THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW
False prophets and prudence
Chapter 7: 15 to 29
The test of the fruits (v. 15-20)
We should always be on the alert with respect to false prophets: people who want us to believe that they have messages from God, to take advantage of our credulity.
They disguise themselves by placing a cloak of humility and meekness to resemble true believers, but in reality, they are fierce destroyers, whose aim is to take advantage of unstable immature, and naïve people that give them ears, pulling them away from Christ and his Word.
The Lord declares, "by their fruits you shall know them." Maybe they may seem convincing by their words and by their false appearance, but they will reveal themselves by their procedure.
Those that really are of God give good fruits: "the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Galatians 5:22), and "in all goodness and righteousness and truth" (Ephesians 5: 9).
False prophets will be recognized by the lack of these virtues, and shall be denounced by the word of God. Their destiny is to be cast into the fire, the eternal perdition (2 Peter 2:1).
Those who are unknown by Jesus Christ (v. 21-23)
All the Sermon on the Mount was directed to the disciples, with view to the qualifications of those who will enter the Kingdom of the Messiah. Biblical eschatology tells us that He will reign on Earth soon after the great tribulation.
Although the content of the Sermon on the Mount will only be fully enforced and practiced at that time, we see that everyone who receives Him as Lord, now, should know its precepts to begin to obey them, because one day they will reign with Him.
Thus, those who introduce themselves to the King at that time will have to go through a check and many who never received Him as their Lord and Saviour in their lives will want to qualify themselves in view of the use made of His name to prophesy, cast out demons and do many wonders.
They may have deceived many people, but never to the Lord Jesus, who knows His sheep and is known to them (John 10:14). He will know that these false prophets practiced iniquity, and shall summarily reject them.
There is a perfect application for these days: although current false prophets or teachers deceive many people with the semblance of signs and wonders performed by the Lord Jesus and by his Apostles, using His name, He will never recognize them.
If they are not alive on the establishment of the Kingdom on Earth, they will not hear His words of rejection here, but will be in hell awaiting the final judgment, as has already been mentioned. Before the throne, when they are being judged, they might use the argument of making these supernatural things in the name of the Lord Jesus, but will hear His words of rejection.
Only those who do the will of the Father who is in heaven will enter the Kingdom of heaven: to call the Lord Jesus Christ and use His holy name in an effort to legitimize their actions is of no value.
The first step to do the will of the Father is to be converted and to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour.
We learn here that not all miracles are of divine origin, even when those who make them invoke the name of Christ. A miracle only indicates the use of a supernatural power. This may be divine or satanic. The devil can even allow a temporary expulsion of a demon to impress the audience, and give the illusion that it was a divine act. In this case he will not be dividing his kingdom, but allowing a greater invasion next.
It is prudent to build on the rock (24-27)
Ending the sermon, the Lord Jesus tells us that it is not enough just to hear His words of wisdom, but who is prudent will also put them into practice.
As the man who built his house upon the rock, he who practices these teachings will be building his life on a firm and secure base, and the storms of life, no matter how strong, will do him no harm.
The rock, in the Bible, is a symbol of the Lord Jesus. Believers put their faith in Him, which means, among other things, that they believe firmly in what He teaches, and put the teachings into practice. The world thinks that whoever obeys the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount is foolish, because they are the exact opposite of the wisdom of the world: to do unto others what you want to be done to you, to respond passively to aggression, not to store treasures on Earth, not to be worried about the future, to pray and to fast in secret.
But the Lord Jesus declares that it is being prudent.
In the world, the general idea is that one must live for the present, take care of oneself, be aggressive to impose on others. The Lord Jesus says that whoever does that, having heard His words, is like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. Without a firm foundation, the storm came; the house collapsed and was washed away in the flooding.
Who does not follow His teachings has no defense against the failings and misadventures of life, being demolished by them because he has no surety of the future, having placed all his faith in personal victories in the present life.
The impression on the people (v. 28-29)
The speech had been directed to His disciples, but was heard the crowd.
There was general admiration for what He was teaching, because he taught with authority. The divine authority of the son of God permeated through His words, very different from the teaching of scribes, as they were limited to teaching what they had themselves learned from the Law of Moses, which they repeated like parrots. Without doubt, the brilliance of the teaching of the Master completely erased the little light that emanated from the doctors of the law.
R David Jones
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15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching,
29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
Matthew chapter 7, verses 15 to 29