Sunday's Message: The Parables of the Gospel of Matthew (Wolves & Fig Trees - Matthew 7:15-20)

During the months of October and November, we're discussing the following parables unique to the Gospel of Matthew:

• October 8 - Wolves & Fig Trees (Matthew 7:15-20)
• October 15 - Weeds with the Wheat (Matthew 13:24-30)
• October 22 - The Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 13:44-48)
• October 29 - The Two Debtors (Matthew 18:23-35)
• November 5 - Laborers in a Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)
• November 12 - Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32)
• November 19 - The Wise and the Foolish (Matthew 25:1-13)
• November 26 - Sheep from Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)

On Sunday, we focused on the parables of the wolf and the fig tree, Matthew 7:15-20. A recording and a copy of the sermon are below. You can stream the service by going to the Sligo Presbyterian Church YouTube Channel at 10:00 a.m. (EDT)

Now, this morning, we’re going to start a new sermon series that we’ll be in until the beginning of December entitled The Parables of Jesus: The Parables in the Gospel of Matthew. Now, if you remember, we did the same kind of thing last year, only we looked at the Gospel of Luke. You see, over the next couple of months, we’re going to look at eight parables unique to Matthew. And even though they may not be quite as well known as those from Luke (I mean, you just can’t beat “The Good Samaritan” or “The Prodigal Son.”), I think they’ll help us better understand what the Kingdom of Heaven is all about and how we might be good citizens in that kingdom as we try to do the best we can with what we’ve got. Now that’s what we’ll be doing up until the start of Advent.

Of course, before we get into the stories themselves, I think it’s important for us all to be on the same page about what a parable is. You see, in English, parable comes from the Greek word παραβολή which means “riddle” or “allegory.” In other words, a parable is a story that generally either explains something that’s pretty hard for folks to understand (you know, like the Kingdom of Heaven) or that challenges us to do something that may be difficult for us to do. It’s like what Stephen Kendrick, the writer and producer of the movies Fireproof and War Room said:

Jesus communicated parables to the secular people around him and he used stories that were very relevant to their lives, and He was taking heaven’s truth and packaging it in an earthly context.

Now that’s what he said, and I think he’s spot-on. And it’s those stories we’ll be looking at in this series.

And this morning we’ll start with two short little parables about a group of people that I think we all know are out there, but that frankly we’re not all that good at identifying, even when some of their influence starts affecting us in here. And right now I’m talking about folks whom Jesus called “false prophets.” You see, for the next ten minutes or so we’re going to focus on these men and women who, even though they’re dishing out pure baloney, sure seem to have a lot of influence over some very sincere and dedicated believers, ultimately distracting them from who they are in relationship with God and how they’ve been called to live with one another. And to do that, we’re going to take these parables offered by Jesus, and we’re going to focus on three things that we can know about these folks who either intentionally or accidentally mislead a lot of Christians.

And like I said, it’s all grounded in these two parables which Jesus told his disciples near the end of his Sermon on the Mount, right after challenging them to go through the “narrow gate” and right before saying, “Not everyone who calls me their Lord will get into the kingdom of heaven. Only the ones who obey my Father in heaven will get in.” [Matthew 7:21, CEV] (We’ll talk about the Kingdom of Heaven later.) Now this was what Jesus said:

Watch out for false prophets! They dress up like sheep, but inside they are wolves who have come to attack you. You can tell what they are by what they do. No one picks grapes or figs from thornbushes. A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. Every tree producing bad fruit will be chopped down and burned. You can tell who the false prophets are by their deeds. [Matthew 7:15-20, CEV]

Now this was what he said. And I’ll tell you, in these words, I think Jesus offers us three really important lessons about false prophets and teachers.

For example, first, I believe Jesus is telling us that false prophets should be expected. Good night nurse, the first thing he said was “watch out” for crying out loud. In other words, regardless of how focused and Godly and informed we assume we are, there are plenty of people who can distract us from the truth by telling us stuff that’s just plain wrong. And I’ll tell you, I really don’t think the reason they’re doing it is all that important. You see, whether motivated by greed or ignorance or whether their intention is malicious or sincere, there are folks out there who seem to embody the type of person about whom Paul warned the Romans when he said, “They claim to be wise, but they are fools.” [Romans 1:22, CEV] That’s who they are. And sadly, if we choose to listen and to follow them, well, we become fools too, don’t we? In fact, they’re exactly like the kind of people Jesus warned his disciples about a little later in Matthew, when he said this:

Someone may say, “Here is the Messiah!” or “There he is!” But don’t believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will come and work great miracles and signs. They will even try to fool God’s chosen ones. But I have warned you ahead of time. If you are told the Messiah is out in the desert, don’t go there! And if you are told he is in some secret place, don’t believe it! The coming of the Son of Man will be like lightning that can be seen from east to west. Where there is a corpse, there will always be vultures. [Matthew 24:23-28, CEV]

Let’s just say, according to Jesus, false prophets with their false message, man, they’re here to stay.

And for that reason, he started our passage with these words: Watch out for false prophets! [Matthew 7:15a, CEV] In fact, the word he used here was the same one he used right after he told his disciples that he was “...sending [them] like lambs into a pack of wolves, so be as wise as snakes and as innocent as doves.” [Matthew 10:16, CEV] You see, according to Jesus, we need to be alert. I mean, we need to be aware of a reality that we’re going to face whether we like it or not. Therefore, we need to be wise as snakes, thinking about what we’re told and questioning things that just don’t sound right, because, as I think we all know, if something doesn’t sound true, it probably isn’t. And I’ll tell you something else, if the person talking to us gets all mad and defensive when we ask questions, man, that’s got to be a red flag. Now, to me, that’s just being wise. But according to Jesus, we also need to be as innocent as doves; in other words, we need to be open to what we’re hearing. I mean, if our questions are encouraged and answered and if what we hear just makes sense, well, even though we might not be ready to buy the farm, we may want to spend some time looking at the property. You see, we need to be alert, because we can expect to run into some false prophets. And based on these parables, I think that’s the first thing we can know.

And second, I think Jesus is also telling us that false prophets will cause a lot of problems, for us and for our church. My gosh, they like wolves impersonating sheep, aren’t they? And you know, the fact that doing this kind of thing will make them trouble-makers, well that just makes sense. I mean, since sheep are just not the sharpest knives in the drawer nor the shiniest apple on the tree, we can count on these false prophets, these wolves going on the attack, scattering the flock with their nonsense and distracting the sheep from doing whatever it is that God created sheep to do. In short, they will cause a whole bunch of trouble. In fact, it’s the kind of trouble that Jesus described a little later in the gospel:

You will be arrested, punished, and even killed. Because of me, you will be hated by people of all nations. Many will give up and will betray and hate each other. Many false prophets will come and fool a lot of people. Evil will spread and cause many people to stop loving others. [Matthew 24:9-12, CEV]

Now, that’s what Jesus said, and isn’t that horrible. I mean, not only will these false prophets, these wolves in sheep’s clothing, not only will they fool a lot of people, they will convince good and sincere believers to stop doing the one thing that Jesus commanded that all Christians need to do; they’ll convince us to stop loving others. And I’ll tell you, if we decide to stop showing love, regardless of the hymns we sing or the prayers we say or the crowds we attract, man, in a real way, we stop being the church, and it doesn’t matter what name we put on the sign. I mean, how can a community claim to follow Christ and not love their neighbors as much as they love themselves? I don’t know. But that’s what these wolves will cause us to do.

And for that reason, man, we need to be prepared. You see, I think we need to be prepared for those who, through their teaching, want to distract us from doing what we know we’ve been called to do, namely to love God and to love others. And I think we need to be prepared by knowing as much as we can about what is true, even though that might mean putting in the time and the effort to actually learn both what the Bible says and what it means. I’m telling you, we need to be prepared so that when faced with what is divisive, when faced with what is distracting, when faced with ideas that may sound Biblical but aren’t, we’ll have the ability to stand on our hind legs and confront what is false with what is true. I’m telling you, in a world that has come to believe that truth is all relative and all personal, man, we’ve got to be prepared to stand up for what’s right, because if we don’t, we can expect false prophets to cause all kinds of problems. And according to what Jesus said in the two little parables we just read, that’s the second thing we can know.

And third, based on what we read a little while ago, false prophets can be identified. And frankly, in my opinion, that may be the most important thing we can know about these folks. You see, it’s all well and good to know that they should be expected and to know that they will create a lot of problems, but if we can’t identify who they are, man, we’re pretty much up the creek without a paddle, right? But fortunately, that’s not the case. You see, we can know who these false prophets are simply by looking at the fruits that they produce. I mean, since a good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces bad fruit, as Jesus said, “You can tell who the false prophets are by their deeds.” [Matthew 7:20, CEV] It’s like Jesus said, again a little bit later in the Gospel of Matthew, when he was confronting some Pharisees who thought he was using Satan’s power to cast out demons:

A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. You can tell what a tree is like by the fruit it produces. You are a bunch of evil snakes, so how can you say anything good? Your words show what is in your hearts. Good people bring good things out of their hearts, but evil people bring evil things out of their hearts. I promise you on the day of judgment, everyone will have to account for every careless word they have spoken. On that day they will be told they are either innocent or guilty because of the things they have said. [Matthew 12:33-37, CEV]

You see, for Jesus, that’s how we can spot a false prophet, by what he says and by what he does.

But you know, for us to be able to do that, man, we’ve got to be honest, and let me tell you why I think honesty is so important. You see, I believe the reason false prophets are so successful is that they tell us exactly what we want to hear. I mean, they proclaim a comfortable God, one who not only shares all our opinions and all our assumptions and all our prejudices, but also one who can be controlled by the words we say and the work we do. In other words, they proclaim a Christless Christianity,  a religion that never demands that we make a real sacrifice, that never demands that we actually love those whom they don’t like, in fact, that never demands that we do anything other than what we already want to do or believe anything other than what we already believe. Now this is what they tell us is true, and sadly, a lot of believers buy it because it’s exactly what they want to hear. But I’ll tell you, it’s just not true, and deep down, we know it. And I’ll tell you, that’s why we have to be honest, honest with ourselves and honest as we look at others, particularly those who lead us. Because it’s only when we’re honest that we’ll be able to understand and apply these words offered by James in his letter:

Are any of you wise or sensible? Then show it by living right and by being humble and wise in everything you do. But if your heart is full of bitter jealousy and selfishness, don’t brag or lie to cover up the truth. This kind of wisdom doesn’t come from above. It is earthly and selfish and comes from the devil himself. Whenever people are jealous or selfish, they cause trouble and do all sorts of cruel things. But the wisdom that comes from above leads us to be pure, friendly, gentle, sensible, kind, helpful, genuine, and sincere. When peacemakers plant seeds of peace, they will harvest justice. [James 3:13-18, CEV]

I’ll tell you, when we decide that being honest may be more important than being comfortable, I think we’ll be able to use what James wrote to separate that good productive fig tree from those wolves in sheep’s clothing. You see, we’ll be able to do this, because in these parables, Jesus said that we can identify false prophets. And that’s the third thing that we know.

And that, my friends, is our first two parables from the Gospel of Matthew. And man, are they ever important, especially now-a-days. You see, in what he said, Jesus challenged his disciples to “watch out” and to recognize that there are wolves in sheep’s clothing ready to attack and to be ready and willing to judge a tree by the fruit that it produces. And I’ll tell you, that can speak to us as well. In other words, based on what Jesus said, right here and right now, we know that false prophets should be expected; therefore, we really need to be alert. And we know that false prophets will cause problems; therefore, we also need to be prepared. But here’s the good news, we also know that false prophets can be identified; therefore, we really need to be honest. And you know, if we do this, we just may be able to avoid some of the pain and animosity and outright hostility that false prophets seem to produce. And next week, we’ll look at another parable from Matthew, this one dealing with the weeds and the wheat.