Good tree vs Bad tree

Matthew 7 - 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.

I always saw this verse as a judgment for the trees that produce bad fruit. If a tree continue to remain bad then on judgment day it will be cut down and thrown into fire. But recently I heard from Bro Zac Poonen, that this bad tree is our self that produces bad fruit. It needs to be cut and thrown away if we need to produce Good fruits. Unless this tree called Self is still active and alive, it cannot produce good fruits.

I believe the Lord is working in me to get this tree called Self to be uprooted. Like John the Baptist said, in New Covenant, the Axe is laid at the root to cut the tree called our self life.

I am sick and tired of repenting for producing bad fruits in my life. The problem is not with the fruit I produce, the problem is with the tree called Self that is producing these fruits. It has to be cut and the tree of Christ's nature should grow in me.

The good tree is the tree that is producing good fruit. The Vine dresser prunes every tree that is producing fruit so that it will bring forth more fruit. It is a very sobering to take heed to the stern admonition and to realize that the branches that are unfruitful will be cut off.

We tend to want to cut off the unfruitful branches in our life without dealing with the root, that being the self life.

The cross is the only solution.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20).

We tend to want to cut off the unfruitful branches in our life without dealing with the root, that being the self life.

The cross is the only solution.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20).

Very true brother. This is what I am coming to realization of late.

Amen this is a wonderful application for us personally, though the main context of the passage is speaking of those whose lives are false overall. But we can always see truths in scriptures that we can apply to our own spiritual growth.

Agreed brother. Sometimes we focus too much on the context and miss so many truths hidden in the Bible. While Context is important, it does not need to restrict God from giving us his hidden treasure.

If I keep battling with fruits instead of allowing the tree of self to be Cut then I too will end up being a false prophet.
Like the 50 marks of Pharisee which was actually taken from verses directed at Pharisees, we too can find some marks of Pharisees in us! Same way I too found this mark of False Prophet in me.

Mat 7:15

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

Mat 7:16

"You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?

The Bible is a commentary on itself. So within context, Jesus is warning of false prophets. The teachings of false prophets can not bring good fruit. Why is this?

Context in Scripture is critical in discerning life giving truth from deception and lies. Context in Scripture is critical in discerning the difference between life giving "relationship" and dead religion.

Why does Jesus purposely link the teachings of "false prophets" to the illustration of good tree and good fruit, and bad tree and bad fruit?

Why does Jesus purposely link the teachings of "false prophets" to the illustration of good tree and good fruit, and bad tree and bad fruit?

Even if we consider that those verses about Good tree and bad tree are applicable only to false prophets, lets first understand who false prophets are.

Matthew 7 15 "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will [k]know them by their fruits.

False prophets are those who prophesy with Bad fruits. Now anyone who prophesies without Good fruits or with bad fruits, is considered a false prophet. It is very clear.

Now what is prophesy? In new covenant Prophesy is not predicting the future but to share God's word to encourage a CHurch. Paul wants the entire Church to Prophesy (14:31). So in an ideal Church there should be multiple people who can prophesy. My Church which is a small fellowship of believers, we encourage everyone to prophesy. There are sure few who regularly prophesy.

Now if anyone of these including me are producing bad fruit then is this verse not applicable to us? Should we not consider this verse and judge our self? Or should we go by purely context and apply them only to those who come with a name tag calling prophet!

So this is how I interpret what Jesus said. Anyone can get carried away by gifts and ignore the fruits. It is to them that Jesus will tell on his return that he never knew him. Even though they served Jesus with their Gift and built Churches, if they were not careful in their inner life, they will hear the dreadful words from Jesus.

Matt 7 text.

Jesus warns "beware of false prophets", so we know subject is 'false prophets', but as Sree said, there's more to it than just the false prophets...Jesus also said
24 "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:"

Whosoever heareth...That's you and I if we are listening to the Spirit of God teach us from Jesus sayings.
We as true believers need to be careful of a few things..
1. The false prophets are inwardly ravenous wolves; we are not ravenous wolves no matter how immature we are yet in the faith, the Spirit in us cries "abba Father", The Spirit of God bears witness with out spirit we are sons of God.
We cannot be sons of God and ravenous wolves at the same time.
It was said earlier that we find all kinds of inconsistencies between Jesus character and our own, so, in dying to self we live unto God; we are crucified with Christ.
This I believe is the right way for a believer to judge himself and to go forward without condemnation and a seeming estrangement from Jesus.

But we know our own hearts are digged from the same pit as those of the false prophets, so we take heed to watch our spirit and watch our lives that they bear fruit unto God.

The fact that a believer still bears some bad fruit is normative in the sanctification process all through his life. If you cannot admit you are still bearing some bad fruit, that very denial is ready proof you lack discernment of your own heart. You still have soil ready to sprout plenty of weeds.

The normative for a believer is bearing good fruit unto God, the normative for a believer is to bear some bad fruit by reason of the inward corruption still seeking and finding expression in our words, thoughts and deeds.

The normative for a false prophet or a false professor of Christianity is to outwardly look like the sheep and inwardly a killer of sheep, he has no part nor lot in the flock nor does he eat the same thing or desire the same pasture. The wolf seek the pasturelands to feed upon the sheep, the sheep seeks the pasture land to feed upon the grass God provides. There is a huge difference between them in heart and purpose when they mix together.

Forget it. You will never succeed getting rid of yourself.

You will always have your "self" but what you can do is to surrender your "self" and keep it crucified. It is not as hard as you might think.

The cross is where you allow God's way to cross your way.

Brother Sree, have you ever been baptized with the Holy Spirit? I mean not a theological concept but a reality you encountered after conversion?

If you have, you will know it, and you will have had an overwhelming encounter. If you do not know, you have not been baptized with his Holy Spirit.

Then you must confess every known sin and ask for it like an importunate beggar, until you have it.

I will pray for you, dear brother, that you will get so sick of your self until you surrender. Andrew Murray called it "total surrender"

In Matthew 7 , Jesus continues to preach to those He was sent to save. He is the Prophet spoken of by Moses, and confirmed by Peter in Acts 3:22-23. Jesus teaches His brethren to call out to His Father in heaven. Taste the goodness of the Father, see how much more satisfying is a relationship with the Heavenly Father than with one’s earthly father. The promise of supernatural grace is available to all who call on His name.

Jesus being the true Prophet then warns of the false prophet. The false prophet is not given the power of the Father. The false prophet speaks from the position of Satan and this fallen world. The false prophet can only lay heavy burdens on the brethen. Everyone who listens to the false prophet will only know suffering according to the power of his or her own flesh. There is no way for man to know and experience the power of God by living under the Law of Condemnation. This is the tree that produces only bad fruit.

So by their fruits you will know them. The fruit is either created by the Holy Spirit or by the flesh. In the church today, do you see the power of God changing lives or do you see strife and struggle. Is the pastor preaching Jesus and His power or is he preaching the law?

Only those who live according to the Spirit can put the deeds of the flesh to death. Only the Spirit whom Jesus directs knows how to remove the burdens of the flesh.

I am not trying to say that the interpretation of the scripture is the only one. It is one of the interpretation. The beauty of God's word is, it is like a treasure, the deeper we dig the more we get. The one who digs little gets little!

Generally I stay away from anyone ignoring a word saying it is applicable only for false prophet created by Satan and not applicable to believers. Like I said if we really have a biblical view of Church in which all members can prophesy then anyone can become a false prophet. Sadly most here have only manmade traditional Church view in which only one pastor runs the show! He is either a good prophet or not!
If we read God's word with a self judging attitude, we dig deeper.

Brother Sree,

Scripture teaches that Jesus is the source of all that is good.

[1Co 1:30 NKJV] 30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--

When Jesus said : "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit,” He is pointing to the "wisdom from God””and righteousness and sanctification and redemption””". This refers to the grace that God extends to mankind through Jesus by the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus was the only One who lived a perfect life. So if you wanted to take the liberty of adding your own interpretation of this section of Scripture; Jesus could only be the good tree and all men the bad tree.

Jesus said in another place:

[Jhn 15:5 NKJV] 5 "I am the vine, you [are] the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

"For without Me you can do nothing” establishes that all men can not produce good fruit.

A false prophet on the other hand, is a false prophet because he has not been given "the wisdom of God” . He speaks from his own flesh at best and may indeed be doing the work of his father Satan.

Jesus, in Matthew 7, establishes the "choice” given to all men. He warns us that there are men who will plant deceptive paths which lead men astray.
He encourages us to evaluate the fruit. All good fruit flows from the Holy Spirit, all bad fruit flows from the vain philosophies of this world.

The purpose of the section of Scripture is warn us of deception.

The purpose of the section of Scripture is warn us of deception

The greatest deception is self deception, in which we ignore that we ourself can be a false prophet. Anyone who says that a particular warning is not applicable to disciples but only to certain people, is already making the way broad and planting evil seeds.

Jesus is very clear, anyone who gets carried away with gifts and does not focus on his fruits will become a false prophet. We have witnessed so many believers who started well, preaching the whole Gospel but ending up as men pleasers.

Jesus continues the same warning by saying such people who prophesied in His name, did miracles in his name but produced bad fruits, will be rejected by Jesus on his return. This warning is applicable to every disciple. All of us are asked to eagerly seek for gifts and serve the Lord based on our gifts. But if we get carried away by our service instead of bearing fruit for the Lord, we are in great danger. The warning is thus applicable to all of us.

While it is important to judge the preachers we listen to based on their fruits, it is more important to judge our self first to make sure we are not a false prophet our self.

Paul writes:
Romans 7: 18. "For I know that in me (that is my flesh), nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.”

Sree, how do you know "how to perform what is good”?

Sree, how do you know "how to perform what is good”?

I hope you are asking in a teachable spirit.

Hebrews 5:14- But solid food is for the mature, who because of PRACTICE have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

We can know what is Good by continuously discerning Good and Evil by listening to the Holy Spirit. It is not an instantaneous thing. It is a continuous practice of discering by the Power Of Holy Spirit. If we listen to flesh we will choose evil instead but if we make it as a practice to listen to Holy Spirit then only we can spiritually mature. Else we will be babes no matter how old we become!

Jesus himself needed the power of the Holy Spirit to do good. He too lived in a sinful flesh like us.

Acts 10:38-You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

Our flesh will remain evil and keep craving for evil, it is by continuous crucifixion of flesh and continuous obeying of Holy Spirit, we can do anything good.

1 John 3:3- And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Our Hope is to be like Jesus when we meet him face to face. With this hope we have to continuously purify ourself from all influence of Flesh. There is a need for continuous repentance.

The good tree that Jesus speaks of in Matthew 7 is described in Proverbs 3

[Pro 3:13-18 NKJV] 13 Happy [is] the man [who] finds wisdom, And the man [who] gains understanding; 14 For her proceeds [are] better than the profits of silver, And her gain than fine gold. 15 She [is] more precious than rubies, And all the things you may desire cannot compare with her. 16 Length of days [is] in her right hand, In her left hand riches and honor. 17 Her ways [are] ways of pleasantness, And all her paths [are] peace. 18 She [is] a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy [are all] who retain her.

The tree of life Is the "good tree” found in Matthew 7.

[Mat 7:7-8 NKJV] 7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Jesus spoke this promise. We for the most part think about what we have to do when confronted by the Word. We argue about true prophets, false prophets, is there still prophets. We get caught up in the earthly realm. All a prophet is is someone who God chooses to use as a tool to bring about His plan.

How often do we contemplate about the supernatural events that are taking place all around us. Jesus says "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” Do you ever think about all the actions that God takes to confirm His promises? Have you witnessed the opening up or revelation of God’s plan in your life?

This question is directed to all who might read this post...

Yes many, many times...
it is as you say, when focus is not kept the tendency to become earthly minded increases and the heavenly vision (mind of Christ) is forsaken. Losing sight of Gods hand at work is (for me) the result of not abiding in fellowship with the Lord. This is when the default position = being mindful of the flesh is energized and begins to produce fruit/works. However when fellowship is maintained, the revelations are received and activating faith which in turn activates the word, opening it to us by the light faith - producing evidentiary fruit:)

"Losing sight of Gods hand at work is (for me) the result of not abiding in fellowship with the Lord."

Amen...

Here is a short video of Jeff Foxworthy testifying of the work of God.

https://youtu.be/mxFqVQFvhvw

Just imagine all the things God did in the Spiritual realm to bring about this testimony.

That was very edifying and definitely the God we know:))

Played it while my wife and I were driving back to work after lunch,... she smiled and said, "that’s good, that’s the God I know” .

I then shared your insights regarding the behind the scenes work of the Spirit to produce such a testimony,... (like it was with me) she raised an eyebrow and began to consider it. Honestly it seems I’ve taken that aspect for granted till now but has def sparked my curiosity- so I do thank you for sharing both the video and insights :)

Incidentally, the scripture you have in your profile is in my top 3 all time verses. I can still remember everything about the first time I read it while studying the Bible,... where I was, the weather, time of day, the particular Bible I was reading from, and most importantly the impact it had on me.
I thought, "how crazy is it that a virtual homeless eccentric could write those words 3000 yrs ago and yet they resonate in me a place yet before untouched ?” Interestingly the older I get the more valuable it becomes:)

Fletcher wrote:

"I can still remember everything about the first time I read it while studying the Bible,... where I was, the weather, time of day, the particular Bible I was reading from, and most importantly the impact it had on me."

When I first accepted Christ and began to read the Scriptures when I was 40, I started out listening to sermons and reading what other taught about them. I was always taught that I should start out in a determined way to start memorizing Scripture. It never worked for me.

Yet, just like you said above, I began to have similar experiences as I read and reread Scripture in an effort to truly understand what the Prophet or Apostle was writing about. After 6 or 7 years of feeding on the Word this way, my pastor said to me at that time, "I wish I could memorize Scripture like you."

From chewing on sections of Scripture for an extended period of time, I now know the Scripture where I had been feeding. And it is all because the Holy Spirit kept on giving me the desire to feed on the Word of God.

"From chewing on sections of Scripture for an extended period of time, I now know the Scripture where I had been feeding. And it is all because the Holy Spirit kept on giving me the desire to feed on the Word of God.”

Ha! Yes and Amen!
This very much describes my experience as well :)

While reading your words a couple of scriptures came to mind; " the word became flesh and dwelt among men” and "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him” and " This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.”

As the old saying goes,... "you are what you eat”

And one more, "It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

So His word is our food,... if we consume it we are transformed by it and thereby naturally produce fruit -
Whereas if we consume the things of this world in an effort to satisfy the desires of our flesh, we are conformed into its likeness and the works naturally follow-

[2Th 2:9-10 NKJV] 9 The coming of the [lawless one] is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

Fletcher...

What we have discovered is that the Lord has given us the "love of the truth,".

As our love of the truth grows, the desire to be accurate in discerning the word in proper context also grows. Otherwise deception can darken our path.

Well said and very interesting as this is another passage of scripture that remains fresh in mind from the first time I read it, and is one I’ve quoted more than I can count -
So what or who is the truth for which this love is given?
Jesus saith unto him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

And where do we get it?
"because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost”

How do we receive it?
"By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand”

He truly is the beginning and end, the author and finisher of our faith:)

[Luk 8:11-15 NKJV] 11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 "Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 "But the ones on the rock [are those] who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 "Now the ones [that] fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 "But the ones [that] fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep [it] and bear fruit with patience.

As a new believer, I was sitting in church listening to the pastor teach from the section of Scripture above. LIke many new believers, I was on fire for the Lord. While listening to the sermon, I began to experience something I had never witnessed before. My mind was clear of all other thoughts. Time seemed to slow down, and every word spoken, was some how being imprinted on my mind with clarity, There was no effort on my part to pay attention to what was being said. The words were just flowing into my empty mind free of any other distraction.

And these same words today 23 years later, still are part of my life defining where I am at in my walk with the Lord.

This is the substance of the good tree.

[Act 2:16-21 NKJV] 16 "But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 17 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old men shall dream dreams. 18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy. 19 I will show wonders in heaven above And signs in the earth beneath: Blood and fire and vapor of smoke. 20 The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood, Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. 21 And it shall come to pass [That] whoever calls on the name of the LORD Shall be saved.'

This is how the Lord speaks.