“By Their Fruit”

August 21, 2022

Jesus has an interesting statement: 

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.  You shall know them by their fruits.  Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?  Even so, every good tree bringeth fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bringeth forth good fruit.  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.  Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them.” 

The Gospel of Matthew 7:15-20 KJV

This will serve as a warning for all Christians in the church or outside of the church.  The judgment of God is related to what we do, no to what we say.  As Jesus also says as a warning to all:

                “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father, who is in heaven.

                Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name?  And in thy name have cast out demons?  And in thy name done many wonderful works?

                And then I will profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

                The Gospel of Matthew 7: 21-23 KJV

                “Therefore, whosever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock.

                And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock.

                And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand.

                And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.”

                And it came to pass, when Jesus has ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine; for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

                The Gospel of Matthew 7:  24-29 KJV   The Sermon on the Mount

These are truly frightening words for us all!

To think it is possible for a person to believe they are serving the Lord Jesus Christ all our lives and then at the last day to be found to be living in error and darkness, and then to be excluded “thrown out” of the kingdom of God, of our Lord Jesus is a horrible, almost incomprehensible thought.  It wholly terrifies me!  I have no other sure and certain hope except the Lord Jesus and no other treasure for which I seek except Christ and his kingdom!  Can you imagine the mourning, the gnashing of teeth, the absolute sorrow of being thrown into outer darkness if you or I thought to be included in the great banquet feast, the marriage supper of the Lamb of God?  It is a horrifying thing to imagine!

However, there are some who will experience this, otherwise, why would Jesus have warned us of this thing?

I fear for many today, who are corrupting the church of Jesus Christ, making many Christian churches places of exclusion and white racism!  I fear for my brothers and my sisters who are being seduced by the siren spirit of power politics, thinking that power makes right, using the holy scriptures as a club to pound persons who disagree with their conservative political views into submission, stripping away the rights of the poor and persons of conscience, demanding persons of color and those unlike themselves acquiesce to a particularly rigid and narrow worldview or even be placed in prison for disagreeing with them in matters of conscience.

There are some who espouse Christianity who worship their guns more than they worship God!  Our churches and our schools are filled with persons packing weapons all in the name of serving the people of God against terrorists.  And who are the terrorists, often the very persons who live next door to us in our communities!  Angry young men often encouraged by the internet and our political leaders into radicalization are our home-grown terrorists.   Whereas, in the past we worried as Islamists, now we worry about white supremacists packing AR-15s slaughtering the innocents while we worship in our churches.  Recently the FBI has been put on alert because the Proud Boys and other radicalized groups cannot abide when the rule of law takes down their hallowed politicians. Will we see in our day that “persons who play with fire eventually get burned?”

I worry about the future of our democracy.  I worry more about the future of our churches.  If our pastors and deacons have lost the ability to discern truth from error because of minds and hearts clouded by prejudice and their own narrow view of the world, from where will truth and discernment come?

Jesus reminds us that the way to discern his followers from those who serve the powers of darkness is very simple: “By their fruit ye shall know them!”

The fruit of the Spirit of Christ the Savior is very clear, as Paul outlines this for us.  Comparing scripture with scripture let us read and remember:

                “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.

                And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

                If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

                Let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another.

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye you are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 

                Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

The Epistle to the Galatians, 5:22-6:2 KJV

I fear we as Christians in the church of our day have forgotten why we began!

In the past, I remember spending time with other pastors discussing ways to bring persons to Christ so that they might be saved.  I do not remember discussing how the church might help elect conservative Supreme Court justices so we could overturn Roe v Wade.  I remember a time when we spent time in church in intercessory pray for the leaders of our government and our elected officials, asking God to grant them wisdom in their service to the people, so we might all live in peace.  I do not remember strategizing how to take over local school boards so we could limit what the children read in school.  I wonder if we have lost our minds.  Is there any appeal to those outside Christ when we say to them they must think and act just as we do in order to become a Christian?  If this not a new form of Pharisaism?  Are we not becoming like the Ayatollah Khomeini who in 1979 led the Islamic Revolution?  Do we as Christians want a theocratic rule of law as is done in conservative Iran?

We have the best system of democratic government in the world, except for the influence of money on our politicians, and now we wish to replace it with “a so-called Christian rule of law run by so called Christian politicians and Supreme Court judges?” What has happened to “we the people of the United States of America”, when “we the people” only represent at best 30% of the population of the United States.  Are we so naïve to believe that 70% of the population will allow Christian beliefs to govern their lives when their voices are not being heard?

Is the goal of Jesus Christ to found an earthly kingdom based on conservative political principles shared only by white persons of privilege?  It this really what Jesus wants us to do with out time and our treasure?  This is what I mean by the corrupting of the church.  When did this type of activity become the gospel of Jesus we share with the world?  The world has already deemed the church in the United States to be irrelevant.  We just don’t know it yet.

The Lord Jesus I know does not force me to believe in Him or in any conservative agenda in order to be a Christian.  He has told me that in order to enter his kingdom, I must believe in Him and trust him for my salvation.  I do not recall, however, that he forced me to make this decision.

The Lord Jesus I know, sends his Holy Spirit and through the Holy Scriptures speaks to me directly without the agency of priest, prophet or politician about what I need to do to please him in my life.  I am free to serve God in Christ without any need to consult with anyone except my own self, my inner conscience, my own mind and heart, but to live within the parameters taught me by the historical church community of what is good, righteous and true.   Those who would take this away from me or any other persons simply does not know the Lord Jesus whom I know, trust and believe.  The servant of the Lord Jesus is everyone’s free man or woman.  We are not bound to any other person, institution, political party, or social group for our identity.  Christians who know Jesus ally themselves with other Christians who know Jesus too.  We don’t need the internet or any other forum to find persons who love Jesus for us, as the Holy Spirit of Christ witnesses to our hearts who we can trust and from whom to flee.  Discernment in the Lord Jesus and by His Holy Spirit is a great gift, but God freely gives to anyone who desires wisdom in this life and who asks for it!

My prayer and hope in these days is that the Lord Jesus will begin his judgment of the church, knowing he will judge me along with everyone else.  My prayer is that he will strip away the power of darkness deceiving the churches, our pastors and our people in this day and hour.  In the last days, the scripture says many will be deceived and some will fall away from the truth of the gospel, believing a lie from the devil who seeks to destroy the church of Jesus Christ in the last days.

My prayer is that the Lord Jesus Christ though the Holy Spirit of God the Father and God the Son will strip away the error of darkness, the oppressing spirit which is hanging over the churches of our day. We have become too proud of our spirituality, too proud of our religious life, enamored by wealth, money and power politics.  We have thought that we could do God’s will our own way instead of the way of Christ, which is humility, servanthood, service and washing one another’s feet.  Jesus said, “I came not to be served, but to serve and to give my life as a ransom for many.” (the Gospel of Luke, chapter 22:  24-27)

Why are we here?  What are we supposed to be doing?  What does Jesus want us to do to share the good news of the gospel in our generation?  If we have lost our way, should we not ask Jesus Christ our Savior to help us find it?

A Prayer for a New Beginning:

Lord Jesus Christ, the only Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us!  Clear our minds and cleanse our hearts, unstop our ears and open our eyes to see the truth of your gospel, the good news which we are to share.  Help us to discern truth from error, power politics from the true power of servanthood in you.  O Lord Jesus Christ, let us come to know the favor of seeing your face once again.  Let us find you in the faces of the poor, the disenfranchised, the lonely and the afraid.  Let us never use your holy scriptures as a club to beat others into submission to what we believe, but instead with a pure heart, conscience and mind let us perceive the truth of your word and proclaim it!  We make this prayer in the strong and powerful name of Jesus Christ our Lord, the Name which is above every name, as we serve no other, nor do we need any preacher, politician or political guru to tell us the truth of what we should believe and do.  Grant for each of us, that we might bear the fruit of righteousness, gentleness and truth, promoting justice for all, with mercy, pointing persons of faith and non-faith towards the everlasting peace of your gospel, in Jesus Christ our Lord, for we pray in your most holy name, to whom we give all praise, glory, honor and blessing, both now and forevermore. Amen.