Teaching Notes

Picture taken by James S. Williams

The Corrupt Tree VS. The Good Tree

Matthew 7:17-23 (The Message)

15-20"Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don't be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned.

21-23"Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'

Notes: This warning is to help us learn what is good and acceptable before God. Jesus tells us that there are those that are "corrupt" or bad trees. There are also those that are "Righteous" or good trees. We will look at what this scripture tells us. Here are a few things we can quickly see from these verses about bad trees and good trees.

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GOOD TREE

*Brings forth good fruit

*Cannot bring forth bad fruit

*Nurtured to grow

*Used for meaningful purposes

*Known by their fruit (action)

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CORRUPT TREE

*Brings forth evil fruit

*Cannot bring forth good fruit

*Cut down

*Thrown into the fire

*Known by its fruit (action)

Question: What does a false teacher/preacher look like? And why should you be careful of them?

Answer: Here the scripture says they are full of talk. In other words, what they say and what they do are not the same. Their words may sound good, but it is their action, or character that you should look at. This is not only true for the preacher/teacher but for each of us. Do the things we say line up with what we God?

We will look more into the good tree and the bad tree this month, but for now let us pray.

Prayer: Lord, help us to be able to tell the difference between what is good and what is not. Help us not to be fooled by those things that sound good, but are not pleasing to you. Help us to be pleasing to you.