Knowing God

 Knowing God

May 12, 2025

Matthew 7:15-23 + A Tree and Its Fruit

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.

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 heavenwill 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.’

This passage always causes me some anxiety. You can say you know God but how do you know that He knows you? And you can see someone perform signed and wonders, but how to you know he is not a false prophet? I’ve always been performance oriented. I did well in school and got good grades, and I did well at work at got awards and a good salary. But in the spiritual, getting rewarded for good works is not sufficient to prove that God knows you. So how do you really know?

According to Jesus, the proof is not in the preaching, prophesying, deliverance or miracles but is in the fruit. The obvious signs can be instantaneous, but fruit needs a whole season to develop. For some fruit trees, the first season lasts several years, but then a mature tree should yield fruit annually. So are you a fruit inspector? Can you tell good fruit from bad? Galatians give us a few things to look for in good fruit.

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things thereis no law.

Usually, it is not too hard to see these things in someone else, but how do you know that you yourself are bearing good fruit? I’m not aware of a foolproof method, but I think that children and dogs are a good indicator. When you run across an old guy with a mean dog, you can be pretty sure that he is producing bad fruit! And anyone who makes children nervous and wary is suspect as well. Anyway, we should strive to know God and dwell in His presence, and in time we should see good fruit develop. It’s not really something you can ask for immediately. They always say that you shouldn’t pray for patience, for surely the Lord will send a trial to teach you patient endurance! But if you spend time with the Lord, getting to know Him, you will show the signs of that in the fruit that you develop. So pray that the Lord’s presence and grace would be with you and let someone else judge your fruit.