February 18, 2018 The Fruit of the Good Tree

February 18, 2018 The Fruit of the Good Tree (Matthew 7:15-23)

Sermon Outline

God
is the God of justice.
He
judges the world with justice.
The world has both good fruit and bad fruit.
A good tree bears good fruit,
but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
The Law bears bad fruit (1 Cor 15:56),
while the Gospel bears good fruit (1 Cor 15:57).
Bad fruit is to condemn (1 Cor 15:19-21).
Good fruit is to love (Galatians 5:22).
You can tell if a tree is good or bad by its fruit.
What kind of fruit must we bear?
If you hold to the Law, you cannot bear good fruit.
If you dwell in grace, you cannot bear bad fruit.
You can discern a tree by its fruit.
What kind of fruit did you bear until now?
Was it good fruit?
Or was it bad fruit?
You are not a good tree because you shout, “Lord, Lord!”
A good tree will do God’s will (1 Cor 15:58).
◌ Let us all become good trees
and bear good fruit.
Let us bear good fruit according to God’s will.
Only by the Holy Spirit will you bear good fruit.
Give glory to the Kingdom of Jesus.
This is good fruit.
◌ A good tree will fulfil God’s will.
By their fruit will you know them.
You must dwell with the Lord Jesus to bear good fruit.
※ Our church is a good tree.
Let us bear many good fruits
and give glory to God.

Semuon’s Letter

As the cow drags the plough against the hard soil, it digs up and turns it over. As the farmer scatters the seed across the soil, new life appears and the crop comes up. The cow must grind the soil, plow the ground and turn it over. The cow or plow that does not work either goes to the slaughterhouse or withers away as it rusts. The cow and plow are used by the farmer to make a furrow.

I am the cow. I do not act according to my own will, but I hear the voice of the master. Until my entire body collapses, I carry my yoke, and with all my strength, I grind the soil. When the sun rises, I am the cow that goes out to do my work. It is only when the sun sets that I return back home. However, without the command of the master, I cannot go out nor come back in.

Every day I repeatedly do the same work to help fulfill the dream of the master. No matter what kind of vegetable or crop the master sows, it is not for the cow to know what he is grinding the soil, for since the master plants the crop according to his will. The cow simply goes where the master instructs. Whether it is gravelly soil, fertile soil, flooded soil or a barren field, I must carry my yoke and carry the plow. I was born so that my whole life I would be the Lord’s workman, to be used by him. The result is that I bear it until the end according to the will of the master. A cow does not turn into a dog or a pig. It remains a cow. And the cow belongs to the master. He is the workman who helps the master’s hard work.

My whole life I have been busy. My whole life I have had to use all my strength. The master has given me his fodder and that has been my portion. I know even today the work that I must do. The reigns of the cow are in the hands of the master. If the sun comes up, I must go out to work as the master compels. The child-like calf sees the mother cow that grinds the soil at the control of the master, and jumps about excitedly. One day this calf also must become the slave of the master, pierce its noise and, to the points that it bleeds, must be dragged by its reigns to do the work it is destined to do.

I have neither the strength or right to flee from the hand of the Lord. I am just a workman of the Lord, doing the work of the cow. And at the end, I will leave this world, heading towards the Signs of the Resurrection. Before that time, I have work that I must do. I still want to write books and write poems. And I must preach sermons and give commands. The words that I preach are about the place that I must go. I speak because I know the place I need to go and the work I need to do.

I have received many New Year’s greetings: “Be healthy in the New Year. Be at peace”. I have no absolutely no idea what will come about in the New Year, but peace to me is to be with the Lord. And to be healthy is not to rest, but to work. I do not wish to rest. Until I die, I must diligently work and until the moment my life ends, I must do this work.

Lord! I am your cow that grinds your soil. Please lead me, please discipline me. Please give me strength…