How to identify false teachers. You will know them by their fruits. “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. (Matthew 7:15-20 NLT) --- Life Application Matthew 7:15 False prophets were common in Old Testament times. They prophesied only what the king and the people wanted to hear, claiming it was Gods message. Jesus indicates that false prophets were just as prevalent in his time. False teachers are just as common today. Jesus says to beware of those whose words sound religious but who are motivated by money, fame, or power. You can tell who they are because in their teaching they minimize Christ and glorify themselves. Matthew 7:20 We should evaluate teachers words by examining their lives. Just as trees are consistent in the kind of fruit they produce, good teachers consistently exhibit good behavior and high moral character as they seek to live out the truths of Scripture. This does not mean we should have witch-hunts, throwing out Sunday school teachers, pastors, and others who are less than perfect. Every one of us is subject to sin, and we must show the same mercy to others that we expect for ourselves. When Jesus talks about worthless trees, he means teachers who deliberately teach false doctrine. We must examine the teachers motives, the direction they are taking, and the results they are seeking. Matthew 7:21 Some self-professed athletes can talk a great game, but that tells you nothing about their athletic skills. And not everyone who talks about heaven belongs to Gods Kingdom. Jesus is more concerned about our walk than our talk. He wants us to do right, not just say the right words. What you do cannot be separated from what you believe. --- --- Believers Bible Matthew 7:15-20 U. By Their Fruits You Shall Know Them (7:15-20) 7:15 Wherever the stern demands of true discipleship are taught, there are false prophets who advocate the wide gate and easy way. They water down the truth until, as C. H. Spurgeon said, “There is not enough left to make soup for a sick grasshopper.” These men who profess to be speaking for God come in sheeps clothing, giving the appearance of being true believers. But inwardly they are ravenous wolves, i.e., they are vicious unbelievers who prey on the immature, the unstable, and the gullible. 7:16-18 Verses 16-18 deal with the detection of the false prophets: you will know them by their fruits. Their licentious lives and destructive teachings betray them. A tree or plant produces fruit according to its character.Thornbushes cannot bear grapes; thistles do not bear figs. A good tree bearsgood fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit. This principle is true in the natural world and in the spiritual world. The life and teaching of those who claim to speak for God should be tested by the Word of God: “If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them” (Isa 8:20). 7:19, 20 The destiny of the false prophets is to be thrown into the fire. The doom of false teachers and prophets is “swift destruction” (2Pe 2:1). They can be known by their fruits. --- --- Albert Barnes Matthew 7:15 False prophets - The word prophet originally means one who foretells future events. As prophets, however, were commonly regarded as public instructors on the subject of religion, the word came to denote all who were religious teachers. See the notes at Rom 12:6. In this sense it is probably used here. A false prophet is a teacher of incorrect doctrine, or one falsely and unjustly laying claims to divine inspiration. It probably had reference to the false teachers then among the Jews. Who come in sheep’s clothing - The sheep is an emblem of innocence, sincerity, and harmlessness. To come in sheep’s clothing is to assume the appearance of sanctity and innocence, when the heart is evil. Ravening wolves - Rapacious; voraciously devouring; hungry even to rage. Applied to the false teachers, it means that they assumed the appearance of holiness in order that they might the more readily get the property of the people. They were full of extortion and excess. See Mat 23:25. Matthew 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits - The Saviour gives the proper test of their character. People do not judge of a tree by its leaves, or bark, or flowers, but by the fruit which it bears. The flowers may be beautiful and fragrant, the foliage thick and green; but these are merely ornamental. It is the “fruit” that is of chief service to man; and he forms his opinion of the nature and value of the tree by that fruit. So of pretensions to religion. The profession may be fair; but the “conduct” - the fruit - is to determine the nature of the principles. Matthew 7:17 A corrupt tree - The word “corrupt” here does not signify, as our translation would seem to indicate, that the tree “had been” good, but had become “vitiated;” but that it was a tree of a useless character, of a nature that produced nothing beneficial. --- --- John Wesley Matthew 7:15 Beware of false prophets - Who in their preaching describe a broad way to heaven: it is their prophesying, their teaching the broad way, rather than their walking in it themselves, that is here chiefly spoken of. All those are false prophets, who teach any other way than that our Lord hath here marked out. In sheeps clothing - With outside religion and fair professions of love: Wolves - Not feeding, but destroying souls. Matthew 7:16 By their fruits ye shall know them - A short, plain, easy rule, whereby to know true from false prophets: and one that may be applied by people of the weakest capacity, who are not accustomed to deep reasoning. True prophets convert sinners to God, or at least confirm and strengthen those that are converted. False prophets do not. They also are false prophets, who though speaking the very truth, yet are not sent by the Spirit of God, but come in their own name, to declare it: their grand mark is, Not turning men from the power of Satan to God. Luk 6:43-44. Matthew 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree good fruit - But it is certain, the goodness or badness here mentioned respects the doctrine, rather than the personal character. For a bad man preaching the good doctrine here delivered, is sometimes an instrument of converting sinners to God. Yet I do not aver, that all are true prophets who speak the truth, and thereby convert sinners. I only affirm, that none are such who do not. Matthew 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire - How dreadful then is the condition of that teacher who hath brought no sinners to God!
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 04:13:35 +0000
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