Summary
Real Fruit
Near the close of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus issues a sharp warning: "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves" Matthew 7:15. The danger is not the obvious outsider but the one who arrives in the name of the Lord, looking and sounding like a sheep, while teaching contrary to God's Word. A ravenous wolf is an aggressively greedy scoundrel—an extortioner who works through threats and fear. In the church, this looks like preachers who sell lies about God in order to line their own pockets, preying on the weak.
How are God's people to tell the difference? Jesus answers with a question and a rule of thumb: "Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?" Matthew 7:16. You will know them by their fruits. Scripture gives a plain rubric for testing a teacher: a prophet who speaks in the name of the Lord but whose word does not come true has not spoken from the Lord Deuteronomy 18:20-22. By that simple measure, generations of preachers who set dates for Christ's return—more than fifty failed predictions across church history—have shown themselves to be selling fear rather than proclaiming truth. The sheep give their dollars and hours hoping to secure their place in the story of salvation, but they are preyed upon by wolves.
Yet "fruit" is not only a test for false teachers; it is also the natural mark of the Christian life. A tree does not labor to produce fruit—fruit grows from a healthy tree as a matter of course. So Paul writes, "By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" Ephesians 2:8-10. It is not the fruit that makes the Christian faithful; it is the faith that makes the Christian fruitful.
This is why Jesus speaks of the vine and the branches: "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me… apart from me you can do nothing" John 15:4-5. The Word of God cleanses, and through the waters of Baptism we are grafted onto Christ, the living Vine. He bore the thorns on his head, took the sin of even the ravenous wolves, carried the diseased fruit of our sinful nature to the grave, and rose again so that the sacrifice would be shown accepted. The fruit of the Spirit—love, grace, mercy—is simply the byproduct of being joined to a healthy tree.
Real fruit is recognized because we have tasted the real thing. Plastic fruit may shine on the table, but a single bite reveals there is no sustenance inside. So it is with false prophets: their words may tickle the ear and their works may look impressive, but where the fullness of God's Word is not preached, there is nothing to cling to and nothing to grow on. The Christian, sealed in the Holy Spirit and continually fed by the preached Word, develops a trained palate. Having tasted that the Lord is good Psalm 34:8, the sheep recognize the wolf by what he produces—and recognize their Shepherd by the sweet fruit of redemption he gives.
For the full sermon, see "Real Fruit" 2-4-24.
Video citations
- "Real Fruit" 2-4-24 — If you would please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Matthew 7 chapter, if you're using a Pue edition of the Bible, you will find this on page 6 in the New Testament where Matthew chapter 7. If it…