Read Matthew 7: 15-23

This is one passage of Scripture I really struggle with.  Especially verses 21-23.  Let’s examine this together and see what the Lord will teach us.

We are to watch out for false prophets. Wolves in sheep’s clothing.   How do we watch out for them?  We will recognize them, Jesus says, by their fruit.  What is fruit? In one context, it could be the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) love, joy, peace, patience, etc. Is there evidence of the Holy Spirit’s presence and work in their lives?  It could also be the ‘fruit of the light that consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth’ as described in Ephesians 5:9. Whatever way Jesus meant it, we are to watch the outcome of their words and actions to see if they are truly God’s sheep.  Jesus goes on to talk about picking grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles.  That suggests that there is fruit but it comes with barbs.  We know that thornbushes and thistles don’t produce fruit so even if it looks like fruit, it’s not real.  Good trees bear good fruit.  Bad trees bear bad fruit.  That’s how it is in nature and that’s how it is in the spiritual life as well. Jesus actually goes on to point out that good trees can’t bear bad fruit and vice versa. Eventually, bad trees are cut down – so be watching the fruit.

Now, let’s pause for a moment.  It’s easy for us to think about this passage and pick out certain people in our minds that we think might have bad fruit.  I don’t think Jesus meant we were to use this passage as a way to judge everybody.  Especially when He just finished talking about judging others a few verses earlier.  Let’s turn the searchlight of God’s word on ourselves for a moment.  If someone were to look at the fruit of your life, would they determine you to be a bad tree? Ask God to reveal any bad fruit in your life and the root of it, so that you can repent and be restored to a good tree.

Jesus goes on to talk about some of those false prophets in these next 2 verses.  Read His words again, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who…” without looking, finish the sentence.  He who believes on the Lord Jesus? He who is saved? He who bears good fruit?  What do you think would be the most likely end to that phrase? “…only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven”.  That’s sobering.  It gets worse as Jesus continues talking. “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?”  This verse always unsettles me.  I think of those things as the good fruit – the crème of the crop in fact.  People that prophesy and cast out demons and perform miracles, all in the name of Jesus, are those Christians that I aspire to be.  I think they’ve arrived at some level of Christianity that I haven’t achieved.  Yet in the next verse, Jesus says He never knew them and calls them ‘evildoers’.  Whoa.

How is it, Lord, that someone can do those things and it not be Your will?  Is it because there’s lots of activity but no relationship with You?  Why would they even be able to successfully prophesy or cast out demons or do miracles if they aren’t your children?  This makes me shake in my shoes.  I want to be the one doing your will, with good fruit.  But maybe I need to re-think what that looks like.

On the same day as I read this passage, I also read Jeremiah 3 v11, “The Lord said to me, ‘Faithless Israel is more righteous than unfaithful Judah’.   Another staggering statement.  How can those with no faith be more righteous than those with faith but who are unfaithful?  If you read Jeremiah to this point, God is describing Israel (10 of the 12 original tribes) as an adulterous wife who left her love (God) and prostituted herself with idol worship, and did not return to God; so He gave her a certificate of divorce and sent her away.  Judah (the other 2 tribes), on the other hand, saw what Israel did and copied it, but then did return to God.  V10 says, “Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense”.  Because Judah was living in pretense and in her heart was still unfaithful to God, not loving and serving Him wholly but still loving and serving other gods, He said that Israel with no faith was actually more righteous.

Put these two passages together and we may have a clue as to what Jesus is talking about in Matthew.  It is possible to serve the Lord but not be wholly surrendered and devoted to Him.  Today we don’t have idols of wood and stone that we worship (at least, I think you don’t).  But there are other ‘idols’ in our lives that compete with God for our first love all the time.  Money, power, pleasure, self-love are only a few.  It is fully possible to serve the Lord and do all kinds of great things in His name, but still have unfaithfulness in our hearts because of these competing loves.

So what do we do?  Jeremiah 3:22 says, “Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding”.  This entire chapter is a beautiful picture of God calling His people back to Himself.  WE are His people, and He has not stopped calling us.  If you feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit in your heart right now, don’t get up and walk away.  Ask Him to reveal ways you are unfaithful or faithless.  Ask Him to cure you of backsliding and bring you back into a right place with Him.  Ask Him to show you His will, and to reveal to you when you’re outside of His will so that you can return.  I’m asking Him today to give me an undivided heart and to teach me His way.  (Ps 86:11).  I want to walk in it.  Will you join me?