Week 38 Good Fruit After the Storm
After the hardship has passed are we looking for things to complain about or thankful it is over?
“Obedience is the fruit of faith; patience, the bloom on the fruit.”
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Passage
13“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
14“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
15“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
16“You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
17“So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
18“A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
19“Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
20“So then, you will know them by their fruits.
Matthew 7:13–20 (NASB95)
Background
Quote-Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator, and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais. Rossetti inspired the next generation of artists and writers, William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones in particular. His work also influenced the European Symbolists and was a major precursor of the Aesthetic movement.
Rossetti's art was characterised by its sensuality and its medieval revivalism. His early poetry was influenced by John Keats and William Blake. His later poetry was characterised by the complex interlinking of thought and feeling, especially in his The House of Life. Poetry and image are closely entwined in Rossetti's work. He frequently wrote sonnets to accompany his pictures, spanning from The Girlhood of Mary Virgin (1849) and Astarte Syriaca (1877), while also creating art to illustrate poems such as Goblin Market by the celebrated poet Christina Rossetti, his sister.
Passage- The book of Matthew is a Gospel that contains Narrative History, Genealogy, Parables, Sermons, and some Prophetic Oracles. It was written by Matthew (Levi), the Disciple of Christ around 48-50 A.D. The key word in Matthew is "Kingdom" and is used 28 times.
The book of Matthew is the first of the synoptic gospels and it was written to reveal the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, the King of the Jews, from the line of David. It also was written to convince the Jews that Jesus Christ was indeed their long-awaited Messiah.
Lesson Notes
Opening Statement
“Know them by their fruits” means the results they produce, the actions they take, and the things we find out they do privately. Who are “they?” They are the people around us, and remember you are someone else’s “they.”
Ask: What does Jesus mean when He says, “Enter through the narrow gate?” What is the “narrow gate?”
Point: The “narrow gate” is Jesus because a “gate” guards the way. Please read the following:
5Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”
6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
7“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
John 14:5–7 (NASB95)
Ask: Why should we look for this “narrow gate” at all?
Point: The answer lies in verse fifteen of Today’s Passage. Please read the following:
15“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Matthew 7:15 (NASB95)
Ask: If Jesus is the “narrow gate” then who are the people of the “…for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction?”
Point: They are the people who do not follow Jesus, the “people of the world.”
Ask: How do we know the “false prophets” and the people of the “way is broad” are leading those who follow them to destruction?
Point: To answer this question we have to string together the following questions first.
Ask: What are “false prophets” doing?
Point: They are deceiving people leading them away from the teachings of Jesus.
Ask: How do we know these “false prophets” are against Jesus and salvation?
Point: We are told in scripture they are aligned with Satan which means they are evil and not working in God’s plan. Please read the following:
7When the thousand years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison,
8and will come out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.
9And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and devoured them.
10And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
Revelation 20:7–10 (NASB95)
Ask: That’s for the “false prophets” and those who lead others astray but not those who are led astray, right?
Point: No. That result is what the wide gate and path that “leads to destruction” means. Please read the following:
6Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
7“He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.
8“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Revelation 21:6–8 (NASB95)
Ask: Where is “Joy Perfectly Whole” after the storm in all this death, destruction, and eternal torment in fire?
Point: Read the quote at the top of the page.
Ask: If obedience is the answer, then obedient to what? Who do we follow?
Point: We follow Jesus. Please read the following:
20“So then, you will know them by their fruits.
21“Not everyone 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.
22“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?’
23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Matthew 7:20–23 (NASB95)
Ask: Who are the people Jesus is sending away in verse twenty-three above and do we want to be among them?
Point: Jesus is sending away those who do not do as He commanded, ask for guidance from the Holy Spirit, and did not follow God’s ways.
Closing Statement
The scripture from Revelation does not paint a rosey picture of the end times for many people. It is a picture the Church doesn’t talk about much and one we definitely don’t want to be a part of. How do we ensure we are not in that group Jesus says, “I never knew you, depart from me?” We do our best to ignore and not support those who are “false prophets” those who are not leading people in accordance with God’s ways. How can we check ourselves to see if we’re “getting it right?” Verse twenty from today’s scripture has that answer.
Questions for the Week
Question 1 What fruit am I producing?
Question 2 What path am I on?
Question 3 Is there a better path I could be on to change or increase the fruit I am producing?
Question 4 Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help answer and guide you regarding this week’s questions.
Definitions
Greek Strong’s Number: 4439
Greek Word: πύλη
Transliteration: pylē
Phonetic Pronunciation: poo’-lay
Root: apparently a primary word
Cross Reference: TDNT - 6:921,974
Part of Speech: n f
Vine’s Words: Gate
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
gate 10
[Total Count: 10]
apparently a primary word; a gate, i.e. the leaf or wing of a folding entrance (literal or figurative):- gate.
James Strong, “Πύλη,” Strong’s Talking Greek and Hebrew Dictionary (WORDsearch, 2020).
Greek Strong’s Number: 5578
Greek Word: ψευδοπροφήτης
Transliteration: pseudoprophētēs
Phonetic Pronunciation: psyoo-dop-rof-ay’-tace
Root: from <G5571> and <G4396>
Cross Reference: TDNT - 6:781,952
Part of Speech: n m
Vine’s Words: Prophet
Usage Notes:
English Words used in KJV:
false prophet 11
[Total Count: 11]
from <G5571> (pseudes) and <G4396> (prophetes); a spurious prophet, i.e. pretended foreteller or religious impostor:- false prophet.