“You will know them by their fruits”
[Matthew 7:16-23]
What do you think of when you hear the word “tree”? When I hear the word “tree”, I remember the sermon I preached on the Friday night prayer meeting in the month of June. On that day, I preached the drama written by God in Esther chapters 2 to 7 from the perspective of a “tree”, focusing on Esther 7:10. King Ahasuerus' wrath ceased as Haman, who was trying to annihilate Mordecai and his people of Judah, hung on the tree he wanted to hang Mordecai, Queen Esther's cousin (v. 10). This reminded me the best drama work. The work is the crucifixion of the only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, who was hung high on the tree which is under God’s curse (Deut. 21:23). When I think about why the humble Jesus, who had no sin, died on the cross for my sake, a proud sinner like “Haman”, I think of how lovely Queen Esther when King Ahasuerus saw her standing in the courtyard of the royal palace (Esth. 5:2). The reason is because the Lord loved a sinner like us so much that He died on the cursed tree. God loved us so much that He had His only begotten Son, Jesus, who had no sin, die on the cross. At that time, just as King Ahasuerus' wrath ceased when Haman died on a tree (7:10), God's wrath ceased. This is because God poured out all his wrath on Jesus who was crucified.
We received a lesson from God while meditating on “two gates” and “two animals” centered on Matthew 7:13-15. If we were to recapitulate the lesson briefly, the title would be “Enter through the narrow gate” and “Beware of the false prophets.” As I meditated on this lesson again last week, I was reminded of the words of Matthew 7:1-6 that we had already meditated on. The reason is because among the three lessons that we were taught [we should not judge (v. 1), we should give up hypocrisy (v. 5), and we must judge (v. 6)], the third lesson (we must judge) is connected with the message of “Enter through the narrow gate” and “Beware of the false prophets”. In other words, we must make good judgment between the two gates, the wide gate and the narrow gate, and choose the narrow gate and walk the narrow path and between the true prophets and the false prophets and must beware and wary of the false prophets. We should not judge by appearances, but judge righteously (Jn. 7:24). In other words, we must discern between good and evil. As the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:15, as spiritual men, we must make judgements about all things. In particular, we must discern spiritual things (v. 13). Therefore, we must listen to the words of 1 John 4:1 – “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
Today, I would like to meditate on “two trees” focusing on Matthew 7:16-23. Here, the two trees are “a good tree” and “a bad tree”. When you look at trees, do you know which tree is a good tree and which is a bad tree? If you know, how do you know? If you look at Matthew 7:16 and 20 in today's text, you will find the answer. The answer is that you know them by their fruits. In other words, in order to tell which tree is a good tree, which is a bad tree, we can tell by looking at the fruits of those trees. Even if we think with common sense, it is natural for a good tree to produce good fruit and a bad tree to bear bad fruit (v. 17). And a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit (v. 18). This is what Jesus said in verse 16: “You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?” How can a thorn tree produce grapes? How can you pick figs from thistles? Isn’t the vine bear grapes and the fig tree bear its fruit? In the end, Jesus is talking about two trees in today's text. And He is saying that we can know which tree is good and which is bad by their fruits. Then, what are the good tree and the bad tree that Jesus is talking about in today's text?
Let's start with the bad tree first. The bad tree here can be thought of as two groups of people. The first group refers to the many who walk in the broad road to enter through the wide gate spoken of in verse 13. These refer to the Pharisees who were hypocrites (v. 5) legalists from the point of view of Jesus' day. These Pharisees do not see the log in their own eye, but see the speck in their brother's eye (vv. 3-4). Like dogs and pigs, they are ignorant people who do not know the value of holy things and pearls (v. 6). These are people who do not believe in the gospel of salvation only through faith in Jesus Christ, but rather believe that they can be saved by keeping the law. After all, this bad tree refers to many legalists, such as the Pharisees, who are walking the broad road to enter the wide gate that leads to destruction (v. 13). The second group of people are the false prophets Jesus spoke of in verse 15. The Bible says that the false prophets who are outwardly clothed in sheep's clothing but are like ravenous wolves are the bad tree. In today's text, Matthew 7:17, Jesus is saying that the bad tree bears bad fruit. So, what is the bad fruit here? What is the bad fruit of the wicked tree, the Pharisees or the false prophets? In a word, their bad fruit is destruction (v. 13). These are the ones who secretly introduce destructive heresies, deny the Lord who bought them, and take on their own impending destruction (2 Pet. 2:1).
Even now, the false teachers and the false leaders, such as the bad tree, the Pharisees and the false prophets, are trying to deceive us with the teachings of false doctrines and make us deny the Lord. Now they are deceiving us in order to deceive those whom God has chosen (Mt. 13:22), so that we may walk in the broad road of destruction. As Jesus prophesied, they will rise and perform signs and wonders to deceive the elect if possible (v. 22). As Jesus said in Matthew 7:22, even these are those who say to Jesus “did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?” But Jesus said to them, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven … I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” (vv. 21, 23) What does it mean? The Pharisees and the false prophets who are like the bad tree, even if they do all things in the name of the Lord, they are lawless in the sight of the Lord, and they will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Rather, they are now walking on the broad road towards the wide gate that leads to destruction. As for their results, Jesus said this in Matthew 7:19 – “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
Then who is “a good tree” that Jesus is talking about in today’s text? It is those who dwell in Jesus who is the true vine (Jn. 15:1, 4). In other words, the good trees are those chosen by the Lord (v. 16). In a word, the good trees are the disciples of Jesus, chosen by God, who gain salvation through faith in the good Jesus. Regarding these disciples of Jesus in Matthew 7, Jesus tells three things: (1) They deny that they are saved by keeping the law like the legalists, the Pharisees. And they believe that they can be saved only by believing in Jesus Christ. (2) They strive to enter through the small and narrow gate that leads t life and only a few find it (vv. 13-14). (3) They do not just say “Lord, Lord,” with their lips, but actually do the will of their Heavenly Father in action (v. 21). Here, what is Heavenly Father's will for them to do? A few examples can be found in the context of today's text: They do not sit in the judge's seat and judge (condemn) the other (v. 1). Also, they are not hypocrites (v. 5). Rather, they seek good things from their Heavenly Father (vv. 7-11). They also treat others as they would like to be treated (v. 12). Then why did the Lord choose us? Look at John 15:16 – “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.” Jesus is clearly saying that the purpose for which He has chosen us is to go and bear (eternal) fruit. Jesus is speaking of that eternal fruit as good fruit in Matthew 7:17-19. Then what are the good fruit (vv. 17, 18, 19) that these disciples of Jesus bear? We can think of it in three ways: (1) It is eternal life (v. 14). In other words, the good fruit you and I, Jesus' disciples, bear is entering the kingdom of heaven (v. 21). (2) The good fruit we bear as disciples of Jesus is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Look at Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Among the fruit of the Holy Spirit, especially the disciples of Jesus bear abundant fruit of love, Jesus’ twofold commandment, “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Lk. 10:27), so you can live the heavenly life. (3) The good fruit we bear is good deeds. Look at Ephesians 2:8-10: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
We have been saved through faith in Jesus by the total grace of God. This salvation never comes from us. This is a gift from God. We are newly created for good works in Christ Jesus. Therefore, we must do good works by the power of God's grace. And we never boast of ourselves after we have done good deeds. Rather, we should confess that, even after we have done good, “'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty” (Lk. 17:10).
Look at Job 14:7 – “At least there is hope for a tree: If it is cut down, it will sprout again, and its new shoots will not fail.” I was strengthened and comforted by this word, ‘there is hope for a tree.’ And the lesson I received from God was that we should meditate on the words of Job 14:7, ‘there is hope for a tree,’ while looking at the tree that God the Creator made, no matter how much suffering we are in, like Job. Why does the tree have hope? The reason is because Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, died on the cross, which is the cursed tree. As a result, all our sins have been forgiven, and we have become “a good tree” in Christ Jesus. We have become new creatures in Christ Jesus. Therefore, as a good tree, we must bear the good fruit. As we bear the fruit of the Spirit, we must also bear the fruit of good works. And finally, we must bear the fruit of eternal life. Until the day we all enter the kingdom of heaven, nothing and no one will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:39).