INTRODUCTION
• Silly warning labels illustration. http://www.rinkworks.com/said/warnings.shtml
• Last week we looked at the choice that we all have the freedom to make concerning which path we will take in life.
• Jesus encouraged us to take the narrow path.
• In chapter y ,we have looked at 2 paths, today we will look at two trees, then we will study 2 claims next week in verses 21-23 and then we will finish the chapter with 2 builders (24-27).
• As we live our lives there will be many who will try to give us advice as to what to do with our lives. There will be those who try to lead us down the wrong path.
• This section of text is one that we must be careful not to just gloss over.
• This is a section of text we need to look at and take very seriously. What Jesus is giving us is not one of those silly warnings that we all laugh at, but He is giving us a serious warning to be heeded by all of us. Jesus will follow up the warning with an assessment to be made and a fate to be avoided.
SERMON
I. A WARNING TO BE HEEDED (15)
• How many of us have watched some of the infomercials late at night. The next thing you know we have bought some gadget that promises to change our lives.
• One of them that sticks out in my mind is that abdominal machine that you wear around your waste that promises to take away that unsightly stomach. I watched a morning show where Good House Keeping tested this product only to find that it did nothing for you. The company is reviewing the product.
• In a Rally’s commercial that describes how their hamburgers were fresh. “FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY”. I hope the next Rally burger that I get is fresh.
• The warning that Jesus gives to us is found in verse 15. READ THE VERSE.
• The tie in with the verses we covered last week in this. As we are choosing which path we are going to follow, we do not want anyone to lead us down the wrong path.
• Jesus tells us that the false prophets are ravenous wolves in sheep’s clothing. The word ravenous implies a wolf that loves to kill.
• In Jesus day a prophet was one who was a teacher. Jesus may have been speaking of the Pharisees but we do not know for sure.
• Jesus is telling us that we have to be careful not to follow the false teachers. A false teacher is one who teaches incorrect doctrine.
• These people are called false brothers (2 Cor. 11:26), false apostles (2 Cor. 11:13), false teachers (2 Pet. 2:1), false speakers, that is, liars (1 Tim. 4:2), false witnesses (Matt. 26:60), and false Christs (Matt. 24:24). The apostle John tells us, therefore, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). (John MacArthur Jr commentary on Matthew)
• Paul’s last words to the Ephesian elders, when he met with them for a farewell on the beach near Miletus, included a somber warning about inevitable false teachers. “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert” (Acts 20:29-31). (John MacArthur Jr commentary on Matthew)
• The warnings against following false teachers are all over the scriptures, so the warning must be something important for us to consider.
• Today and in the past the false teachers have drawn in many people.
• We all kinds of people claiming to be the way to God. WE have groups who put on nice commercials who have drawn in many people, but they deny Jesus.
• 1 JOHN 2:23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
• 1 JOHN 4:15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
• 1 JOHN 2:22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.
• It does not matter how what a church does, if they are denying Jesus as the only way to get to God, they are promoting false teaching.
• 2 CORINTHIANS 11:14 And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.
• In the 1970’s, Jim Jones of the People’s Temple was a good example. Mel White in his book entitled “Deceived”, says the following concerning cult leader Jim Jones.
• He knew how to inspire hope. He was committed to people in need; he counseled prisoners and juvenile delinquents. He started a job placement center, he opened rest homes and homes for the retarded: he had a health clinic; he organized a vocational training center, he provided free legal aid; he founded a community center; he preached about God. He even claimed to caste out demons, do miracles and heal.
• There were countless church leaders, politicians including the President of the United States who praised Jim Jones for his work.
• There have been many who have died following a false teacher or prophet.
• We are warned against falling prey to those who do not teach the truth.
• How do we determine if someone is a false teacher? Jesus gives us the answer.
II. AN ASSESSMENT TO BE MADE (16-18)
• READ VERSE 16-18
• How do we tell if a person is a false prophet or teacher?
• It is hard to tell just by a quick glance. Jim Jones and most all false teachers do some things that look good on the outside.
• Jesus says that we will know them by their fruits. Fruit are usually a word used to represent what a person does. In Galatians 5:22-23 we have a list of the fruits of the Spirit.
• If you look at verse 16, you see that Jesus tells us that grapes are not found in the thorn bushes, but from a grape vine. Figs do not come from the thistles, but from the fig trees.
• Jesus says that a good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces a bad fruit.
• 1 John 4:1-3 says, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.
• We have to be careful to understand that our works do not give us a ticket to heaven, but the works we do are a result of our relationship with Jesus.
• People who think they are good are good for their own benefit. They pride themselves on their goodness. They say that they do not need God or the church because they are good.
• A Christian is good because of what God did for them and they understand that even at their best, they do not deserve to go to heaven. They know that Jesus is the reason they will go to heaven.
• Our works will be selfless, they will reflect a servant attitude. We are not trying to bring glory on ourselves. COLOSSIANS 1:10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
• What we do springs from our heart, if the heart is good, the works will be good. If the heart is bad, the works will be bad.
• Have you ever looked at some of the artificial fruit you can buy for decorations? Some of it looks good enough to eat, but if you took a bite of it, you would be surprised.
• It is not what it appears to be.
• This is why it is important that as grow closer to Jesus. As we do we become more and more like Jesus and people will see it. When they examine us, they will see that the fruit we produce is good.
• If you do not let Jesus work in your life people will eventually see it.
• Jesus says about the false teachers that we will know them by their fruit.
• Jesus is also telling us that people will know how we are by our fruit. This does not mean that we will be perfect; it means that the tenor of our lives will point to Jesus. We are good because Jesus is living in us and we give Him the praise and the glory!
• Outside of Jesus what we do is not good. Jesus tells us in John 15:4-5; "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. "I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.
• The fruit of the false teachers is listed in many verses.
• 2 Timothy 2:18 men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the resurrection has already taken place, and they upset the faith of some.
• 1 Timothy 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
• People who are not teaching the word of God are going to put people in a position they will wish they had no part of.
III. A FATE TO BE AVOIDED (19-20)
• Jesus tells us that the fate we want to avoid in verse 19.
• He tells us that the tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and tossed into the fire.
• What is He speaking of? Who is He speaking to?
• JOHN 15:6 "If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
• Jesus tells us that if we belong to Him, we will produce fruit that will show that we belong to Him.
• This is why the way that we live is so very important. Jesus tells us that if we are not producing fruit that we will be cut down and tossed into the fire.
• One of the subjects that people do not like to hear about is hell. Hell is an uncomfortable subject for many because it represents the fact that there is a standard and there is absolute truth and that we cannot just make up our own truth.
• Hell is a place reserved for those who choose to follow the wrong path, for those who choose to follow the false teachers.
• Hell is a place that you cannot con, talk or bargain your way out of.
• It is a fate that we should want to avoid. It is a fate that God does not want you to suffer.
CONCLUSION
• Jesus warns us to beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing.
• Jesus warns us of the fate that awaits those who choose to not produce fruit.
• God loves you and does not want you to be one of the ones that is cut down and tossed into the fire.
• Next week we are going to look at a passage that should put a chill into our spine.
