QUESTION #9 Beware of false prophets... Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes?

    QUESTIONS JESUS ASKED BIBLE STUDY  

 

    

      Read Matthew 7:12-23 KJV: 

 

   Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them (false prophets, preachers, teachers…) by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? (Matthew 7:15-16)

 

WE SHALL KNOW THEM BY THEIR FRUITS

Reference: Matthew 7:12-23; Mark 13:22-23; Luke 6:43-44

 

Jesus is warning us to watch for false prophets and is telling us how we shall know them -- by the fruit they bare. This includes false preachers, teachers, or Christians.

 

Most people believe you can know them by their actions, including good works and sin. If a person shows good works, they conclude he or she is in the faith and if they sin or have a life laced in sinful behavior, they must be evil. However, this is not the “fruits” we will know them by. 

 

This passage is about identifying both true and false ministers, that is, knowing the difference. “Fruit” cannot have a primary meaning of sin because both true and false ministers’ sin and are subject to sin. We are not looking for a false minister to sin; we are focusing on what he is preaching and teaching – false doctrine. The proof is contained in verses 17 and 18. A good tree brings forth good fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit and a bad tree cannot bring forth good fruit. Can a good minister sin? Of course! Can a good minister demonstrate bad or offensive behavior? Yes! Can a false minister demonstrate good or righteous behavior? Yes! Can a false minister preach true doctrine? Well, we are about to find out.

 

Verse 15 warns “beware of false prophets which comes to you in sheep’s clothing”. This is a clear indication of deception on the part of the false minister. He appears righteous and pleasing to the unsuspecting member. Therefore, by definition, we cannot claim to say we can always identify a false minister based solely on observed behavior. Fact is, behavior can be used to deceive. However, one cannot truly fake doctrine. Doctrine is either true or false. If one is immersed in the Word of God, he or she can readily know false doctrine when they see or hear it. In the context of Matthew 7:16, fruit refers to the wrong message, not the wrong kind of life. 

 

We can know if one is false by the doctrine they preach or follow. This is the fruit to examine to know if one is false or true.

 

Straight and narrow is the way to life and few will find it. Why just a few? “Because of false prophets which come to you in sheep’s clothing” or as ministers of Jesus Christ. Verses16-20, tells us that false prophets will produce a fruit that we will know them by, because an evil tree can’t produce good fruit. 

“¹⁶You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, of figs of thistles? ¹⁷Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that brings forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire. ²⁰Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them. ²¹Not everyone that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”

 

Now in verse 21 Jesus is beginning to reveal some of the fruits of a false prophet. A false prophet will get you to call on the name of the Lord but will not do the will of God. The will of God is the Word of God. A false prophet will then get you to call on the Lord but not according to the way the Word teaches you must call on Him.

 

Observe in verses 22-23 how deceived these people are. 

 

“²²Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many great works? ²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (you that work un-righteously).

 

They thought they were ready to meet Jesus. They were deceived into thinking they were saved when they really were not. Notice Jesus said, “I never knew you,” and called them workers of evil or workers of un-righteousness. Remember that He mentioned not knowing them. Therefore, we need to find out why He never knew them so they won’t deceive us also.  

 

He gave us a clue in verses 24-27: 

 

“²⁴Therefore, whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: ²⁵And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. ²⁶And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: ²⁷And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

 

Therefore – or because of this deception – whoever hears His sayings and does them is a wise man who builds on a rock. What is the rock then? The Word of God. He is actually warning that the fruit of a false prophet is that he will not build on the true Word; and, unless we build on the Word, our house will not stand.

 

Jesus said He will build His church upon the rock (Matthew 16:18-19). 

 

“¹⁸And I say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ¹⁹And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

 

What rock? Not Peter as a man, but the revelations of His Word that He is going to give Peter, because His Word is the rock. He will give Peter the keys, which is the truth of the Word of God that will unlock the door of heaven to people when they obey Peter’s preaching (Matthew 16:19). Jesus said whatever Peter preaches will be bound in heaven and in earth (which means He will stand behind whatever Peter preaches). Now, if the Word is His rock that the false prophets won’t build upon, and here He took His Word and gave it to Peter and said it is what He would build His church upon, then a false prophet will not build on what the apostle Peter and the other apostles preached. That’s the fruit by which we will know them.

 

The Lord forewarned that in the last days many false Christs and false prophets shall arise, but he says, “Take heed, behold, I have foretold you all things” (Mark 13: 22-23). The Lord is saying to take into consideration what things he told us -- we will know them by the fruit they bare.

 

For more information see pamphlets “False Teachers” and “Plan of Salvation”

 

Notes: