Feeding Sheep S1E11 “Sermon on the Mount: It’s simple, One or the Other”

We are continuing steady in Season 1 titled “Back to the Basics.” Episode 11, “It’s Simple, It’s One or the Other”, which will take us into another layer of how to discern what and who is around us. 

The key is to KEEP IT SIMPLE.

Our world has a tendency to overcomplicate EVERYTHING. We live in a time of illusions and things not being exactly as they seem. So this practical principle that Jesus shares with us in His debut message, is one that we often overlook, but I believe we need to cling to now more than ever. 

In a world trying to blur all of the lines, a people who love to live in the middle, Jesus says keep it simple. 

A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 

If the fruit is bad, so is the tree. The fruit don’t lie. The words may sound correct, the appearance may be giving sheep, but eventually the fangs of the wolf will show, and the tree will yield what it is made of. 

Knowing whether a tree is bad or good, or a sheep is a wolf in disguise or not, still does not give us a license to slay or pluck up the wolf or the tree. What we see we are responsible to carry to the Lord in PRAYER first. He will cut down every tree that doesn’t yield good fruit and throw it into the fire. 

There is still a heaven to gain and a hell to shun! No matter what deconstructionists say. Hell is real, and if we aren’t born again, we will go there. It was never made for us, but we will go if we refuse the saving blood and the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 

We will hear depart from me, you who practice lawlessness on that day if we have not surrendered our lives to Him. 

There is a difference  between a mistake and bad fruit. One drop of bad water isn’t enough to corrupt the fruit. But drinking from a polluted well (living a lifestyle of unrepentant sin) will pollute the fruit. 

May we all soberly examine ourselves. May we keep it simple, and not be so hungry for the extraordinary that we walk in chaos and confusion. 

I hope you enjoy this episode and will continue to follow along with us as we endeavor to walk this path together, and sit at the table of the Lord and feast together!

Please feel free to reach out with any questions or comments that you may have. We will do our best to answer in a timely manner either in writing or on another future episode! But we do want to hear from you and be able to interact with you. 

May God bless you! Can’t wait to see where we grow from here. It’s an honor to be able to speak into your lives, and I don’t take it for granted!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Good morning. Welcome to Feeding Sheep Podcast. We are still in season one. We are almost finished of back to the basics, and we will be continuing our series with the Sermon on the Mount in episode 11. Knowing a tree by its fruit. We'll be beginning in Matthew chapter 7, verse 15, and we'll be going through verses 23. So without any further ado, I hope your morning is going well, and or whatever time of day this is that this message finds you. I hope you're doing well. And if not, I hope by the end of this you will be doing extremely well. So let's dive into the scriptures. Matthew seven, beginning in verse 15. It says, Beware of the false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then you will know them by their fruits. Not every one who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles. And then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. So very familiar passage of Scripture, and it is very uh befitting that the Lord would bring this up in his first uh public sermon. And I know I've said that almost in every single episode, but I really want us to understand that the law of first mentions in scripture, where something is first mentioned, um, is very important and it is the standard by which that you judge that particular thing throughout the scriptures. It sets the bar, if you will, and everything reverts back to that first mention. And I know that this isn't technically a first mention, so to speak, but it is the first sermon. And I believe that we should hold this to that same standard, that this is the lens by which we should interpret everything else that comes from here on after. It is his first address to the people, to his disciples, to those who have gathered around to the crowds. It is imperative, the things that he is saying. And so uh while we dive into this familiar passage of scripture, I want us to just keep that. If Jesus could say his first message to people, and this is what he chose, you know, when you give your first message, you're never really sure if you're gonna be able to give another one, you know? Um, and so you put your best foot forward. And if this is his, I know he's the son of God, I know he was gonna get more chances. I know he probably knew he was gonna get more chances, but still there's something about the first that is different than everything else. There is something special and spectacular about the first address, putting your best foot forward. And I believe that Jesus has laid out literally the simplicity of the gospel with eloquence and beauty that we don't really recognize anymore. We're so busy searching for the deep things that we miss the simplicity of the gospel. And um verse 15, this passage, verse 15 through 23, this is a very familiar passage of scripture. It is very simple. And um, I don't know about you, but here lately I am just craving the simple things about life. I am craving for the uncomplicated, the undramatic, the um the least complicated version or path um that I can find these days. Um, this world is so fast paced and everything is so twisty and turning and just nothing is what it seems. And sometimes we as people, we just need things to be simple. And so today I want to bring you the gift of simplicity. When I say this to you, beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. Not everybody who claims the name of Jesus is gonna be coming from Jesus or speaking from his authority. Just because you say the part, just because you look the part on the outside, does not mean that the heart is correct on the inside. The whole Sermon on the Mount has been a collection of seeing where our heart posture is. Our heart posture in every situation that we may find ourselves in, our heart posture in how we serve the Lord, how we love the Lord, how we love others, how we reach out to them. Everything that we do has to flow from the purity of our heart, which should be born again when we accept Jesus. We should be transformed, all things should be made new. Um the contaminated wells, if you will, that used to flow on the inside of us should be cleansed, should be pure. Um, but there, just as much as there are true prophets of God, there are true teachers of the word, there are true preachers and ministers, there are those who will come in sheep's clothing and they are really wolves. And he says this, it's very simple. We make it be so complicated because we want to live. We don't want to live where it's black and white, we want to live where it's messy in the middle. And the Lord has really set out a plumb line, and he says, it's simple for you to know the difference. You will know them by their fruits. Okay, their fruits are not their words, their fruits are what is produced by what is coming out of them. Um, can you find the fruit of the spirit in their life? Um, and we can go there really quick. The fruits of the spirit, just in case you're like, well, I don't know, maybe what if we want to know if something is born of God, we need to, we need to know what that looks like. Um in Galatians 5 and 16, uh it says, walk by the spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. Um the law is fulfilled in one word, love your neighbor as yourself. Um and here we go down. But the fruit of the spirit in verse 22 is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. And against such things there is no law. What is being produced by these words? What is can you find love in these people's lives? Can you find joy? Can you find peace? Can you find patience? Can you find kindness? Can you find goodness and faithfulness? I'm not talking about in word only. I'm talking about producing when they come around. Is love ruminating in the room? When they come around, does peace take place in the room? Um, it is it is the it is the action, the fruit is going to be the action of what is actually taking place. It's the manifestation of what's going on. A tree, if it's good, will bring forth good fruit. If it's good, it will be good continually. It won't be good for a minute and then turn out bad or rotten because it was never good to begin with. We judge everything by the outside. We judge by what we see. The Bible says that man looks on the outside, but God looks at the heart. You will know them by their fruits. You have to wait for the heart of the person to appear, not just their words, not just their outward, not just your feelings or your doodads. Fruit is something that is concrete. Fruit is solid. You can't argue. If I hold up an apple to you, you will say, that is an apple. There's no doubt that that is an apple. It's hard, it's solid. I know I'm not questioning. This is this is the apple that's been around for generations. Okay. Um, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. It's simple. We make excuses for ourselves for poor behavior. We make excuses for other people for poor behavior. But the Lord, I believe, is sincerely coming to see about his people. There are messages that are coming across. Examine your heart, examine your heart, examine your heart because we have got church down to almost a science. We can pop up places of worship. We have formulas for everything except for how to keep our hearts pure. We can run all of the programs, we can do all of the outreaches, we can sing the right songs, we can clap in the right places, we can raise our hands in the right places, we can pray in the right places with the right verbiage, and we can use our gifts and our talents to move a room. But if our heart is not pure, if we are excusing bad behavior and not repenting of it, repenting doesn't just mean I'm sorry that you caught me or I'm sorry that you saw that, or I'm sorry. It genuinely means, Lord, my heart is broken because I know that I broke your heart. More than I'm embarrassed that so-and-so saw me, Lord, I am broken on the inside because I know I have broken your heart. And if there is not true repentance, then it is merely performance. And sooner or later the fangs of the wolf are going to show. And if they show, when they show, believe it. And if it's showing up in you, repent for it, be converted, be born again. Do not be so full of pride that you cannot admit, Lord, there's something going on in my life, there is something that's hindering the purity in me. I want love to come out of me, but right now it's bitterness, it's anger, my well is contaminated. Don't be the wolf. Don't be blind to where you are. Be like David and say, Lord, search me, know me, try me and see if there's any wicked way in me altogether, purge it out, oh Lord. Because it's simple. If I'm bringing forth bad fruit, there's something rotten inside of me. If I'm bringing forth good fruit, it's coming from a good place. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Either you are going to open your eyes and you are going to recognize not the faults of everyone else. If you have heard anything throughout this first season, it is not, it is not looking at other people to bring them down. But it's if we notice that something is off with our brothers or our sisters, we need to take it to the Lord in prayer. We are not the Avengers, we are not the ones who are riding the it is Holy Spirit's job, and we must take people to the throne and we must ask the Lord, hey, touch their heart, open their eyes, whatever you've got to do to get their attention, Lord, by all means do this thing, Lord, because I love this person. I should love this person if we are waiting for the downfall of other people, if we are waiting for their exposure, if we are waiting for the shoe to drop, something's wrong with our tree. Because the tree is rooted somewhere, and if it's not rooted in Christ, the Bible Jesus says in John, he said, I am the vine and you are the branches. Your tree is connected to the Lord, and it's going to bring forth what it is sourcing from. And if you're bringing forth bad fruit, you've got some roots in the wrong place because the Lord cannot produce bad fruit. He can't. But if you are perpetually living in something so much that fruit is being able to be produced, there's something wrong. You need to do your first works over again. If it's me, I need to repent. I need to do my first works over again. I don't want this to come across that I'm like, you, you, you. I'm receiving this word before you ever get it. I'm being accountable to this word before you ever even receive it. It's being taught to me, preached to me, opened up to me before I can even bring it to you. Okay, so I never want to sound like the person that's just like down with all of you and up with me because that is not, that's not my heart posture at all. I am like Paul, I am the biggest mess of them all. And it is only by the mercy of God that I am even in the room today. It is only by his grace that I am what I am. So let's not make it complicated. Let's keep it simple. If it's bad fruit, if that fruit is remaining, I'm not saying one bad choice makes a bad tree. Okay. One swallow of bad water doesn't mean that that the whole tree is just going to produce bad fruit. Okay. But we need to get that cleansed out. Okay. But if if if you continually are drinking from a rotten source, if your roots are buried in a rotten place, it is eventually going to produce and show up in the fruit that you bear. I'm not talking about mistakes. I'm talking about lifestyles. I'm talking about hidden postures of the heart that are being masked with Christianese. You're wearing t-shirts, you're showing up to all the services, you're in the outreach, you're giving everything, but there is something on the inside that is not right with the Lord. Get it right with him. A bad tree cannot produce good fruit, and a good tree cannot produce bad fruit. It's not complicated. It is simple. If you are craving something simple, sit back and watch. And I know we talked about judging, okay? Judging does not mean that my eyes are blind and I cannot discern. Okay? That is not what do not judge means. That means I'm not going for your throat. I'm not trying to be the Holy Spirit and take his place and fix you and change you and all of those things. I see what's happening, and so I take it to my father. Because hopefully, this judgment that I'm judging, where I'm seeing what's wrong and I'm taking it to the Father because I'm covering you instead of exploiting you or making it messy or dramatic, whatever judgment I divvy out is what's going to be measured back to me. So however, I would want someone to handle my failures, my shortcomings, I would rather them take them to the Lord. This is what I need to be doing, also. Okay. So if the fruit is bad, know that you can take that tree or that person to the Lord in prayer, and they will have to make the decision whether or not they will be born again, whether or not they will do their first works over, whether or not they will allow their heart to be cleansed and purified by the refining fire of the Holy Spirit or not. That's not on you. Just because you saw it, the burden to pray is on you, but the results are on that person. And know that at the end of this, that every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. There is a heaven to gain, and there is still a hell to shun. I don't care how many people are deconstructing right now, and they're telling you, oh, well, hell is not what we thought it was, and hell doesn't, it's not, it doesn't exist. And I'm here to tell you that that is malarkey. There is a heaven to gain and there is a hell to shun. And one day there will be a reckoning day, and it will not be race against race, it will not be person against person, it will be the Lord, the righteous judge, who is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will open up the books and he will divvy out to those that stand before him, because all will stand before him on that day, and his righteous judgment will be declared. And you will either be born again and you will hear well done, thy good and faithful servant, enter into the joys of the Lord, or you will hear what we heard in this passage of Scripture. Depart from me. I never knew you, you who practice lawlessness. The score will one day be settled. Everything will fall exactly as it is going to fall. It's not my job. I don't have to cut down the tree, I don't have to be a part of any of that. That is the Lord's dominion. That is his territory. He is the vine dresser. He is the one who is going to purge the branches. I'm not a perger. You're not a perger. The Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, God the Father, they are coming through and they will do their job. Our job is to see what's really happening. Our job is to not weigh everybody in these complicated balances. Good is good, bad is bad. And you may say it's relative, and to this world, everything may be relative, but to the word of God, to the standard of this holy book. Righteousness is righteousness, unrighteousness and sin are unrighteousness and sin. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is destruction. He said, So then you will know them, you will recognize them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to me, On that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? And in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many works of power, many miracles. Because it's not about what we do, it's not about our works. Our salvation is not works-based. Salvation cannot come through our works. Because if it was by our works, we would boast in ourselves. And some do. Some boast in, oh, well, there was X amount of people that got saved at my service, and there were X amount of people that got healed, and X amount of people that got delivered. And I know that that was probably birthed somewhere from a genuine place, you know, because people want to know what's happening. And so you want to give a report and all of those things. But when the report isn't just to share information, it is to exalt yourself and you live off of the applause that the reports get you. You live off of the high of what is being done and what is being accomplished, then you have merely just received your reward. If you want people here to clap for you, congratulations, they did. But is heaven going to accept you? We have got to stop living for the acceptance of the people around us. And I I am talking to myself the fear of man, the the the worry of what they're gonna think, or are they gonna cancel you or blah, whatever. Is heaven happy? Is Jesus pleased? If that is not the sole focus of our life, is the Lord pleased with me? Am I living in the will of the Father? When it's all said and done, everyone else's opinions will pass away. And the only thing that will matter is what has been written. Is your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life? Are you a good tree? Are you a bad tree? If you are a bad tree, if you are finding yourself in a place that you don't want to be, your heart in a condition that you do not, you know it doesn't need to be in. If you are feeling the conviction of the Lord and the Lord tugging at you, saying, You keep hearing this same word for a reason. Check your heart. I love you, check your heart. There's hope for you. Repent. Be born again. Be cleansed of the filth that was yesterday. And walk in newness of life. Because I'm telling you faster than we believe, Jesus is coming. He is coming back. He is coming back for people who have made themselves ready, a people without spot, wrinkle, or blemish. He is coming for those who have been covered in the precious blood of Jesus, those who have been born again, those who have said, Jesus, you are not just my best friend. You're not just a teacher to me. You are the Lord of my life. And everything that I am, everything that I have is surrendered and submitted to your will, to your way, and to your plan. What say you today? Is it well with your soul? If it's not, it can be. And if you look around and you see yourself surrounded by wolves in sheep's clothing, you don't have to be afraid. If God is for you, there is no one or nothing that could ever be against you if He's for you. And you don't have to go out and expose all of the wolves and all the things. Take it to the Lord in prayer. There is a power in prayer that we have forgotten. When we take our request from a pure place, when we take our pure request to the throne of God, He is hearing, He is listening, and He is moving in those areas that we ask Him to. I hope that the rest of this day finds you well and that you are able to just pray and just disconnect for a little while from the craziness that is this world and unplug from all this mess, and that you can get alone with God to a place where you can hear Him, to a place where you can see and discern. Get out of the fog. Get into the light, get into His clarity and let Him bring clarity to your life and to your situation. Sometimes we're judging people from a bad tree. Sometimes we're seeing something that's not there because the problem doesn't lie with everyone else. Sometimes the problem lies with us. And if the problem doesn't lie with us and it does lie with others, we need to pray for them. We need to bombard heaven on their behalf because at the end of the day, the Lord's will is that all men would be saved and come to the full knowledge of the truth. Even, even if a wolf has dressed up in sheep's clothing. Jesus still doesn't want them to go to hell. He wants them to repent. He wants them to turn and be saved. He wants the lies that they speak, the flowery words, the deceit that comes from them. He wants them to be cleansed. And he wants those same lips that once spoke deceit to speak truth. He wants them to go to heaven. Jesus died for them too. So let's pray on behalf of those that are around us that they would find the Lord, that they would be saved, that they would be born again, saved from the wrath that will be incurred because of the choices that they have made. Born again to walk in newness of life, to walk in the spirit, so that they will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. I love you. I pray that you have a great day. Tune in next week as we go on our last episode of Back to the Basics in season one, episode 12. So today we're finishing up 11. Next week will be 12, and we will be done with season one. Thank you so much for joining us. God bless you. I hope you have a wonderful day.

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Bye.