15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:15-23)
The Lord Jesus here tells us to beware of false prophets. False prophets come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. Then the Lord Jesus talked about tree and fruit. What does this mean? The tree here represents man, and the fruit represents man’s words and deeds, what he says and does.
44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. (Luke 6:44-45)
Here the Lord Jesus said: A good man brings forth good things from the good stored up in his heart. The evil man brings forth evil out of the evil stored up in his heart. We recognize false prophets by what they say.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)ac
Here is the fruit of the Holy Spirit, which is good fruit.
The Lord Jesus then said that not everyone who calls Him, Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, only those who do the will of the Father can enter. Here we see that simply believing is not enough, we need to do the will of the Father. Even many people prophesy in the name of the Lord, cast out demons in the name of the Lord, and perform many miracles in the name of the Lord, but the Lord says, “I never knew you.” Knowing here refers to an intimate relationship, that is, they do not have an intimate relationship with the Lord, so knowing the Lord and having an intimate relationship with the Lord is the most important thing. Some English versions here translate evildoers as lawless people, that is, people without love, because Romans 13:10 says that love is the fulfillment of the law.
May God bless you and your family. 🙏😊
