Beware the false prophets. Matthew 7.15-20
Matthew 7: The Sermon on the Mount: Live toward Life’s End (4)
Pray Psalm 135.1-7.
Praise the LORD!
Praise Him, O you servants of the LORD!
You who stand in the house of the LORD,
In the courts of the house of our God,
Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good;
Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant.
For the LORD has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His special treasure.
For I know that the LORD is great,
And our LORD is above all gods.
Whatever the LORD pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
In the seas and in all deep places.
He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
He makes lightning for the rain;
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.
Sing Psalm 135.1-7.
(St. Gertrude: Onward, Christian Soldiers)
Praise the Savior, praise Him, for His Name is good.
Sing, for it is pleasant, to our glorious God!
All whom He has chosen and redeemed by grace,
praise His Name together, praise Him in this holy place!
Refrain v. 1
Praise the Name of Jesus, you who serve His Word!
Raise your voice and praise our good and glorious Lord!
Great and sovereign, Jesus rules o’er all above,
doing as He pleases, sovereign in His love.
Clouds and seas obey Him, lightning, too, and rain;
He the winds brings forth in pow’r and sends them back again.
Refrain
Read Matthew 7.1-20; meditate on verses 15-20.
Prepare.
1. How is Jesus using the word fruit in these verses?
2. What does the fruit of a person’s life reveal about that person?
Meditate.
One wonders: What might be the fruit of false teachers? What should we be looking for in those whose teaching brings bad fruit? There’s no shortage of false teachers in the world. We’re well aware of that. But the really dangerous false teachers are in the Church, assuming the guise of prophets (v. 15). We know that teachers, pundits, academics, journalists, and writers of various sorts who have no faith in Christ, no belief in God, and no commitment to absolute truths – we know we have to keep both eyes wide open when we’re interacting with them or their writings. It’s the prophets who are really troublesome, the ones who, in the Name of the Lord, are leading people away from Him. False prophets bear bad fruit, leading people away from Christ, away from His Word, and away from His Kingdom. False prophets use all the most current religious language. But they use it to undermine Christ and His agenda, and to stoke the fires of mere self-interest in the name of religion.
False prophets minimize the Law of God, which Jesus highly commends (Matt. 5.17-19). False prophets go easy on sin, which Jesus condemned in all its forms. False prophets insist that the Gospel is all about you, but Jesus reminds us the Gospel is about the Kingdom and righteousness of God. The end of all such teachers, and all who heed them, is just (v. 19).
Watch out for false prophets. Test them by the Word, by Christ, by their commitment to the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and by the fruit that issues from their teaching.
True teachers are like vines and trees that bear good fruit, the fruit of righteousness and Kingdom living. This kind of fruit comes only by following the example of Jesus – standing firmly on all of God’s Word, pointing to Jesus as the end of all our learning, and insisting on lives that bear holy spiritual fruit. Those are the good and true teachers, and, like the false teachers, you’ll know which are which by the type of fruit that grows from their lives.
Reflect.
1. What kind of good fruit should we expect from those who are good trees?
2. What are some examples of bad fruit, that issue from the teaching of false prophets?
3. What can we do to make sure we know the good from the bad when it comes to the fruit that comes out in our lives?
The tree, of course, is the soul itself—that is, the person—and the fruits are the person’s works. So a bad person cannot perform good works, nor can a good person perform bad works. Augustine (354-430), Sermon on the Mount 2.24.79
Lord, help me to bear good fruit and to be known by…
Pray Psalm 135.13-21.
Seek the Lord and His judgment in all matters. Make no room for any idols – including false teachings – that will draw you away from Him. Bless the Lord and go forth to praise Him in your life.
Sing Psalm 135.13-21.
Psalm 135.13-21 (St. Gertrude: Onward, Christian Soldiers)
Evermore Your Name, O Savior, shall endure!
Your renown throughout all ages is secure.
For You have compassion, vindicating all
those who serve Your Name and on Your saving mercy call.
Refrain, v. 1
Praise the Name of Jesus, you who serve His Word!
Raise your voice and praise our good and glorious Lord!
Vain the nations serve the idols of their hands.
Mouths and ears they have but cannot understand.
Every idol vain is, lacking life or breath.
All who serve them, like them, shall be lost to lasting death.
Refrain
Bless the Lord you people, all who love the Lord!
Bless Him, you who trust His sovereign, holy Word!
Bless the Lord from Zion, Him Who in it dwells.
Praise Him! Lift your voices, all His grace and glory tell!
Refrain
T. M. Moore
We are pleased to offer Worship Guides for use in your family or small group. Each guide includes a complete service of worship, and they are free to download and share by clicking here.
If you value Scriptorium as a free resource for your walk with the Lord, please consider supporting our work with your gifts and offerings. You can contribute to The Fellowship by clicking the Contribute button at the website or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 360 Zephyr Road, Williston, VT 05495.
Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006). All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).
