Matthew 7:20

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. WHEREFORE BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM: - q. d., 'But the point I now press is not so much the end of such, as the means of detecting them; and this, as already said, is their fruits.' The hypocrisy of teachers now leads to a solemn warning against religious hypocrisy in general....

15-20 Nothing so much prevents men from entering the strait gate, and becoming true followers of Christ, as the carnal, soothing, flattering doctrines of those who oppose the truth. They may be known by the drift and effects of their doctrines. Some part of their temper and conduct is contrary to the mind of Christ. Those opinions come not from God that lead to sin....

Verse Matthew 7:20. _WHEREFORE BY THEIR FRUITS_, c.] This truth is often repeated, because our eternal interests depend so much upon it. Not to have _good fruit_ is to have _evil_: there can be no innocent sterility in the invisible tree of the heart. He that brings forth _no_ fruit, and he that brings forth _bad_ fruit, are both only fit for the _fire_....

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 7:1 (2) As anxiety about the things of this life hinders us Godwards (Matthew 6:19), so does censoriousness manwards (Matthew 7:1), our Lord thus tacitly opposing two typically Jewish faults. Censoriousness—the personal danger of having it (Matthew 7:1, Matthew 7:2), its seriousness as a sign of ignorance and as a hindrance to spiritual vision (Matthew 7:3), even though there must be a r

WHEREFORE BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM. This is the conclusion of the whole, and a repetition of what is before said, the more to fix the rule of judgment upon their minds, and engage them to try men by their doctrines, and their doctrines by the standard of the Scriptures, and not believe every spirit; for with some care and diligence such persons may be detected, and the malignant influence of their ministry be prevented. The sum of the whole is, that ordinarily, and generally speaking, as men are, so are the doctrines they preach, and by them they may be known, and judged to be what they are. Christ here, and in the preceding verses, is speaking not of men of bad lives and conversations, who take upon them to teach others; for there is not so much reason to caution good men against these; they are easily detected, and generally discarded; but of men that put on sheep's clothing,...

While we are reading, let us also be adoring at the same time, for the. words of Christ have a gracious divinity about them; they are infinite; they are omnipotent. There is a kind of life in them; a life which communicates itself to those who hear them. Our Saviour did not preach sermons: he preached texts; all his sermons are full of golden sentences, not hammered gold leaf, like those of men, but they are ingots of solid gold, and the gold of that land is good, the most fine gold; there is none like it. Thus he preaches in the seventh chapter of Matthew. Matthew 7:1. _Judge not that ye be not judged._ Set not up for critics, especially in the act of worship. Probably there. is no greater destroyer of profit in the hearing of the word than is the spirit of carping criticism. Mat

CHAPTER 7 _ 1. The Judgment of Righteousness.(Matthew 7:1 .) 2. Warning against False Prophets.(Matthew 7:15 .) 3. Warning against False Professors. (Matthew 7:21 .)_ The chapter which follows contains the last words of the great discourse of our Lord. The contents of this chapter are very instructive and form a most fitting end of the declaration of the King. The first few verses contain a warning against judging. We have in the beginning of the chapter something which is altogether different from the last section of the sixth chapter. There we saw the heir of the Kingdom in the midst of the world, how he is to trust in and depend on the Father and seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, h

EPILOGUE. Warnings and exhortations close the new Law, like the old (Exodus 23:20 ff.). MATTHEW 7:13 F. THE TWO GATES AND THE TWO WAYS (Luke 13:24). The picture is based on Jeremiah 21:8, and is frequent in Jewish and Christian writings. The way that leads to life (the word has eschatological force) involves difficulties and tribulation (_cf._ Acts 14:22). MATTHEW 7:15. FRUIT THE TEST OF PROFESSION. Lk. ...

THE ERROR OF JUDGMENT (Matthew 7:1-5)...

C. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE KINGDOM, 1–27 After contrasting the New Law with the Mosaic Law and with Pharisaic rules and conduct, Jesus proceeds to lay down rules for the guidance of His disciples in the Christian life. The passage occurs in St Luke’s report of the Sermon on the Mount (ch. Luke 6:37-38), with a different context, and a further illustration of ‘full measure.’...