Matthew 7:17 - Forerunner Commentary

Matthew 7:17

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Articles, Bible studies, and sermons that contain The Gospel According to Matthew 7:17:

Matthew 7:15-20
Excerpted from: Satan (Part 2)

The description here is very apt—wolves in sheep's clothing, that is, they appear on the outside to be something they are not. I am convinced that when Jesus uttered this He was thinking of the church and false ministers who would be, in the future—that is, from the time of Jesus—insinuating themselves into the church by appearing to be sheep within the sheepfold.

Jesus used that terminology in regard to His relationship with the church. He is the Shepherd; we are His sheep. Here we have wolves (false ministers) who look like sheep, but it is hypocrisy. They only look that way on the outside.

He tells us we will know them by their fruits. The fruit that is produced is not something that necessarily will appear very quickly. But Christ guarantees that over a period of time the church will be stripped of its true spiritual vitality in terms of the character that will be produced within the flock.

What is He saying? The implication is (right in the context) that Jesus is connecting belief with practice. You believe a certain set of doctrines and you are going to practice something because of the teaching. Another way of putting it might be connecting creed, that is, the religious creed or the dogma that a group is following, will produce a certain kind of conduct by the people. Belief and practice, creed and conduct—Jesus is saying here they are vitally connected. In other words, the teacher cannot hide what he is going to produce. Eventually it will come out.

Matthew 7:15-20
Excerpted from: Still Producing Fruit?

Now, Jesus approaches this section from the negative, because He is speaking about false prophets. But He makes it clear through the whole paragraph here that the opposite is also true. You can know a good prophet by the fruit that he bears himself. Hopefully, good fruit. And you could say that this comes on down the line; you can tell who is a good Christian by the good fruit that he bears. A good tree bears good fruit. And the same goes, a bad tree bears bad fruit. And a good tree should not bear any bad fruit. He says actually, the good tree cannot bear bad fruit, otherwise he would not be a good tree. And a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Otherwise, the bad tree would be a good tree.

Articles
Be There!
Do We Have 'Eternal Security'?
Little Things Count!
Rebuilding the Wall
Smyrna: Faithful Until Death
Taking Care With the Tares
The Garden of God
The Offerings of Leviticus (Part Seven): The Sin and Trespass Offerings
What Is a False Prophet?  (2)

Bible Studies
Biblical Symbolism (Part Four)
Parable of the Faithful and Evil Servants
Parable of the Ten Virgins (Part Two)
The Holy Spirit

Essays
Christian Obedience
The Conundrum of Christmas Cheer
The Fifth Teacher (Part One)
The Fifth Teacher (Part Two)

Sermons
The Beast From the Earth and 666
Powerful Effects of the Holy Spirit
Does Doctrine Really Matter? (Part 12)
The Five Paraklete Sayings
John (Part 20)
Matthew (Part Eleven)
Testing the Spirits (Part 1)
Man's Greatest Challenge (Part 3)
Is the United States a Christian Nation? (Part 5)
Lacking Nothing (Part 2)
Seeking God's Will (Part Five) : Goodness
Beware of False Prophets
Beware of False Prophets
'All Mine Are Yours!'
Assurance (Part One): Self Examination
Caveats About Self-Examination
Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen (Part Ten)
Our Part in the Sanctification Process (Part Seven): Cultivating Goodness
What's So Bad About Babylon? (1997)
Four Warnings (Part Two): Beware of False Prophets
Four Warnings (Part Two): Beware of False Prophets
Four Warnings (Part One)
Four Warnings (Part One)
The Parable of the Wheat and Tares
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part 2)
The Covenants, Grace, and Law (Part 2)
The Wisdom of Men and Faith
What's So Bad About Babylon? (2003) (Part 2)
Jude
Ensuring Our Calling
Spotting False Teachers
Spirituality and True Conversion
Being There
Anticipating the Enemy
Testing Spiritual Character
Discern and Distinguish Between Spirits

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