God grant that we may never forget it.
But the text surely does not quite mean that. 'Fruit' here does not
mean a man's own conduct, but the conduct of those whom he teaches.
For see,--our Lord is talking of prophets; that is preachers, who
set up to preach the Word of God, in the name of God. 'Beware,' he
says, 'of false prophets. By their fruits ye shall know them. By
what you gather from them,' he says. 'For do men gather grapes off
thorns, or figs off thistles?'
Now what is a preacher's fruit? Surely the fruit of his preaching;
and that is, not what he does himself, but what he makes you do.
His fruit is what you gather from him; and what you gather from him
is, not merely the notions and doctrines which he puts into your
head, but the way of life in which he makes you live. What he makes
you do, is the fruit which you get from him. Does he make you a
better man, or does he not? that is the question. That is the test
whether he is a false prophet, or a true one; whether he is
preaching to you the eternal truth of God, or man's inventions and
devil's lies.
Does he make you a better man? Not--Does he make you feel better?
but--Does he make you behave better? There is too much preaching in
the world which makes men _feel_ better--so much better, indeed,
that they go about like the Pharisee, thanking God that they are not
as other men, before they have any sound reason to believe that they
are _not_ as other men; because they live just such lives as other
men do, as far as respectability, and the fear of hurting their
custom or their character, allow them to do.
Pages:
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122