Scripture: Matthew5:6; Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 12: 30-33
Read Matthew 5:6
In today’s Beatitude, the fourth in our series, we
read about our “hunger and thirst” for those sustaining and holy “foods”
that the life of all believers are in desperate need of. This isn’t referring to the food that the
world supplies for our human consumption, but rather for the spiritual
nourishment that can only come directly from God. And it isn’t speaking about our needs for
today, other than being the encouragement that there will be a day that is yet
to come, when faith in Christ will fulfill every possible need that we will
ever have.
So it appears that this eagerness is not specifically
for the needs of this life, but rather for the life that the Lord has promised
us through faith in Jesus. It exists in
the great expectation that we have for the coming of God’s kingdom and the
blessing that will be granted for all who have remained faithful to God’s
commandments and teachings that Jesus has brought to us.
As in so many of Jesus’ teachings, the blessings
that He promises aren’t always intended to come to us in this life, but rather,
through our faith in Him, they are promised to all who will come to know
eternal life in Christ. And yet, these
lessons are also vastly important for the life we live in the here-and-now, for
the way we live this life will be the proof of obedience that He calls for in
the passage we know as The Great Commission (Matthew28:18-20).
We are to be fruitful –in both our physical life, and
our Christ-centered life.
Read Matthew 7:15-20
So what is the “fruit” that Matthew’s gospel is
speaking about? It has little to do with
what we say we will do, and far more in all that we think and do. Fruit is, in reality, all that we live and do
for the Kingdom of God. Does our life
reflect the ways that Jesus lived, or do we fall far short of the perfection
that our Lord demonstrated for us? Do we
offer encouragement to others to live a Godly life – one that is based in the
fullness of scripture and not in worldly concepts? Do we follow His teachings to the very best
that we can, or do we act as though the passages we agree with are good enough? And when we do walk outside of Jesus’ way, do
we confess our failures to God, and seek His divine forgiveness? If any of us discovers that God’s way hasn’t
always been the one we have chosen, we need to begin seeking God’s good fruit
for our life.
As Matthew continues in his thoughts regarding why
it is important that the faithful have a “hunger and thirst for
righteousness”, and that those who don’t are only producing “bad fruit”. He carries the analogy of “false prophesy” to
the point of where and how it all comes about.
And he uses the image of wolves, thornbushes and thistles to emphasize
it all.
Matthew’s point is that the false teachings may look
good at first glance, but beneath the surface, the lies that they contain are
nothing short of being deadly. We also
need to be on the lookout for pricker bushes, for when they get a hold on us,
they produce nothing of value as far as nourishing fruit go. Anything that grows on their branches will do
us much more harm than we might know, and far less good than we could ever hope
for.
The point of Mathew’s comments are that “good
fruit”, the gifts of the Spirit, will be a great benefit to our lives and will
be the source of the good fruit that our life will bring to the Lord, while
“bad fruit”, those things that come from evil, will only serve to demean and
destroy the life that God has created for us.
And the fruit that grows in our lives will tell it all – whether
beneficial or destructive, truthful or deceitful, Godly or evil.
Read Matthew 7:21-23
These three verses go to show us that it isn’t even
the things that appear to be holy and true that are faithful and
genuine. It requires Godly wisdom to
accurately judge the things that people do, and judgment is totally outside of
our realm of responsibility. (Matthew 7:1-6) In Jesus words, we are told that the only
test as to whether the words or actions of another are truly from God, is
either by testing them against the results, the fruit, that come from them, or
by comparing them to our only trustworthy source of truth, and that is the
prayerful understanding of scripture.
It all comes down to being obedient to the will and
word of God, and the only judgment that matters will be the one that Jesus
exercises when He returns to this world.
Christ will be the last of the judges, and His decision will be perfect
and final. Even if someone has all the
attributes and appearance of faithfulness, Godly wisdom and Godly
authority will be the only source of perfect truth. And then, Jesus will know, and nothing else
will matter.
Read Matthew 12:30-33
This is one of those passages that have plagued folks for many years –
after all, can’t Jesus forgive any sin?
In a word, yes, but only when we come to Him by faith, and in
surrender of our sinful ways. Sin has no
chance of defeat and pardon unless we confess and repent of those errant
ways. The best passage that I have found in the Old
Testament that speaks about God’s forgiveness is Psalm 130:3-5 we read “3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? 4 But with you there
is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. 5 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my
hope.” This is what is required
for forgiveness in Jesus – reverence, obedience, authentic service, and
patience.
Also, we must always remember Jesus’ words
at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:27-29)– “This is my blood of the
covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of
sins.” Forgiveness is based in our trust and faith
in the Blood of Jesus – not in the Spirit, for there is no sacrifice of blood
in the Spirit, nor in the Father who never had any blood to spill. It is crucial that we remember that words
that come from either the Father, or Jesus, or through the power of the Holy
Spirit, are the same words that either of the other 2 Persons of the Trinity
would also speak. There is no division
of thought or promise in God.
So forgiveness comes by faith in Jesus, not from
the Holy Spirit. If we had read one more
verse in Matthew’s gospel, we would have read these words - “ For the mouth
speaks what the heart is full of.”
(Matthew 12:34) Sinfulness
means that our heart isn’t quite full of Jesus yet, but it also means that by
faith, we still have the chance for forgiveness in Him, for the part that is
filled with the Lord will still lead us to follow His will most of the time!
Good fruit is still our goal in Christ Jesus, for
that will demonstrate our striving to walk in His way. Good Fruit will be filled with Godly hope and
divine strength in this place, while Bad Fruit will always be empty of God,
which can only bring about our downfall.
Seek then, that which will fulfill and relieve
our “hunger and thirst for righteousness”, and give God the glory for
His nourishment and refreshment.
