serious matter, and we see it in the world today how rampant it is. We are told in the world that it is okay to hate someone so much that we can wish them dead. It is okay to snuff out the life of a child who is still in the womb. It is okay for people to live together outside the bonds of marriage. As the list goes on and false prophets try to convince us that God can be who we want Him to be, not only can we buy into their teaching, but we can also run the risk of not speaking up about it. Jesus tells us how to identify the fruits. “Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” It is simple to identify a false prophet, yet to call them out is a completely different story. We struggle with what could happen if we do it. How will our family react, how will our friends react, and how will our community react? So, we keep quiet. Our family is happy, our friends are happy, our community is happy, and of course the disguised angel of light is happy we have let the false prophets’ teaching go.
Is all lost when we give into the teaching of the false prophets? You wouldn’t be sitting here, hanging on the teaching of your Lord and Savior if it was. The people in Jesus’ day who were hungry and thirsty for the truth of Scripture, only had to dive back into it. The prophet Jeremiah had prophesied to them, Therefore thus says the LORD: “If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them” (Jeremiah 15:19). There is forgiveness for not paying attention and for staying quiet. There is restoration from the LORD Himself. The people stand before Him as they hear and hold onto His precious Word. It is this Word that gives the people confidence to speak the truth.
Realizing the Word is important is realizing that it is only through Jesus for any of this to be possible. It is one thing to see the recognizable fruits and it is another thing to point them out as bad. The disciples struggled with this. They watched as John the Baptist and Jesus were killed for it. This fate is a hard one to accept, but in the end, with the strength that comes from the Savior who died for the sins of the world, the false teachers are beaten back by the truth of Christ. The recognizable fruits are recognizable through His Word. For Jesus to speak through people, it happens through His Word. And God the Holy Spirit works through the Gospel changing hearts to believe. This is the reason the people were sitting there listening and hanging onto His Word.
You are here for the same reason. Christ succeeded in His mission for you. In His gracious love He continues to protect you as the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed, “And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the LORD. I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless” (Jeremiah 15:20-21). The wolves can’t stand up to the good shepherd, who laid down His life for the sheep, protecting you not only from them and the error in their words, but protecting you from sin, death, and the power of the devil through His death on the cross. There are many verses in Scripture of God surrounding you with His love and protection. He fights for you with His Word of truth, and He will tell you what to say.
He does this because as you work to discern against the false prophets of the world, there can be times where falling for their traps seems like the reasonable thing to do. Jesus never gave in to the temptations to fit in. The devil tried and hit Him with every temptation He has successfully gotten you to commit. He withstood them for you. He followed the will of the Father in your place with His death and resurrection. Through His Work, you will be able to hear the difference between what He teaches, against what the false prophets teach, and you will have the strength to defend the teaching you have. You will see the thornbushes, thistles, and bad fruit.
You might be wondering how do you recognize the false prophets’ fruits in the world today? Jesus points you to the Word that He has taught you. You know the law, that you are a sinner who in no way, shape, or form can keep the law of God perfectly. You know you are a saint because by God’s mercy you have been saved through death and resurrection of your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and only He is the way to eternal life. Knowing these two points, the recognizable fruits are indeed recognized as bad because they will try to contradict these two things. They will either try to excuse sins and say that some things are okay if they are done in moderation, or maybe the times have changed so you can excuse them. They will also try to tell you that Jesus saves you, but maybe there are some things that you can do to help yourself out of a jam. You know that God doesn’t make exceptions. His Law is final. His Gospel is also final which is a good thing because any addition with human sinfulness and there is no way of salvation.
The false prophets will make it seem like it isn’t too bad if there is a little addition, but you see from your text that Jesus warning is serious. You need to be able to identify what is growing in the garden. Through the grace and mercy of God, He gives you the knowledge to see the recognizable fruits of those who lead people astray. It will be hard to speak the truth in love because there will be push back. Jesus will give you strength. He will be your voice. This is what He promises you, and you can have certainty He will protect you from harm. To remain a healthy tree and to see those recognizable fruits, knowing your Savior is working through you, you can pray, O that the Lord would guide my ways, to keep His statutes still! O that my God would grant me grace, to know and do His will! (ELH #441 v. 1) 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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