The Two Trees

Once upon a time there was a businessman who went into work in the city. Every day, just outside his office building, he would pass a blind man wearing dark glasses who sat on the sidewalk begging with a tin cup. Usually, the businessman would put a quarter into the blind man’s cup as he walked by.

But one day he didn’t have a quarter. All he had was a ten dollar bill. However, he felt very generous that day, so he decided to put the ten dollar bill into the blind man’s tin cup. And that’s what he did. He walked away feeling very good about himself, when something made him turn back to look at the blind beggar again.

Here is what he saw. To his surprise, the blind man had his dark glasses pushed up on his forehead, and was eagerly examining the ten dollar bill. The businessman was irate, to say the least. He immediately went back and said “Hey, I thought you were a blind man.”

“Oh no, I’m not really a blind man at all.” said the beggar. “Actually, I’m just substituting for the regular blind man who usually sits here.”

“Well where in the world is he?” asked the businessman.

“Today’s his day off” said the beggar, “and he’s gone to the movies.”

Things are not always what they seem to be! And that is especially true when it comes to spiritual things. That’s because we live in a world where most people have rejected the idea that there can be any absolute standard of truth, or of right and wrong.

Most people nowadays have been taught to believe that any religion, or any belief system, can be true for you, if you want it to be. There’s no one religion that has a corner on truth.

If you want to be a Hare Krishna, and dance around in airport terminals in a saffron robe, then that’s what’s true for you. If you want to be a Muslim and follow the teachings of the Koran, then that’s what’s true for you. If you want to be a Christian and follow Jesus Christ, then that’s what’s true for you. Everybody has to find his own personal truth.

Truth, in our day and age, has become the handmaiden of personal choice. Truth is totally subjective - it’s what I decide that’s true that makes it true for me. There’s no outside standard, no objective source of truth. Everything and anything can be true if you want it to be. And because everything is true, then really, nothing is true. Because the word “true” doesn’t really mean anything anymore. That’s where we’re at in America today.

But when we come to the Bible, we come to a book that claims to be absolutely and exclusively true. When we listen to the teaching of Jesus, we’re listening to a man who claims to be absolutely right.

If we’re going to follow the teaching of the Bible—if we’re going to follow the teaching of Jesus Christ—then we’re going to find ourselves increasingly out of synch with our culture, which says that truth is relative and there are no absolutes.

Now we need to understand that. Unless we understand that, we cannot really understand this passage that we’re looking at today in Matthew 7. Because this passage is about absolutes. It’s about right and wrong. It’s about true and false. And specifically, it’s about the false masquerading as the true.

Matthew 7:15-20 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

The first part of the Sermon on the Mount—ch.5 & 6— was a picture of God’s righteousness in living color. But this final section is in black and white. Because in this section, Jesus presents us with four sets of alternatives. And each of them is a clear choice in black and white. There are no shades of gray in between.

There are two roads: one of them leads to life, the other leads to destruction. There are two trees: one of them bears good fruit, the other bears bad fruit. There are two groups of people. One of them knows Jesus and does his will; the other doesn’t. And there are two builders: one of them builds his house on a rock and it stands; the other builds his house on the sand and it falls down. Clear choices: black and white. Absolutes.

Jesus says that there are four things you need to know about false prophets. A prophet, by the way, is someone who claims to have a message from God. But just because somebody claims to have a message from God doesn’t mean that he really does. And the first thing you need to know about false prophets is that:

1. They are false

Just a few days ago, you may have read about the death of the famous sportscaster Howard Cosell. As he sat before the microphone, Howard Cosell never tired of reminding us that we could always count on him to “tell it like it is.”

Well have you ever noticed that Jesus had that same quality? He never minced words. He never beat around the bush. He would always tell it like it is.

If something was black, he’d call it black. And if something was white, he’d call it white. He never qualified his statements, he never watered them down to suit the ears of his listeners.

And in v.15 he says “there are false prophets out there.” They are false. It’s not that they are partly true, or somewhat true, or almost true. They are false. The word in Greek is literally “pseudo-prophets”.

They come with the claim of bearing truth from God, but they do not have the truth of God at all. You cannot rely on them. You cannot depend on them. You dare not stake your life on the message that they’re proclaiming because it is false.

2. Watch out for them!

It is our responsibility to watch out for them. Don’t expect God to tap you on the shoulder and say “Oh watch out for this one. This one’s false.” It is our responsibility to be alert. It is our responsibility to be wary. It is our responsibility to know the Scripture well enough so that we can discern whether a prophet’s message is true or false.

Now the reason I say this is that there are many Christians who are too lazy to do this. They want to take somebody else’s word for what the Bible says instead of studying it for themselves. And so they are easily deceived; they’re easily led into error.

Just last summer, we had a Bible teacher named Harold Camping teaching that Jesus Christ would come back sometime in September 1994. And he deceived thousands of well-meaning Christians into following his teaching. Because they were too willing to take him at his word. They were too willing to accept his convoluted interpretation of the Scriptures and his complicated numerical arguments. They didn’t check it out for themselves. And they got duped.

3. They come to you in sheep’s clothing

The outward appearance disguises the inner reality.

The Air Force has a bomber called the B-2. It costs 1 billion dollars a copy. You paid for it. The B-2 uses the latest in stealth technology. Here comes this huge jet bomber carrying a nuclear weapon in its belly, and it has the radar signature of a common crow.

Can’t you just see the enemy radar operators sitting there in their underground bunker? Their commanding officer says “Anything on the scope today?” Naw, just a flock of crows.

Satan is a master of stealth. Jesus tells us that these false prophets don’t look like false prophets. They look like sheep. Why sheep? Because God’s people are always described in the Bible as sheep. These false prophets masquerade as members of God’s people.

They look like they are part of God’s flock. But what are they Inwardly? They are really ferocious wolves. But they’ve got this beautiful costume on that makes them look genuine. They’ve covered themselves with spiritual camouflage.

2 Corinthians 11:14-15 …Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his false prophets masquerade as servants of righteousness.

There once was a pastor of a large, thriving church in California. He came from an evangelical background and took courses at Moody Bible Institute. This pastor was a good preacher, and he became known in the community for his compassion for the poor.

He developed some innovative programs and taught his congregation how to reach out in the name of Jesus to others. Whenever new people visited his church, the pastor made sure that those newcomers received a friendly letter of welcome from at least ten people in the church that week.

The church grew. They had a mission. The people loved each other and they loved their pastor. They followed his leadership. They believed in him. They were loyal to him.

They were so loyal that they didn’t discover that he was really a devil in disguise. They followed Pastor Jim Jones to Guyana, where under his leadership, they set up a community of faith in the jungle. They called it Jonestown. When they were visited by outsiders - outsiders that included a U.S. Congressman - outsiders who were concerned about the measure of control and authority that these good church people had surrendered to their pastor, they panicked. They murdered the Congressman and his party.

And then, under the instructions of their pastor, the Rev. Jim Jones, their spiritual leader, they all drank a poisonous punch made of Kool Aid laced with cyanide. First they fed it to their babies and children, then they drank it themselves. And they laid down and died like dogs. 911 of them. It happened in 1978.

False prophets don’t come with a big sign around their neck that says “I am a false prophet. Follow me and you die.” No, they come as smiling angels of light, with three piece suits, and blow-dried hair, with big Bibles under their arms.

They sit in TV studios and talk persuasively of the great things that they’re going to do for Jesus. They stand behind pulpits and preach soul-stirring messages. They write best-selling books.

So how do you tell that they’re phoneys? How do you tell that their message will lead you down the broad road to destruction? How do you tell?

Jesus gives us the answer in v.16, and this is the fourth thing we need to know about them:

4. The fruit reveals the root.

“By their fruit you will recognize them.” Jesus said.

A false prophet may be able to disguise himself on the outside, but he cannot disguise his heart. And sooner or later, his heart is revealed. It is revealed by his actions.

Matthew 12:35 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.

You can’t get grapes from a thornbush, or figs from a thistle. A plant is revealed by the fruit it produces. The fruit reveals the root. As the root, so the fruit. That is how it is with false teachers. Although they may look spiritually appetizing at first, you soon find out what they really are by their fruit. False prophets bear bad fruit.

I’m going to give you a list of the Five Fruits of False Prophets so that you can become a spiritual fruit inspector. These five fruits all start with the letter D.

1. False prophets DENY the truth of the Bible.

2 Peter 2:1-3 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up.

The goal of a false prophet is to erode your confidence in the Word of God and get you to place your trust in some teaching that man has devised. False prophets deny the authority of God’s Word and substitute their own authority in its place.

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

The Mormon Church claims to be a Christian church, but it substitutes the teaching of the Book of Mormon for the teaching of the Word of God. Mormonism is based on the teachings of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. The teaching of those men has replaced the Bible.

2. False prophets DIVIDE the church.

Acts 20:29ff I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!

You want to divide a church? Just put a false teacher in there. The thing about false teachers is that they are conceited. They cannot co-exist with people of other viewpoints. They disrupt the fellowship and divide the body.

They love to argue and quarrel. They major on minor points of doctrine until they make those into a test of fellowship. And they divide the church and draw their disciples away after them.

3. False prophets DESIRE money and power.

In 1 Timothy 6, Paul warned Timothy about men who teach false doctrine, men who…

1 Timothy 6:5 …have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

False prophets usually have a profit-motive behind their teaching, if you’ll excuse the play on words. I could give you story after story of so-called spiritual leaders who were systematically ripping off their followers - fleecing the sheep, if you will.

If you suspect that a teacher or a Christian leader is really more interested in making money on the ministry, then you’d better stay away from him.

4. False prophets DEVIATE morally:

False prophets often indulge in immoral behavior. They use their position of respect and trust and authority to take advantage of people and give vent to their fleshly appetites.

Jude 1:4 For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.

David Koresh was sleeping with the wives of his male followers. Jim Bakker was having sex with church secretaries. Jimmy Swaggert was secretly seeing prostitutes even while he was condemning Bakker for what he did.

When I was growing up in Montreal, I had a friend who attended our church there. He was a really nice Christian guy, whom the Lord used to bring others to Christ. But one day he was drawn into a cult that was popular back in the early Seventies known as the Children of God. This cult was founded by a former CMA evangelist named David Berg - he later changed his name to Moses.

Moses Berg taught his followers to be sexually immoral in the name of Jesus - he urged the girls to sleep with guys as a way of witnessing. He himself had numerous women. This cult has virtually disappeared from North America, but I understand that it is still active in other parts of the world.

The Mormon church, which cloaks itself in a wholesome, family-oriented image, believes in polygamy. While polygamy was originally a church doctrine practiced by Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, the practice of polygamy was conveniently dropped by the Mormon church back in 1890 so that the State of Utah could gain admittance into the Union, which it achieved six years later.

But the Mormon church has never repudiated the doctrine of polygamy - it merely states that it would be best for Mormons not to practice polygamy at the present time. But polygamy still plays an important part in the church’s theology. Heaven, according to the Mormons, is a place where every man will have many wives.

False prophets are often morally deviant.

5. They DESTROY people’s faith.

In 2 Timothy 2, Paul warns Timothy about two false teachers—Hymenaeus and Philetus…

…who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.

If you follow a false prophet, he will draw you away from your faith in God. He will make you think that Christianity is a religion of works. Or he will get you so preoccupied with peripheral matters, that you’ll take your eyes off God.

A false prophet disillusions people. Just think of all those sincere but deluded Christians who followed Harold Camping last summer. Where are they today? Are they still active in the church? Are they still joyfully serving God?

Or are they bitter and disillusioned and burned out? Many of them feel as though their trust was betrayed. So they’re going to be very cautious about ever trusting anyone else again. They followed a false prophet and their faith was destroyed.

The five fruits of false prophets are:

1. They DENY the Word of God.

2. They DIVIDE the church

3. They DESIRE money and power

4. They DEVIATE morally

5. They DESTROY people’s faith

Watch out for them! They’re out there. They are on your TV and radio, in your magazines and Christian bookstores. Sometimes they’re even on your doorstep.

You’ve got to remember that things are not always what they seem to be, especially in the spiritual realm. But Jesus said by their fruit you will recognize them. Look for the fruit and you’ll uncover the root.