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Now when you look at a picture like the one that’s on the screen, the counterintuitive question is, well, everything looks like the sheep. Had the question been spot the wolf, then the way you analyze the picture will be a little different. But all the things there on the screen, all the animals, are sheep. Now the question then is, do I believe what I just see? Or am I called to think, reason, study, analyze, process, and suspect, and kind of be all the more careful to understand that not everything meets the eye is what it is. Your pastor has been taking you through a wonderful series of teachings from the book of the gospel according to Matthew under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
I think chapter 5 to chapter 7 is the longest recorded sermon of our good shepherd, the only savior of humanity, the coming king, our savior Lord Jesus Christ. Now as he comes, as he brings the sermon to an end, I believe you were told that the context of the sermon is actually to two groups of people. Matthew chapter 4 at the end tells us there were large crowds following the Lord Jesus Christ. But also Matthew chapter 5 verse 1 and 2 tells us that the Lord Jesus called the disciples to preach to them. So here you have the crowds, here you have the called one.
Here you have the fans of Jesus Christ because they received quite a few goodies. And here you have the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here you have those who want to throng him because they will receive some sort of temporal blessing. But there are those who realize that apart from you, O Lord Jesus Christ, where shall we find words of eternal life? Now as the Lord Jesus brings the sermon to an end, he actually gives the call to two groups of people. In fact, Matthew chapter 7, the last few verses actually are four pictures, illustrations, parables, whatever you want to call them.
The first parable I think is dealt with last week where you saw how in the sermon title, Beyond the Narrow Way, you have two groups of people. You have two paths and you have two destinations. And then from verses 15 to 21, again you have two kinds of trees. Two kinds of trees. And then in 21 to 23, again, you have another group of people who during the day of judgment are going to claim and say, “Lord, did we not belong to you?” And finally, the Lord Jesus Christ wraps up his sermon with another two groups of people called the foolish builder and the wise builder.
What is the common thing? The common thing is this. Both people are listening to the sermon. Both of them are listening to the sermon of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both people are hearing. People will receive the same gospel, but both will not respond in the same manner. There are those who hear and obey. There are those who hear and despise. There are those who hear and choose the broad way. There are those who hear and choose the narrow way. There are those who hear and receive the blessed seed that grows into the tree and the fruit, and there are those who are not going to receive and yet will continue to remain as ravenous wolves. There are those who are going to continue to build on the solid foundation, the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. There are those who will hear the gospel but who will not respond. Now the common factor, denomination, all of these things is in both the sides of the parable, or in all the parables, four parables, both sides you have action, you have progression, and you have common destination. But both of them actually do not know, many of them do not know where they are heading, especially if they reject the gospel. Now when you 7:15 to 21, which is the passage we are going to deal with this morning, the Lord Jesus Christ summarizes this parable in verse 20. Can you look at your
worksheets and read verse 20 together with me? Can we read to 20? “Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” And now look at verse 16 and just read the first part again. “You will recognize them by their fruits.” Now generally a good principle to— Now listen carefully. Generally a good principle to interpret a parable is to take the context and the conclusion. They form the basis for us to understand. We cannot go by every single thing that is mentioned there. But this one parable gives us so much information so that no genuine believer, irrespective of how young or old you are, no genuine believer can actually say 10 years down the lane, sorry to know that I have been abused by a false prophet.
know that Christianity is all about hypocrites, because the scripture and the Lord Jesus Christ your good shepherd makes it abundantly clear that there is a way, there is a definite way, there is an unambiguous way to distinguish a false teacher from a right teacher, a false prophet from a Bible teacher, a false shepherd from a shepherd who is under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. So here I want to place before you three reasons or three truths or three pointers to identify or spotting the wolf. Spotting the wolf. We want to recognize the traits of kingdom traitors, the traits of kingdom traitors. Shall
we for that reason this morning read from verses 15 to 20. Please follow me as I read. Matthew 7, 15 to 20. “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly,” who are they, dear church? Ravenous wolves. The word ravenous is rapacious. They have an avaricious desire. They are thirsty. They are cold-blooded.
You will recognize them, how? By their fruits. Question with a— it’s a closed-ended question, open-ended question. “Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Can we read verse— “Thus, you will recognize them by their fruits.” Here is the first, very first word of the Lord Jesus Christ. Beware. Now this seems to be a favorite word of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because out of the 17 times used in the New Testament, 10 are from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Already, you would have heard that in one of your past sermons, in Matthew chapter 6, the Lord actually says, “beware of hypocrites.” Beware of those people who want to show off their religious, religiosity or Christianity or whatever you want to call it. The Lord Jesus says that the very thing that they do not want you to have in your minds, false prophets, false teachers, is what the Lord Jesus wants you to have. That is to be aware. Now the meaning of the word, the meaning of the word literally, pros means two words, exo means have, pros exo. But the meaning actually is to give full attention to.
I believe there is some space given somewhere. Please write down this will help you. To give full attention. To set a course and keep to it. To give heed. To be cautious. Actually it also means to devote oneself to constantly being aware. There are three straight away applications that follow this one word. Number one. This is an imperative.
Meaning to say, my friends, spiritual vigilance must be a matter of individual and corporate church practice. Spiritual vigilance. You know, this is interesting that the word watch, keep, is the word that is given to Adam. It is literally like being a watchman, being a guard, which is the same word repeated in Genesis chapter 4 when God places cherubim outside the garden of Eden with a flaming sword. That means nobody should enter. He is going to be the God. That was the position given to Adam, failed it. That’s the same word used for Levites. They were supposed to watch and take it. And that’s the same position, that’s the same, sorry, that’s the same word given again to elders. And interestingly, when we come here we will recognize that’s the same word given even to believers.
So dear friends, you do not be vigilant and don’t complain when you are abused that God has done this to me, that the church has done this to me. Be vigilant. You know, if you want to learn vigilance, watch young mothers. Really. Really. Of course, they are only vigilant about their own children. But watch. They are very careful where the child goes, what the child takes.
wants you to do your own to your own community and to your own self. But because this is an imperative, please fill in the first blank: spiritual vigilance is Christ’s command to his flock. And this is not an option left for community consensus, as per our convenience we will see when this brother or when this sister will fully manifest this false traits. No, it is a call my friend, it is a command my friend, it is a command for us to be vigilant, to be sharp, to look out. I want to ask you this question. Let us say into one of your houses you suddenly have the doorbell ring and then you open the door, you find a strange looking man who irrespective of how old you are you suddenly feel suspicious, and he without asking you leaves a huge baggage that looks very suspicious.
What’s going to be your first response? Most of you won’t open the door, sorry, right? But let’s say by mistake you open, you are going to pick a fight there. How is it that we are so careful about this world, this life and this house and whatever you live in that is so transient and temporal, yet when so many things enter into your heart day in and day out, you are just a spectator as if you’re watching Netflix series and you and millions of thoughts to be implanted in your heart. And you don’t even have an inspector at the door of your heart to see whether this thought must be entertained, whether this doctrine must be entertained, whether this kind of teaching must be entertained, this kind of friendship must be entertained.
This kind of reasoning must be entertained. It is a command. It is a command. And listen, God never gives you a command that it is impossible for you to follow if you are a born-again person because he has given you the spirit. He has given you the word, he has given you the community and he now says I will empower you to live in a way that I want you to. Number one, it is a command. You must learn to be vigilant. But number two, this command is in the present tense. Meaning what?
Spiritual vigilance ought to be a spiritual discipline. So if you ask people what are the Christian disciplines, normally we bring it down to two. Reading the word and prayer. Reading the word is as good as not reading the word. And I tell you why. There’s no point chewing the food if you don’t digest, isn’t it? Isn’t it? Reading the word of God is like that difference, no point without meditation. That is why so many of us are malnourished. We read the word of God just because we want to have guilt trip. We don’t want to, sorry, we want to be guilt free and therefore what do we do?
We read the word of God. Read the word of God will do you no good dear friends unless you are really drawing the nutritious resources out of that word and basically digesting. That is where meditation comes into picture. That is where application comes into picture. What good is cooking good food, smelling it and just chewing it and spitting it out. It’s as good as not eating and most of our lives are like that.
We are called to be vigilant. The word present tense means continually, habitually following this command. This calls for a long-term commitment. This calls for both an attitude and an action to continually watch one’s life, to continually watch one’s own local church. Third thing, not only this is an imperative, not only is the imperative in the present tense, the third thing is that this is in the active voice.
What does that mean? Active voice highlights the relationship of the subject to the verbal action. Now what is passive voice? Passive voice is the action is being performed upon the subject. Active voice is the subject performing the verb, the action. Meaning to say, dear friends, please pay attention right now. Meaning to say, spiritual vigilance is not an apologist’s ministry. It is an every believer ministry. That’s the blank there.
Do you all enjoy and benefit from the ministry of brother Bibu? I’m sure your church did. Yes or no? But it is not his ministry. Alone. I’m sure many have benefited from the ministry of brother Praveen Pagadala. The Lord, there have many been who were enriched by the ministry of great apologists, teachers, pastors. Listen, Christ has given them as gifts to the church. But please do not outsource this ministry to them alone. When you outsource to them alone, this is the thing that will happen: your spiritual responsibility, when it is outsourced to a spiritually elite group, we force ourselves to become immune to wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Got it? We become immune to wolves who come in sheep’s clothing. Let us say our dear brother goes to work every month. At the end of the month, like in good olden days, they gave him a packet of salary. Right? Now he has got about, how much do you want? One lakh? 50,000. Okay? 50,000 he’s got. Now this demonetization era. Now he has got about 25 2000-rupee notes. He is checking.
23 of them are plastic notes. Does he need to now go to the governor of our country to say, “Sir, please solve the case for me”? No. He is a man who is well trained to recognize a fake note from an original note. He will fight for his cause.
How is it? Dear church, that many of us are so vigilant. So you will not say, “Let my pastor fight for me. Let the elders fight for me. Let a spiritual Anna or Akka fight for me.” We are very, very careful about our money. What about your spiritual currency? That which fuels your soul, the word of God. Is it okay? If fake gospel currency notes are being pumped into you and you are given that boost about this is the gospel, careful. Hey listen, if a church is being given solid teaching, it means one of the two things, that either you’re meant to be missional or you’re meant to be in many ways a protection, a lighthouse for wrong teachings.
Isn’t that what the Lord Jesus Christ tells the church at Ephesus in Revelation chapter 2? “You were able to distinguish those who claim to be apostles but were not apostles.” How? Because they sat under the ministry of apostle Paul. They sat in the ministry Apostle John, they sat under the ministry of Apostle Delegate Timothy and others. What does that mean? Very soon, dear sisters, dear brothers, you’ve got to be that church which actually protects the purity and the testimony of the gospel by protecting the purity and the testimony of the church. Are you with me so far? Spiritual vigilance must be both, dear friends, a matter of individual and corporate church practice.
Jesus goes on to say that why should you be beware? Because they are false prophets and they come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Please fill in the second blank: a spiritual diligence is the key. What does the Lord Jesus Christ say? Beware of them, because they are false prophets and they come to… Again, I want to point to you something that is very, very important, dear friends. It is to do with grammar. The word beware of false prophets, the word beware of false prophets is actually in the indicative mood.
Listen to this. Indicative mood, in Greek, verbs have not only tenses, but they also have a particular mood, and the mood is indicative. It means go and do it. For example, if I say, “Come and take the phone,” that is an imperative. If I tell them the phone is on the table, I am stating a fact. That is indicative. That is telling people what has already happened or what is already done. It is firm, it is fixed. That is where most of the epistles of the apostles, the first part is all in the indicative. Christ has done this for us, God has chosen us, God has predestined us, God has saved us.
It’s in the indicative form. And then the second half of the epistles have imperatives. Therefore, gird up your loins. Therefore, put on the armor of God. Therefore, fight the good faith. This is in the indicative mood, meaning to say, my dear brothers and sisters, false prophets are bound to come. No church will be escaping this kind of problem. They are bound to come.
The matter of their coming is definite and the manner in which they are coming is going to be deceptive. Both are important for us. In fact, you can write down this scripture verses, 2nd Peter chapter 2 verse 1. Let me read this for you. 2nd Peter chapter 2 verse 1. If you are able to, you can turn it, turn to this verse as well. “But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.” This is just a few years after the Lord Jesus Christ ascended. So this is the first church century, right? This is the century where the church is just beginning to bloom. Already they are there. Again, 1 John chapter 4 verse 1: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but”
“Test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” Why? “For many false prophets have gone out into the world.” Meaning to say, dear friends, the matter of their coming is definite. Every era had its own false teachers who influence the whole universal church, many local churches, by their teaching. But listen, not just the matter of their coming, the manner of their coming. Where will they come from? Who will they come from? And I want you to turn to this one verse, please. This is the only scripture passage in the entire Holy Bible where a pastor is preaching to pastors and the sermon manuscript is recorded for us.
Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter 20, the apostle Paul, while going, I think to Jerusalem or Rome, he takes a quick and he calls the elders of different churches probably at Ephesus. He’s already ministered there for quite some time and then he’s about to go. He wants to encourage them one more time. This almost can be considered as the farewell sermon of the apostle Paul. When he called all the elders after exhorting them about many things, look at verse 29 and 30. “I know that after my departure,” who are going to come?
Rapacious, ravenous, fierce wolves. Where will they come from? 29th verse. Where will they come from? Huh? By the way, this is an exclusive, all AEPC. This is All Ephesians Pastors Conference. This is only pastors. No believers are there, at least we can identify from the calling and the meeting there. Got it? Only pastors are there. And Paul, the pastor of pastors in a way, the apostle commissioned by God, he’s now saying ravenous. From where will they come? Huh? Not just the churches. Even the elders. Even the teachers. Even the preachers. They can come. And what does he say? What will they do?
They won’t spare the flock. Why will they not spare the flock? Verse 30. They from among your own selves will arise men. And what will they do, my friends? They speak twisted things. It’s one thing to misinterpret. Because you don’t know principles of hermeneutics. But it’s altogether another thing. Take the word and totally change the meaning. You remember, God said in Genesis 2:15, the day you eat of it, you will dash die.
Certainly die. Very good. And Eve’s rendition of it is in Genesis 3, you may die. Verse 4, Satan’s rendition of it is, the day you eat of it, you will dash not die. Certainly. Here is the truth. Here is the assumption. Here is the lie.
Now what is fascinating is this. The first question was asked by the devil, the second question was asked by God. In between these two questions we have never asked questions. That is how you know false prophets, these so-called charismatic and great sounding even reformed preachers, teachers who are false, they begin to breed because you stop questioning, you stop asking. When Paul and Silas took the pulpit to preach, the scripture said the than Thessalonians. Why? Not because they had great knowledge. No. Earnestness was there but they examined to see doesn’t matter who Paul is, doesn’t matter who John Piper is or whoever it is, if it doesn’t fit the scripture it doesn’t matter.
Where will they come from? Will they come? Definitely they will come. Where will they come from? They can come from many sources but generally they will breed within the local church. That is evident. If wolf comes, it is evident. But they come in sheep’s clothing. That’s where the deception lies. That is where it is difficult to tackle. That is where it is difficult for us. And just like the father in Proverbs chapter 5, he tells his son, “My son, my son,” he says, “store up the commandments of God. Bind them around your neck. Guard them in your heart.” What is the reasoning?
He says in verse 3, “For this will protect you from the seductress woman.” Meaning to say, my son, before you meet the woman, store up my truth in such a way that by seeing the fruit you will tell whether it is rotten or ripen. Not even by tasting, touching, seeing, going there. For he tells the son, stay far even from the door of that woman. And when these seductress teachers come, the Lord, our Father, our Savior, our only real everlasting husband, the only groom of the true bride of Jesus Christ, says they may come from the church, they may come from outside, but be careful, because when they come, it’s not going to be easy to identify them. How
do they look? The Lord Jesus Christ tells us two very clear things. They are called what? Verse 15. What are they called? False prophets. And how do they come? They come very much like true prophets. They are false preachers, they come like true preachers. They are false pastors, but they come like true pastors. They are false teachers, but they come like true preachers. How do we know? Because they are false prophets, but they come in sheep’s clothing.
So two things we must look out for, their words and their walk. Their words and their walk. The very fact that the Lord Jesus said false prophets, literally in Greek, Greek, literally in Greek, pseudo prophetess. Does the word sound familiar? Pseudo? What comes to your mind? False. Pseudography. False writings. Roman Catholic. Pseudo teaching. Pseudo, you know, names.
Meaning to say, listen, the very fact that they come as prophets who speaks the word of God, who tells the word of God, signifies the fact to their false teaching ministry. Okay? False teaching ministry, either through podcasts, through teaching, through writing, through video messages, through books, whatever it is, they want to convey. They firmly believe that pen is stronger than the sword. They firmly believe thoughts are more powerful than bombs. They believe that. So they speak from God’s word, but not God’s word. Does it sound familiar? They sound similar to God’s voice, but not God’s voice. They preach from God’s word but not God’s word.
Dear brothers and sisters, see beyond what meets the eye. Hear beyond what rings in the ear. Watch beyond what is put on display. Don’t get carried away. Do not get carried away. Knowledge can be deceptive. All this glamorous preaching or whatever ministry can be deceptive. What you need to see is peel the skin and see the wolves.
How do you recognize them? Because they are false teachers, false prophets. These groups of people do several things. Number one, adding to the scripture. Adding to the scripture. That’s why more than 66 books, even an iota, is adding to the scripture. See, once upon a time, the reformers said, “sola scriptura.” It firmly stands. But interpretation also must be sola. When you say that the truth must be added in order to bring the meaning out, that is not Sola Scriptura principle at all, dear friends. They add to the scripture or they remove from the scripture. Crooks like Jehovah Witnesses. The main guy, by the way, I’ll encourage you actually to read church history.
Brothers and sisters, I know your church, you read on some things, occasionally books. Read, find a small book on church history and read. Not only will you track the history of truth, as the professor in TMS said, you’ll also track the history of error. You will know, and when they come, you know it’s just the same old product packaged in a new attractive form. That’s all it is. They add to the scripture, they remove to the scripture. The third thing, equating with the scripture. Mr. Ranjit Ophir, you heard of his name. He is a local guy. What does he do?
He says, “Whether it is the Holy Bible or it is Quran, they are all the same.” Depending on who he is debating with, he changes sides. Astonishing to hear his teachings. And he has got great followers. I don’t know if he still has.
They equate the scriptures with other writings or their own so-called revelations or invalidate the scripture. Remember the higher German criticism, they read the Holy Bible with a pair of scissors. Whatever is supernatural, whatever can’t be explained by finite human minds, take a pair of scissors and chop it away.
And you have plenty of them in UBS and you have them in ACTC, right? Or the most favorite commonly sold thing is misinterpreting the scripture. Meaning to say, you have people like Bellampally Praveen Kumar, you have people like that, what is that, what that person named JC and M, is not even there right now, right? He’s not having great shows. Yeah. Listen, my friends, these people take the very word of God. That’s why I challenge people when — whatever little I know — when I teach them about Bible interpretation, I tell them, my brothers and sisters, take one passage of scripture. Okay? Matthew 5:17-21, 7:15-21, give it to five good teachers, meaning to say faithful students of God’s word, and give it to five wrong preachers. All the faithful
teachers will come up with the same sermon, not the same title. But you give it to false preachers, all five of them will come up with five depending on which region they are, which group they are ministering to because they have to itch their the ears of their personal congregation. Stephen Patrick, T.D. Jakes, whatever they begin to, you’ll have five different sermons. Why? Because here they go after the author’s intention. Here they want to go after the reader’s invention. Whatever they want, they think will fit the congregation’s needs. That’s what they’ll do. So they add to the scripture, they remove, they equate, they invalidate, they misinterpret.
This is how false prophets thrive, breed, grow and gain great masses to deceive. But not just their words, their walk. “Who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Why sheep’s clothing? Generally it is said that in Israel when a shepherd goes to rear his sheep, take care of his sheep, he actually wears the wool of the sheep as one of his coverings. Meaning to say, their externals are uncannily Christian-like. This is where the catch is. Their piety, their charity, their devotion, their doctrinal confessions, they are uncannily Christian-like. But inwardly, rapacious, cold-blooded, ravenous wolves.
The word ravenous means, in Greek, harpazo means seizing or suddenly snatching. It means actually an extortioner, a robber, a thief. A thief. Meaning to say, they come suddenly and they stay low and silent. They make you think that they are actually part and not only part, they are far more zealous than you are. And what will happen at the right time? They begin to obtain, they begin to take away your zeal, your energy, your passion and they begin to become like cult leaders, commanding more devotion to them than any other person in the universe, including Jesus Christ. They come to destroy.
What do they destroy? From wool to soul, anything they can take away. In Hyderabad, there are not only sheep stealers, there are wool stealers. That means it doesn't matter how many churches you go to, money must come here. Got it? Or your number. Here they preach the false gospel. They peddle it for money, name, fame, pleasures. They are liars, merciless, cruel, spiritual abusers, sinners, scoffers, wicked men. They are satanic agents who lead themselves to destruction, but drag many to destruction who are already prepared for that. So here is the catchphrase. Suspect the outside, inspect the inside.
Suspect the outside, inspect the inside. Behind the nice, warm, fuzzy, furry wool lies the hungry, cold-blooded, ravenous wolf. Peel the wool, reveal the wolf. Strip the wool, see the wolf for yourselves, dear church. Meaning to say, you must learn daily to hear the voice of your own shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. My sheep, can we complete that sentence? “My sheep hear my voice.” They hear my voice. Of you can claim that I am the sheep of the good shepherd who laid down his life. I hear his voice, not occasionally, not occasionally when I am in a trap, not occasionally when I need a breakthrough, not occasionally when there is a dilemma, not occasionally.
Daily I hear his voice, daily. For my destination is Jesus Christ, not merely an answer, not merely some missional work, not merely some ministry. All those are by and large the effects, the offshoots of his dwelling presence in my life. Third thing, third thing and the final thing, spot the fruit. So what's the first thing? We got to be spiritually vigilant. Can you outsource this ministry? No, you can draw from the rich teachings and ministry and preachings of pastors and preachers and brothers and even from your own congregation, one another from brothers and sisters. But do not rely on it alone.
Right? Because it's a command. It must be a discipline. And it is your own responsibility. Number two, we got to be spiritually diligent. We got to see what lies beyond what meets the eye. Third thing, spot the fruit. Let's look at verse 16 to 20 now.
You will recognize them by what? Their fruits. So this is the acid test to recognize the false prophets. Turn with me for a moment to John chapter 15 please and read verse 1, verse 2, verse 3 and tell me who are, besides the Lord Jesus Christ and the Father as the gardener, who are the two kinds of people the Lord Jesus Christ is talking about? John 15, verse 2 and 3.
It's a good thing when the preacher comes to preach and they don't tell you how long to preach. It's a very good thing. And particularly, 45 minutes from now, oh sure, I'll do that. Yeah, yeah, I think. Okay. Tell me, who are the two groups of people the Lord Jesus Christ is talking about in verse 2 and 3?
Very good. How are they identified? Who? They? Do not bear fruit. And then they? What are the other group? They bear fruit. And look at verse 6 now. What does he say? Huh? Verse 6. What does he do to them? They burn up in fire. So here is the fact. How do you recognize a true believer from a false believer? Both of them are with Jesus Christ. Both of them heard the gospel. Both of them say they repented. Both of them say they believed in Jesus Christ. Both of them have baptized. Both of them are participating in the Lord's Supper.
Both of them are actively participating in ministry. Local church ministry or whatever ministry. Both of them are doing. How do you recognize fruit? Fruit. The distinguishable factor in Christian living is fruit. Why? Because fruit tells you whether or not you are connected to the vital source of life, the vine, the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot, cannot get away saying, I am the only exception in the entire church history from the time the church was birthed till the time Christ comes to take the church. I am the only exception who being a Christian will not have the fruit. Fruitless Christianity is a contradiction in terms.
It's a contradiction. So ask yourself this question. Depending on the number of years you have been a believer, do you think you are bearing good fruit? Does your fruit show up? Now fruit means different things in different times. If you planted a seed, fruit means a sapling. After a while it means growth. After a while fruit means slowly having a bit of, I don't know what it's called in English, in Telugu you begin to see the signs of fruit where you have flowers and then slowly you have a bud and slowly you have a tiny sized fruit and then as time passes by, every time
you're seeing the signs of fruit. But as years go by and there is no sign of fruit, that's a red flag dear friend. Red flag. The person begins to grow more into the likeness of the fruit of the tree he belongs to or she belongs to.
And the Lord Jesus applies the same principle to an unbeliever, to a false prophet. Fruit is the acid test. The word recognize means perceive, discern, to fully become acquainted with. In fact, this is the one word that is mostly applied to — you have known him. He knows you. You know, Paul many times uses this word, meaning to say you have come to know Jesus Christ, not as a theoretical example, but through experiential knowledge because of the regenerating work the Spirit of God has done in you. That's the word he's saying. You will know them. You will recognize them. You will fully get acquainted with them.
So these unconverted, disguised, sin-centered, self-seeking, sheep-devouring, seductive teachers cannot for a long time put the show on. And may I say this to you? If you are a false believer, you can't put the show on too for a long time as well.
Their fruit will bear witness to who they are. Meaning to say, fruit is the substance of who they are. Fruit is the evidence of what they have come to do. Fruit will betray their confidence in fooling people to accomplish their purposes. Fruit is the substance, my friend. A fruit will tell you which tree you belong to.
Their sinful desires and their corrupt nature empowered by the enslaving sinful world system controlled by Satan will make them manifest their nature if not today, tomorrow. What is the church called to do? What's the first word? Beware. The church is called to be the watchman. And when the church means we are not only talking about the elders, they are the first line of God. But everybody is called to do the same thing because sometimes what goes over the shoulder of the elder or elders can be watched by a faithful member.
Verse 16, Part B, don't look for the right fruit on the wrong tree, dear friends. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ asked an open-ended question. What is the question? Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes or are figs from thistles? The open-ended question means the answer is within it. What is the answer?
Big no. They cannot go together. Absolutely. The question is asked to help the listeners think for themselves and think what is already obvious. What are grapes? Food that is nutritious, that nourishes, food that is edible and edifying, food that is tasty and trustworthy. What about thorns? Where do you first hear the word thorns in the Holy Bible? Will you go back to the first brother, Adam? And when the ground is cursed, what does the Lord say? Because of what? You misbehaved? Because of the societal pressure? No. Because of what? Sin. You have sin. You have sin. And Martyn Lloyd-Jones makes a wonderful statement, an insight. He says, for a
long time we are trying to convince, even in Christianity, that the reason why people sin is society, which is nothing but Freudian theology, philosophy. But he tells that ultimately Adam did not sin outside of paradise but inside. It is not the environment, it is you. It comes from you. And God reminds, when you look at thorns, that sin is the reason why we have departed from the only source of infinite truth, the fountain of wisdom, God. We have turned away from him. We have turned away from him. And from then on we reap nothing but thorns and thistles when we move away from the only
source of light, truth, wisdom and eternal life, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, both inspired and incarnated. And what happens? The full and final manifestation of this thorns and thistles come ultimately in the form of these false prophets, false teachers, satanic agents who want to constantly take away the truth and turn, twist, power and lead people into eternal destruction. They are the waste part of creation, what? Thorns and thistles. They are a graphic reminder of our sin and its curse, which means to say all those who are outside of the Lord Jesus Christ remain under this curse. For he bore, my friends, our sins on the cross and the curse of the sin on the cross.
He bore the crown of thorns in order to rescue us from the eternal punishment of God's righteous justice. Those who receive the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose hands were pierced by nails, whose side was pierced by spear, whose head itself was pierced by crown of thorns, they are the ones who will not bear any more thorns and thistles, who will not, who will begin to reap and enjoy the rich nutritious source of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me, let's just do this. Can I have a volunteer from sisters and a volunteer from brothers?
Any volunteer wants to come? Okay, I have one volunteer from dear sisters. Very good, come. Okay. Why don't you come on, you can be there. Can you open this? Open fully. Thank you very much. What is there inside? You can give one to Twinkle, you can take whichever you want. Okay, you can take as well. Okay, please show the crowd also. Why are you taking dates only, man? She took, you take dates. Yeah. Okay, now both of them will eat this for us and they will tell us three things. They'll tell us the texture of the fruit, they will tell us the taste of the fruit, and they will tell us how they feel after eating. Okay, so we'll wait for them to finish. You can turn that side and eat or turn this. Or if you want everybody to close their eyes
Also, that's fine. You generally eat, right? Ah, very good. Amma, you also. Ah, very good. Give it back. While going, you can deliver this to my wife. Thank you. Okay, so they will answer three things for us. What's the first thing? Texture. Taste. How is it? After taste. What are the feelings they are having? You will go for? Texture is soft. Texture is soft, it seems. It's sweet. Sweet. Sweet.
Good, very good. Okay, Twinkle. You took one only, right? You can tell them. You enjoyed, nice. And let's say if you eat every day, my family, because of my wife, we are a firm believer of dry fruits. If you eat every day, do you think it will add value to your life? A lot of value, nutrition and that's why we want our children to eat as well. Let's do this as well. Here is one for you. This is a twig of thorn. This is one for you. Now you give me that. Do the same thing. They are going to eat this and they are going to tell us the three things.
What is the first thing? Texture. Taste. How do they feel? You want to try? Why not? Let them answer for us. I know that's thorny, but why do you not want to eat? Is the texture good when you put it in your mouth? No. What will it do? It hurts. What about the taste?
Let's go to the final one. Does it add any value to life? In fact, it can actually take away your life in the long run. And you begin to eat on much more thorny plants, it will actually destroy you. False prophets, false teachings, false ministry, their teaching and ministry leave God's people with pain, hurt, spiritual, emotional, financial, familial, doctrinal, intellectual, psychological trauma, pain, wounds and scars. And what will it do in the long run? It will waste away your resources.
away the vitality of your Christian living. Number three, it will spend away the most important thing, it will spend away the precious time that God's people have. On the contrary, rich teaching of God's word nourishes us and actually makes us become vital Christians in our local churches. But when you entertain, not just daily, but even occasionally when you begin to feed on thorns and thistles, they are not only going to leave you with pain and soreness in your soul, they will actually take away the vitality and the strength and ultimately they will cut short your life. And the Lord Jesus Christ tells us, you cannot at any time, even for some time these thorns look like they are wearing a halo of figs and grapes and dates, very soon when you begin going to taste them.
You will get the pain and the soreness they leave you with after their ministry is done. And the Lord Jesus Christ actually in verses 17 and 18, after asking this open-ended question, he leaves us, he gives us two reasons and one conclusion as to why he asked this question. Look at reason number one, look at verse 17, reason number one. “So every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.” So the first blank there is fruits reveal the tree, fruits reveal, they show what tree they belong to, they reveal the tree, they reveal the roots, they reveal the seed ultimately.
Now there are two words used there particularly for the diseased tree, one is the word sapros which is used for diseased, diseased tree, meaning to say rotten, corrupt or expresses that which is of poor quality. Basically it is unfit for any use. That's the tree. And imagine what the seed must be like, what the roots must be like. They are unfit for any use. What about the fruit they bear? The bad fruit, Jesus Christ says the Greek word is poneros. Why am I talking about this? Let me tell you. The meaning is hurtful, evil, pain-ridden, emphasizing the inevitable agonies that follow.
In fact, this is the same word used in John 3.19. Let me read the scripture verse for you. “And this is the judgment. The light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were poneros.” Their works were evil. Now let me read to you one more passage. Ephesians 6.16. You went through this passage many years ago, right? Or at least a few months ago. Take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil poneros or the evil one. The word is directly attributed to Satan.
The word is directly attributed to the sinful nature of humankind. Meaning to say, dear friends, there is no way you can compromise on their teaching and their ministry. They are not of the sheep who are now and then backsliding, no. They are not born again people who are for a brief period of time because of continuous sin are backsliding. No, my friends, they basically belong to the evil one. They have never been converted. They are disguised. They are satanic agents. They infiltrate the universal and the local churches. Their fruit will reveal the tree they belong to. A false preacher, shepherd, pastor, elder, author, whatever you want to call, all, these people can sound, talk, act, behave and make people for some time be fooled that they actually belong to the sheep.
The leaves, the trunk, the shape, the size, the texture, all could be misleading. But one thing will not mislead you. And what is the sure shot sign? Fruit. Fruit will show them. That's why if you are not a fruit bearing Christian, it is difficult for you to go after the fruits of people. Your ministry, your thinking, your teaching, everything will be at knowledge level, which is shallow, which gives nothing. Got it? But when it gets into your soul and the roots of your soul deepen into the rich life-giving water of the gospel of Jesus Christ and you bear fruit, dear friend, you want to also watch the fruit of people, not their talk, not their knowledge, not their activities, then go after the fruit.
Here is the bottom line. Here is the bottom line. Okay, for me, this is very, very precious. Not a — it is not what a person says that shows us who he is. It is not even sometimes what a person does that shows us who he is. Ultimately, how is that person living — that will tell me and you who he is. You can have a pastor or a teacher or whatever who is not doing the best job in preaching, but if the person is living faithfully, fearfully, under the knowledge of the living God, by dispensing all his relational and vocational ministries faithfully, you are blessed. But if you have someone who's knowledgeable, doing all the outside stuff very well, but inside is not living
under the knowledge and the fear of the Lord Almighty, then it's a great deal of danger lurking. The local church. Judas preached the word of God. Matthew 10. Judas performed the miracles that God commanded him to. But Judas never yielded to the will of God. Never ever yielded. Fruits don't lie. They show the source and the substance of the trees they belong to.
Reason number two. Not only fruits reveal the tree. Look at verse 18. Trees can't regenerate the fruit. Meaning to say, verse 18, the Lord Jesus says, “A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.” It cannot. The English word cannot is actually a combination of two Greek words. The word can in Greek is dynamite, from which we get the English word dynamite, power, able, which means the person, the person who is representing the bad tree here, an unregenerated person cannot, does not have any inner inertia, ability, power, capability to produce the fruit that only Christ can give. If you're
a born-again person. And the word not is translated as it. The word not means this: rules out any scope of factor, doesn't give you any chance. Meaning to say, the tree doesn't have the ability, doesn't have the capability to change its fruit. It does not have any change factor inside, it can never change and it can never do anything that will in any way, in any way bring about any change in the fruit. The nature of the tree can't be unnatured, can't be changed, can't be regenerated. A bad tree can never produce figs and grapes. It will only leave us with thorns and thistles.
Listen, okay, both the false prophets and the born again people, both the wolves, the hirelings and the true shepherds, both the wolves and the true believers point to who they ultimately belong to by the fruit they bear. Meaning to say a false prophet and a false teacher and a false shepherd and a false believer can fake the flavor, not the fruit. You drank Maaza anytime?
You drank Maaza? Please don't drink. It doesn't add any value to life. Maaza has the flavour of mango. When you read the ingredients, it tells you very little bit of mango pulp is there in it. The rest of it is nothing but trash. But you ate mangoes this season?
Those of you ate mangoes? Very good. Did you praise God after eating mangoes? Very good. We ate quite a bit of mangoes this season. That is from the tree. It is original, natural. It is brought about by the tree. A false believer can fake, a false preacher can fake the flavor, not the fruit, not the fruit. And here is the final conclusion. Two reasons are given. The tree reveals the fruit or the fruit reveals the tree. The tree cannot regenerate the fruit. And the final thing, final thing, the bad fruit bearing trees judgment is reserved.
Don't you worry. Don't you complain and say, “Lord, you don't care.” Don't you say, “Lord, these people are continuing to do whatever they want.” God tells Isaiah, “I will be exalted in judgment.” Why is it that sometimes God delays judgment? Because he wants to display his glory at the time of judgment. In Isaiah 26 actually he says, “God, when your judgments are revealed, people will learn righteousness.” Isn't that the reason why when in heaven, whichever, you know, what is it, eschatology, dispensing, whatever you belong to, ultimately there will be worship in heaven. Ultimately there's going to be worship and that is why when the bowls of destruction are being thrown upon earth, there is worship service going on in heaven.
Why? “Righteous are you, O God, and all your judgments are righteous.” We will join that band one day to rejoice and say, as we just sang, we will join that band one day to rejoice that wicked men will continue to do no more their wickedness. Why? Because God's righteousness will be shown. Two words are used. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is going to be cut down, meaning totally severed, totally removed from its attachment. It looks like it is attached, it's going to be completely detached, and it's going to be thrown into fire. What does that remind you? In Matthew chapter 3, if you remember Matthew chapter 3, the true preaching community, he actually
calls people for baptism and repentance. Along with the groups of people who are prostitutes and tax collectors and robbers and thieves and murderers, there's another group that comes. Who are they? Wolves in sheep's clothing. Thorns who look like their dates and figs. They come with their piety, with their charity, with their so-called devotional life. Pharisees and Sadducees come. What is the answer? “Who told you to run away, flee away from that is coming?” What is his problem? His problem is this. He says, you have no fruit that keeps in accordance with what? Repentance. There's no repentance. Hey, my friends, listen.
Repentance will take time. It takes, it's a process. Fruit bearing is also process. You cannot hear the sermon today and tomorrow morning say, “I have fruits.” That's not fruit. That's not fruit. That's a toy you're hanging on to. That's not fruit. Fruit bearing takes time. Who of us have actually planted a seed and the very next morning reaped a rich harvest? It takes time. It takes nurturing. It takes pouring your time and energy into that. It takes time. So, brother Harshith was speaking at a YFC camp and we were talking and somebody asked him a question. He was telling me, “Brother, young people have come and asked me this question.”
And he said, “Anna, what is the quick way to grow? What is the way to grow?” Just take 10 years, brother, or 20 years. Will you be willing? If you belong to the vine you will belong, you will be willing, because fruit bearing is never the command. Abiding is the command. Fruit bearing is the effect. So these group of people in Matthew chapter 3, the seemingly religious, the seemingly righteous, the seemingly good, holy, upright, pious teachers and custodians of the law, when they came him, he gave them a stern warning, repentance has fruits. You must bear the fruit. And listen, my friends, fruit is not natural, isn't it?
It's not. A born again person cannot automatically bear. It's not natural. It is supernatural. But we are given a abiding lock there. Stay in me. Stay in me. These people will never stay in Christ. And that is why there will come a day where he will ways just like Judas, just before the crucifixion, till there he was, and after that he parted ways. He never came back. There was remorse but never repentance. There was regret but never turning to Christ for faith. There's a day of judgment where God will cut them down and God will commit them to eternal, inextinguishable fire. So what does the Lord Jesus say? You be vigilant. What does the Lord Jesus say? You be diligent. What does the Lord Jesus say? Spot, go after the fruit. Suspect the outside, look at the inside, peel the skin.
Check who they are, not what they say, not what they do. Who they are, check. And verse 20, “Thus you will recognize them by their fruits,” meaning this is a process, this is the path, this is the way to recognize the ravenous wolves who come in sheep's clothing. Meaning, here are my final statements: watch out with vigilance, scrutinize the dissonance, meaning the lack of harmony between who they say they are and what they are doing. Study the Scriptures with diligence, live by the Scriptures with reverence, and alarm the local church when the false prophet or teacher or false believer comes without any tolerance.
Why? Because the purity of the church comes first before the unity of the church can come. Let me close with a story. In 1944 in the United States of America, when the world actually went through a great second world war, there was a wonderful pastor by the name Walker, Dr.
John Compton Ball. He decided to retire. His ministry was done in Metropolitan Baptist Church and it was such a ministry that even the president of that country, Franklin D. Roosevelt, during the war time, he actually sent him a letter of appreciation. Let me read these words. “I cannot restrain the impulse to join the members of your congregation and other friends in a hearty, well-done, good and faithful servant. I trust all your days may be radiant with the memories of your 41 years of ministry spent in this community as the preacher of God's word and leader in all good works.”
Now, this honor is a very significant one. Now, by the time this pastor was stepping down, obviously they needed to find a new pastor for the ministry. So the preaching, the pulpit ministry committee got together and they finally decided that they will actually hire another pastor named Dr. Ralph Walker. He was a very respected pastor from another place, Portland. And finally, with the deacons unanimously appointing, they said, yes, we will go for him. But during the congregational meet time to vote to take the pastor in, out of all the people, there was one young one woman.
is Agnes Shankle. She stood up, she cleared her throat and she voiced her concerns about this man. By then, already considerable rumors were going on that this man is compromising a great deal with controversial questions. During that time, there was this fundamental and modernist issues were going on. In other words, the man who they wanted to appoint, new man Walker, basically was a man who was caught in the middle. This guy was, though he was an outspoken leader, but he was a man who did not fight against liberalism, meaning they didn't believe, he didn't believe in the total supreme authority and sufficiency of the Scripture and so on and so forth. The pulpit committee was clearly shaken because as she began to
voice her concerns, very slowly others too expressed their understanding about this man, and very soon the pulpit committee was clearly shaken. They realized that they underestimated the concerns of the congregation and they quickly attempted to withdraw their motion to forward this man as the pastor, and they began to look for new candidates. And in no time another name was nominated. Mr. K. Owen White was nominated. He was a young guy, promising preacher, and he actually graduated from SBTS, a Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Now this man basically, after he was caught in, after he was brought into the thing, and finally they made a motion to
make him, what happened is this: under his leadership, new pastor's leadership, this Baptist church under his guidance became a bastion, a safeguarding place of conservative evangelicalism in Washington DC. He also stood firmly for the authority of the Scripture when primarily there was great fights going on, and under his ministry, expositional preaching, careful membership practices, discipleship programs and a focus on evangelism went on. In just five years, over 800 new members were baptized and joined to the church. Now here is a statement that the author of this article makes. What if Agnes Shankle had stayed silent? What if she had simply gone with the pulpit committee's judgment?
What if she had thought, “Who am I to speak? I’m just a Sunday school teacher, not a trained theologian.” In the entire 100 years of this church, which was later named as Capitol Hill Baptist Church, this might prove to be the most decisive moment. Had the church called Walker rather than the new guy White, the church would have likely headed in the direction of theological compromise and liberalism like so many city churches in that place. What does this tell? What does this tell? Even in the local church, don’t outsource your ministry only to those who are knowledgeable. You become knowledgeable, dear men and women.
You study the word of God. You practice, live by the word of God. And you be the God as well. Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you very much for this morning and thank you for the word that has come to us. Help us, O Lord, to be vigilant. Help us, O Lord, to be diligent. Help us to fear none, but to trust you. And help us, O Lord God, when our churches are going to be at any time infiltrated or infested with this false teaching and false prophets, help us, O Lord, to identify quickly, and help us, O Lord, to be careful in not entertaining these things, because their judgment is reserved as your word says.
Thank you. Continue to bless the ministry of GLC and continue, O Lord God, to bless the ministry of the leadership here. Thank you very much. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.