“THE FRUIT”
Saint Matthew 7: 15-23
8th Sunday after Trinity: 6 August Anno Domini 2017
Father Jay Watson SSP
If people actually heeded warnings they wouldn’t get hurt. If men paid attention to alarms and took their father’s advice they would minimize pain and probably put off early and tragic death. Mankind fails because fallen man is a failure.
“Beware” means warning! It is a Law word. Scripture is littered with warnings and with sinner’s failure to act upon them. Beware of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; Beware breaking these 10 Commandments; Beware the apostasy of Canaan and of following their baals; Beware the leaven of the Pharisees; Beware not being ready for the Son of Man’s imminent return in judgment!
Who is the originator of warnings? The Word of The Lord. He speaks and it is. His incarnated Word is Truth enfleshed. To whom is Saint Matthew referring to when He quotes our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus…who is The Christ warning against? And, to whom is Jesus warning? These words were spoken at the very end of The Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. These are words for the flock of faith which God gathers to Himself + by the Spirit and The Word. This warning is about being on guard against the “false prophet.” A prophet is a God-talker appointed by God to preach and teach and give God’s Word. A “false prophet” is an ersatz, bogus, fake, evil, and false God-talker. This warning wouldn’t have been given to Christ’s mountain audience had the danger not been real and present. This truth would not have been written and preserved if this same danger is not still a deadly reality.
Who are they specifically? What/Who should you watch for? First look in the mirror. False God-talkers are the fallen world, the devil, and the sinful flesh—i.e. your own “old Adam” nature. Receive The Word of The Lord and stop doubting it, re-interpreting it, and excusing compliance to it by self-justification. Fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Beware anything that causes you to disobey the First and Great Command. Sanctify the Holy Day—do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it. Beware of treating The Word like an old flashlight kept under the bed only to be used when you feel that the power outage is emergency enough.
Satan is the chief “false prophet.” He led his rebellion because he wanted to do the talking. Blathering on and constantly pontificating is the mark of the devil and his adherents. The Anti-Christ and all Anti-Christs are “false prophets.” Anyone who speaks to you in any form: anti-Grace, anti-Faith, anti-Scripture, and anti-Incarnation is a false foe. And, if the roaring lion, who seeks to devour you, can appear as an angel of light, judge not by appearances but by The Word—The Fruit. You will know Truth by the Fruit of The Trinity and by Fruit of The Trinity’s revelation. The Fruit of The Godhead is The Incarnated Logos—Jesus The God/Man. The Fruit of Christ is His Body and Blood (along with His teachings and preachings) given from the Tree of the Cross; not the forbidden fruit of Eden’s tree but the Life Eternal in His living Bread—His Flesh.
And so too, the fruit is what springs forth from the planting, watering, and careful nurturing of The Words of Scripture, and The Sacramental Words of Washing and Feeding…that would be all of you. You are the good fruit of The pure and unadulterated Word.
Outside agents are also to be marked, fought, and avoided. They come into your midst if you let them. The fact that they wear “sheep’s clothing” means they practice active and malicious subterfuge. They are “fifth columnists” in the war between Sin and Grace, between light and darkness. They masquerade to betray. They seek to devour you in time and most certainly in eternity.
“Can’t we all just get along?” That’s what Satan is hoping you’ll believe and say.
Yes, they’ll dress and talk “like” pastors. Judge them by their fruit. Do they speak Christ crucified? Do they feed you Law and Gospel; do they baptize your babies and do they distribute the Real Body and the Real Blood of Messiah or only the lies of juice and the memories of Wonder bread.
They, these “false prophets” will also act like docile sheep themselves, seeking to draw out from you shared agreements and understandings that enshrine “self” and “man” at the expense of God—His Work.
These “false prophets” are not Muslims, Mormons, or militant Atheists. They seek not your overthrow by direct and flamboyant attacks as enemies and adversaries (although Satan does employ this strategy as well; pincer movement if you will). They are traitors from within who seek for you to lower your guard and to let in the poison fruit of not the Trojan Horse, but of false doctrine—a false Christ.
A true prophet is a true shepherd. He will not be flashy or charismatic, but, faithful and steady. The destroyer dressed in wool will be interesting, fetching, agreeable, and a master at people-politics. True Pastors may appear boring because the Truth never changes. Sin never ceases and thus the need to condemn it never ceases. Jesus’ love and forgiveness never ceases, and will always be given in the same ways that The Lord instituted. The “false prophet” will dazzle like a side-show illusionist…so much flash and misdirection that in the lust of your love for novelty you take your eyes off of the crucifix and fasten them on your stomach.
If this all doesn’t sound very “Gospelly” to you it’s because The Church is always under assault and the “false Prophet” is always trying to take the real Gospel away from you. The good news is not your faith (emphasis on YOUR) but The Fruit, and His Fruit. The Gospel is The Cross. The Evangel is the Crucifix. The Good News is The Christ Who suffered and bled and died for you and your bad…and now delivers His Fruit into your ears and into your mouths.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of The Holy Ghost
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