The
Eighth Sunday after Trinity.
The
Collect.
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O
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GOD, whose
never-failing providence ordereth all things both in heaven and earth; We
humbly beseech thee to put away from us all hurtful things, and to give us
those things which are profitable for us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in
sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. 16 Ye
shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of
thistles? 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good
fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. 18 A
good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth
good fruit. 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit
is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. 21 Not
every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many
will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and
in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matt 7:15-23)
In today’s Gospel text, the Lord is making concluding remarks in His Sermon on
the Mount. Every word that Jesus spoke was Gospel Scripture. He, being God the
Son, speaks from the height of the Mount to the people at various levels below
the summit. This, too, is symbolic of His Sovereignty and Divine Nature. He
speaks of a matter of grave importance, especially for the church today. The
circumstances of false doctrine and hypocrisy in ministry was very much like it
is today; but the shyster-minister of today is more polished at flattery and
back-slapping. As Jesus says in another place, “And
many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And
because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”
(Matt 24:11-12)
The precise words of Jesus are important to note – ALWAYS. He does not say, “A
few false prophets shall rise” but “MANY!”
Why do these false prophets arise? It is because men disregard God’s Word as
their rule and compass for life. Iniquity abounds, and iniquity produces
hypocritical and greedy ministers. They arise from iniquity and not from
righteous living. They lack love, and they impart this lack to their listeners.
How do these false prophets come to us? All who are members of our Church will
know that they do certainly come, for we have had our quota of them. They come
presuming to agree with all that we believe and practice. They claim to preach
a Gospel that is of Christ, but their living testimony betrays their claim. They
love the attention and admiration of the people, but that is a love of self and
not of others. They will travel long distances to receive honors, but will
seldom take thirty minutes from their leisurely schedules to visit the sick,
the hurting, and those who are suffering from want of resources. They prefer to
delegate these missions to others in the church whom they consider to be ‘inferior’
to their own high estate. They pretend to love the people, to stand upon
biblical faith, to care for the widows and orphans; yet, their zeal is not
translated into action. Well did our Lord call them wolves in sheep’s clothing!
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you
in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.”
They are precisely the opposite of what they pretend to be. They appear as
gentle and kind, yet every kindness has a string of wanted favor attached.
These ravening wolves are not difficult to identify if the Christian is a
devout Bible scholar. He can compare words to fruit and see, very quickly, that
they do not match. The wolf cannot don the sheep’s clothing for very long for
it goes against his nature. At some point, at the time most opportune when he
has gained the confidence of the sheep, he will cast away the sheep’s clothing
and devour the sheep. How many instances today do we hear of clergy eloping
with a church member’s wife along with the treasure of the church? The Word of
God is our Armor against such villains. Why do so many churchmen omit daily
scripture reading today – even faithful attendees at church? They are marching
onto the field of battle with neither armor protection nor sword.
The Bible gives you every
mark of identification of these fools (and fools they are for they offend the
Sovereign of Heaven). “Ye shall know them by
their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?”
They live by a standard alien to the Word of God. Many cannot even preach the
Word from the pulpit with conviction and power. They may quote the philosopher
as much as the Lord and Savior. They may lean heavily on stories about
themselves rather than those of the Suffering Savior. Beware of such men. They
smile always while they prepare the table to devour the trusting victim.
“Even so every good tree
bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither
can a corrupt tree bring 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.”
Does the minister convince the people to love HIM, or does his preaching evoke
love for the Savior whom he pretends to preach? This is the fruit of which
Christ speaks. There are only a few fundamental qualifications for a minister
of God (and a seminary degree, though sometimes helpful if it is a truly
Christian seminary, is not one of them today), he must:
1. First
of all, be a devout Christian himself;
2. Love
God’s Word so much that he attains an unquestioned level of scholarship in it;
3. Be
able to teach that Word to his listeners so that they love the virtue of the
Word he presents;
4. Have
a deep and abiding love for Christ and the Church (including every member);
5. He
must be of untarnished character – not seeking self-acclaim, but the acclaim of
Heaven; and
6. Be
called of God, know that he is called of God, and confirmed in that calling by
the Church in the apostolic ‘laying on of hands.’
7. In
other words, his Facebook description must match that of his true character –
only an illustration!
8.
There really is not much
of a line between the minister and the lay Christian – each is called of God
into different missions and responsibilities. The preacher is never to place
himself above the people to whom he preaches. Christ Himself never did so. His
affections and compassion were toward the poor sinner and always expressed in
loathing toward the false priests and Pharisees (ministers) of His day.
The professing Christian
(lay or clerical) should be a Christian as much on Friday night as he claims to
be on Sunday morning. He is much like the silver spoon compared with the
silver-plated spoon. They both look alike when we first hold them; but over
time, the silver on the plated spoon wears through to the baser metal
underneath, and we know that it is not what it pretends to be; the sterling
silver spoon retains its character throughout all time and service. The same
with all Christians! How many in the church today do you believe are sterling
all the way to the bone?
Jesus concludes this text
with an eye-opening closing: “Not every one
that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he
that doeth the will of my Father which 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 devils? and in thy name
done many wonderful works? And then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” There are many today sitting in the pews (or
standing in the pulpit) who profess Christ with convincing lips, but that
lip-service loses its splendor in the dark nights of the week. They may claim
to love Christ, but care very little for the study of His Word that nourishes
them on the Person of Christ. There are a great many ministers who handle the
Word of God with unclean hands. They prepare great shows of entertainment at
which the Holy Ghost, presumably, is their ‘Genie in the Bottle’ who comes down
to heal and to bless precisely at the televised hour! How shallow can we be! “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign;
and there shall no sign be given unto it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.” (Matt 16:4)
Two important points are
made in this last verse: Firstly, He refers to the seeking of a wicked and
adulterous generation. If modern America does not fit that description, I do
not what nation does. The only sign to which Jesus refers is His own death,
burial, and resurrection which is comparable to the experience of poor Jonah.
You may say, with the
Oxford lisp, “Yes, but we have always had these sins with us! Nothing has
changed.” Really! How do you suppose the Founding Fathers would have felt about
outlawing Bible reading and prayer from schools? How do you suppose they would
have viewed legalizing mind-altering drugs, homosexual marriage, and open
abortion? These are the egregious sins of our day, but seldom mentioned from
the pulpit either out of fear of the politically correct censors; or government
retribution; or, sadly, perhaps because they may see nothing wrong with these
sins; Secondly, Jesus makes a hidden reference to His identity as Judge. When
all of those false and vain professing Christian laity and clergy come to Him
justifying themselves by their works of false piety and miracles, they are
acknowledging something they failed to acknowledge in their preaching and lives
– it is Him to whom they report at the far Banks of Jordan Waters. And who is
it that expels them from Heaven? “And then
will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity.” At the portals of
Heaven who is it they confront with the claim that “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in
thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?”
It is Christ to whom they come face-to-face, isn’t it? And what does Christ say
to them? He says He never KNEW them – not now, or even while they were
performing those presumed ‘wonderful works.’ He then pronounces an eternal
judgment against them: “depart from me, ye
that work iniquity” These prestigious ministers were never known
of Christ. They receive that final verdict – just the very thought of which
should strike terror and dismay in their hearts, “Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Depart from
WHERE and to WHAT PLACE? Simple: in eternity, there will only exist two places,
as there only exist two families today. Either we belong to the family of
God, or we belong to the family of the Prince of this World. There is no middle
earth. In the resurrection, we either abide with Christ in Heaven, or we abide
with that wretched Fallen Angel in the Fires of Hell.
Sorry, is this
sermon makes you ‘uncomfortable.’ A warning is far better than walking into the
ditch unwittingly. This is a day of personal and national repentance. In fact,
every day of the year, decade, century, and millennium is a day of personal and
national repentance.
Who will hear
the Lord’s Call?
