Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit . . . Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Matthew 7: 17, 18, 20, NIV.
Dear God, we are grateful that You have given us the opportunity to live every day of our lives to Your honor and glory. As we meet around Your Word to study, please draw very close to us. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Did our title catch you by surprise? Or, did you know what we were talking about? In any case, I would like to repeat our title, Fruits Can Talk! The fruits in our lives! I believe that the emphasis being made in this chapter is, that people are not always whothey appear to be. The warning is to “beware of false prophets!” Not every message that sounds good is biblically sound. Whether we read a message or hear a message, we should further study that message on our own, to see if it is what it claims to be.
In Jesus’ day He warned against the “teachers of the law and Pharisees.” He called them hypocrites! They preached a message that they did not live. They taught for doctrine, “the commandments of men.” They had their priorities mixed up – they over-did some things, and “left the other undone.” Jesus compared their sanctity to “white washed sepulchres.” And the list goes on and on. That was in Jesus’ day. What about the days we live in? Some of the signs of the “end time” that appear in Matthew 24, are: “Watch out that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many’ (4, 5). “[A]nd many false prophets will appear and deceive many people” (11).
But like every counterfeit system, or doctrine, or money, sooner or later, false fruit, is eventually, exposed for what it really is! In another devotional, I mentioned that when people are being trained to recognize counterfeit money, the emphasis of their learning is not placed on the counterfeit, but on the genuine. The idea is, if we can recognize the genuine, we will know that everything else, is counterfeit! The logic in this is the following: There is only one genuine. It is much easier to recognize one, than innumerable others!
I believe that God has one truth. At different periods in history He has revealed different portions of that truth. I also believe that He has made truth available to everyone. Those who utilize the truth He reveals to them, receive more truth. I further believe that when He says, “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10: 16, emphasis provided). I believe that He is making us aware of the fact, that He has faithful followers, not only within Christianity, who listen to, and obey His voice, and one of these days He is going to bring them all together, as one. At this time, some may be at one place in their spiritual journey, while others are at another place, in theirs. But the secret is, that they are all listening, and are waiting, for the true Shepherd to bring them all into “one sheep pen.” On that today, there will be no counterfeit, because their fruit, will speak in their favor – because, fruits can talk!