Again, bringing greetings in the name of Christ, I welcome you to turn to the book of Matthew for a message. Matthew chapter 7, verses 15 through 23. In a previous message, I had looked at Verses 13 and 14 on the two ways the one is broad. The other is narrow today. We want to look at the different kinds of trees that produce different kinds of fruit Matthew chapter 7 verse 15. I invite you to stand as we read in reverence to the Word of God Verse 15, beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them. Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity. Thank you. You may be seated. The title to the message today is A Healthy Diet. A healthy diet. You know, our physical diet and our spiritual diet have some similarities. They're not that different. I don't know how it is at your house, but when there's vegetables, especially certain kinds, there's some frowns at the table. Why is it that food that is good for our physical body is the food we don't like to eat? Isn't that kind of the way we are in our spiritual lives? Food that God wants to feed us is not so tasty to the carnal man. It does not tickle our ears. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? It's not possible. We kind of produce fruit according to what we take in. Our body responds to the food we eat. If we eat pizza, pop and ice cream, cream sticks and donuts for a long time, there's going to be problems. And it's the same way in our spiritual life. If we feed on things that please the carnal man, that tickle our ears, we're headed the wrong way. There's going to be consequences. And by the way, if we eat that diet spiritually, that's what's going to come out. We don't pick grapes from a thorn bush. Neither do we get figs off of thistles. Here it says that a good tree produces good fruit consistently and a bad tree produces undesirable fruit continually. It is the same with our life. We produce fruit according to the way, according to what we take in and how we live. Whether good or evil, it is evidence whether or not our heart is right with God by the fruit that comes out. Now, the Bible says that the amount of fruit coming from the life of a Christian will vary. Some produce 30, some 60, and some a hundredfold. It's not that important how much fruit comes from the Christian life. It's important, however, what kind of fruit comes out. A true believer in Christ does not have an option of producing bad fruit. or of being fruitless, no fruit at all. No fruit means that there is no life. And the absence of life, spiritual life coming from us is indicating that the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit is not at work in our life. My friends, if the power of the Holy Spirit is at work in our life, We will produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit, not by our own efforts, but by the power that is at work within us. And we will produce love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance. And we won't go into those today. Beautiful fruit coming from the life of a born again believer. Verse 15, beware of false prophets. Beware of false prophets. Let's turn to chapter 24 in Matthew and read just a few verses. Matthew chapter 24 verse 11 says and many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many and Because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold But he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved verse 22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved. But for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. My friends, we are living in dangerous times. We are in those last days that he talks about. And I believe there are false prophets in our day. A prophet is a person who speaks by divine inspiration through whom the will of God is expressed. That's the definition of a prophet. Someone who expresses or exposes divine revelation to those in his care or surrounding, those who hear him, or maybe it is those who see him, how he lives by example. Do we still have prophets today? I believe we do. In fact, I would like to suggest to you that all of us should be prophets in one way or another. The Old Testament prophets spoke mostly about future events, things that would happen in the future. New Testament prophets proclaim truth from the word. Vine says it is one who speaks openly, a proclaimer of a divine message. In a sense, therefore, we are all prophets, whether by word or by example, we are to expose divine message, the divine message of salvation to the world. The purpose of a prophet is to edify, to comfort, and to encourage the believers. To the unbelievers, he is to show them that the secrets of their hearts are known to God. There is no way that we can hide sin. The prophet is there to help those see their need of turning from sin to worship the true God. And there is nothing wrong with being a prophet. Being a prophet is a positive thing. In fact, Jesus said, go ye therefore and teach all nations. That includes our own nation. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever. I have commanded you So we are to be prophets in proclaiming the gospel message to the world beginning at home Here however in the text we read it says beware of false prophets beware of false prophets Be cautious, pay attention, be on guard. Satan has a counterfeit. God has it for our good, Satan tries to copy it and to draw us away from what is right. False prophets, contrary to fact or truth, not keeping faith, deliberately untrue, intentionally deceptive. That's the definition for false. In Revelation 19 verse 20, it talks about the false prophet that performed miracles before him by which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and those that worshiped his image. He was cast alive into a lake of fire that burneth with brimstone. Talking about the ultimate false prophet, if you will. Now here, according to Jesus' own words, the false prophet in Revelation is not just one false prophet. According to the scripture here, there are many false prophets. Verse 22 says, many will say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And yet the Lord's answer is, I never knew you. Depart from me that work iniquity Those would have to be the saddest words that man will ever hear Thinking you were on the right track teaching others the plan of salvation prophesying and Having to hear those words that Jesus never knew us False prophets In chapter 24, we read, many false prophets shall deceive many. It appears that these prophets have some knowledge of the truth. They prophesy, they cast out devils, they do many wonderful things, but they are deceived. And along with that, they are deceiving others. And the sad part about being deceived is we do not realize it. We live in the last days. We live in the last days. The Bible often warns against deception. In chapter 24, we read that in the end there is the possibility that even the very elect would be deceived. We're living in deceiving times. God, help us to stand for truth. Right here we have it. Most of you have a Bible on your lap. We have the truth. Beware lest you be deceived into believing some other gospel. There are many voices out there begging for our attention, presenting to us a delicious looking fruit that is forbidden. We live in a society that professes to believe in Jesus, but in practice ignores most of his teachings and obey few of his commands in the Bible. They do not fear God or reverence Him, yet they claim to be one of His children. Man is trying to be equal with God in deciding which principles to obey and which ones we can neglect. Man is trying to sit in the judgment seat and doing exactly what God said should never be done. And that is adding to the scriptures or taking away from them. It is the inspired word of God. And who are we to change it into something that we'd like to hear or feels good to the carnal man within us. Beware, my friends, there is an almost unlimited supply of teaching out there coming from all sorts of teachers. We have commentaries, study Bibles, devotional guides, translations of all sorts. Use caution. Use caution, my friend, there's lots of human reasoning. intertwined in these writings. A few weeks ago, we had an all-day pastors meeting in Plain City with a number of other pastors, and this issue was addressed. How do we keep false doctrine out of the church? Maybe not in those words, but that meaning. And a few brothers brought up that what we get off of our electronic devices is more dangerous yet than the books that are written. Anyone can post anything. They can post their own way of thinking. and put it out there without no one proofreading or reviewing it. They do not have to give account to anyone what they post. And why is it that when we get it off our device, we take it as gospel truth? We tend to believe what's on there. We don't know the person. We don't know what he believes or doesn't believe about the Bible. Be careful. Take heed. Compare it with the truth. Compare it with scripture. Don't just take it and run. Make sure that it's not twisted to make it feel good to the carnal man. Take heed that no man deceive you Deception starts with an attitude and It may be the attitude of there are some unreasonable things in the Bible for our day and age so I will do just enough to get by and ignore the rest that is not suitable for our day and Such an attitude leads to a departing from the faith and deception. You know, it is far better to go beyond just a minimum requirement, not grudgingly, but because we delight to do the will of God. We don't do these things because we have to. We do these things because we love God. And what happens when we do things because we have to, we tend to do just the minimum or barely that. And it takes us on a downward spiral. Deception. Going against better knowledge will also lead a person to deception. People who are deceived do not start out with gross sins like murder and adultery and lying and those types of things that are clearly spelled out in the Bible. They will not enter heaven. One who is deceived will start with the small things that they think don't matter and it leads to bigger things. My friends, let us examine our lives in light of God's Holy Word. Let's take the Bible just the way it is. If the Bible says it, I will believe it. If the Bible says it, I will practice it. I will live it out. Never create categories as to which principles are most important and which principles don't really mean a whole lot. This Word is true. This Word is from God. And who are we to categorize the principles, the teachings of His written Word? The Bible is totally inspired by God. writers wrote as they were inspired by the Holy Ghost. So may we adhere to it, even when it hurts. What we do with the truth of God's Word shows where our heart is. And God always blesses those who follow the truth of His Word. God always blesses those who are obedient to his word. Beware of false prophets. Beware of the teaching that does not measure up to the word of God. There's lots of teaching out there that we like to hear. It sounds good, but it turns our hearts away from the truth. It's the kind of teaching that does not call for self-denial like we heard. It does not call for discipleship. It does not call for holy living. And many of those teachers profess to be Christians, yet they do not produce the fruit to prove that they are disciples of Jesus Christ. Do men gather grapes of thorns? But why is it that we tend to follow those kinds of teachings? Ye shall know them by their fruits. If you see fruit coming from some of those teachers that does not measure up with God's Word, then I tell you, ignore their teachings. Be like the Bereans who searched the scriptures. They wanted a personal knowledge of truth and how to apply it to their life. They didn't just take the preaching of the apostles and ran with it. They measured it up with God's word and made sure they knew what they were following. And that is my encouragement for you today. I need it for myself. Let's turn to the word. You know, so often I tend to turn to some commentary to see what He has to say about a certain verse. And sometimes I'm alarmed at what I read. Most of it is okay, I think. But then you come across certain scriptures and it's like, why do I even have this book? So beware, my friends, it is real. There are false prophets. Satan makes inroads into our lives by some of these teachings. Evaluate the fruit. You know, it is a law of God that bad fruit will not come from a good tree. Good fruit will not come from a bad tree. That's just the way it is. We can't change it. That's a law of God. God put it in place. It's the same way with sound doctrine. Sound doctrine will not come from an evil source or from an evil person. So it does not matter how good A teaching sounds or appears. It is only valid once we determine what it's going to produce. Or where it will lead us. And by then, maybe it's too late. Compare it with scripture. Make sure you know what kind of fruit is coming from it. I read somewhere that a person's life declares what he believes regardless of what he says and what we believe controls our life. A person's life declares what he believes regardless of what he says and what we believe controls our life. How true. Twice here in our text, it says, by their fruits ye shall know them. Beware of false prophets and their teachings. Compare it with scripture. The word of God is the message of truth to us today. You cannot go wrong by submitting and yielding your life to the word of God. It will never take you down the wrong road. The Bible we have is God's Word to us. He speaks to us through His Word. We can safely trust the Bible to teach us what to believe and how to live. It will not lead you astray. I will say, however, that we have Anabaptist writers who are providing sound gospel literature to us. And there's nothing wrong with reading that type of stuff. It is a safe read. And I appreciate a lot of the books that are available to us that are written by men that some of them we personally know. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. Turn to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3. Verse 16 and 17. All scripture is given by inspiration of God. Verse 16. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. This word that we have comes from God, directly from God. What more do we need? What more could we possibly want? You know, we say that we have God first in our life. We say we love God more than anything else. Why would we not love His Word and apply it to our life? Take it as gospel truth. And because it comes from God, the Bible has authority and power that deserves our respect. What the Bible says is true and should be believed and obeyed because it is the Word of God. Verse 16 here tells us what the Bible is useful for. It is for bringing us closer to God. It is profitable for doctrine. Doctrine being a principle or a teaching. We have been talking about false teaching and deception. Here it says that the Bible, this word, God's word is safe. It is sound. It will guide us into all truth. It is profitable for reproof. It shows us who we are and where we are in the eyes of God. It is profitable for correction. It convicts us of sin and brings about a change of heart. It is profitable for instruction in righteousness. It tells us how to live holy lives. It molds us and shapes us so that we are complete in Christ Jesus, throughly furnished unto all good works. Fruit, my friends, good works, fruit coming out of that kind of a life. A tree, a good tree producing good fruit, beautiful in the sight of God. In Psalm 119 it says, God's word is true from the beginning and it will endure forever. This word will never change. This word is sure. It is genuine. It is consistent. It is pure and holy. It is reliable. Quite the opposite from the false teachings out there, where they will toss you about with every wind of doctrine. You don't know if you're up or down by the slight of men whereby they lie and wait to deceive you. The Bible. is the complete Word of God to us. There's no need for a new twist to it or a new revelation. We have what it takes. We don't have to add to it. Everything is here that we need. And we also don't have to take away from it. We dare not take away from it. Because all of it is there for a purpose. James one says, but be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves. So if we're a here and not a doer, we're deceiving ourselves. It compares to verse 21 in our text. Not everyone that saith unto me lord lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven But he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven you know, there's a significant difference between saying lord lord and Doing the will of the father one will enter the kingdom of heaven. The other one will be denied entrance a huge difference my friends Follow the word be doers of the word search the scriptures daily Be familiar with it Be a prophet in conclusion proclaim the good news of salvation by word and example Let the fruit from your tree be such that others see your good works and will glorify your father Which is in heaven? Hold to the faith. Let no man deceive you. Steer clear of questionable teachings. Eat a healthy diet. Fill your heart and mind with the genuine word of God. Read it. Believe it. Practice it. It is able to save your soul. associate with the minority. In verse 14, enter the straight gate. Few there be that find it. Be with the few. Associate with the minority. Verse 22 says, many will say, Lord, Lord, but we'll miss the mark. Be among the few that are doing the will of the father in heaven. entered a straight gate, walk humbly with thy God for those enter the kingdom of heaven. Let's be among those who are proclaiming a divine message, the message of salvation to the world around us. Let's kneel and pray.