Wednesday, August 04, 2004 AD
Good fruit vs sheep's clothing
In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:15-20), our Lord Jesus Christ warned us to "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves". How are we to recognise them? "You will recognize them by their fruits." Healthy trees - true prophets - bear good fruit; diseased trees - false prophets - bear bad fruit. Simple.
But what are the "fruits" by which we are to recognise true and false prophets? The answers which I've previously come across to this question normally fall into one of three broad categories:
However, this view does have its difficulties. For example, there are many churches which have a faithful Gospel ministry but which see relatively little growth, or even a shrinkage of numbers. That scarcely means that their ministers are "false prophets". Equally, there are liberal or revisionist churches that attract large numbers of people. People may even be genuinely converted at a liberal church, since there is often plenty of Gospel inadvertently remaining in these churches (through the use of the liturgy and lectionary).
Furthermore, many "false teachers" are men of impeccable personal morals: Rowan Williams is an excellent example of this, a man who denies many biblical teachings, who has implied that St John was insane when he wrote parts of Revelation, and yet a man who is frequently commended for his personal holiness. And equally, we can all think of examples of apparently "sound" teachers who have undergone tragic collapses in their personal morality.
I was therefore interested to read what was, to me, a new perspective on this passage. The Luther Quest "chaplain", Pr Rolf Preus, has recently posted a devotional entitled Beware of False Prophets, in which he writes as follows (emphasis added):
Conversely, the good fruit of true prophets is also not their outward moral behaviour or the "success" of their ministries (though one would certainly hope for both these to be present). Rather, it is that they bring Christ to us and, with Him, forgiveness, life and salvation, through the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. That is how we recognise the true prophet, in just the same way (this really shouldn't surprise us!) as we recognise the true church: by the presence of the Gospel and Sacraments.
But what are the "fruits" by which we are to recognise true and false prophets? The answers which I've previously come across to this question normally fall into one of three broad categories:
- Morality: Sooner or later, false prophets reveal their true character by moral failure in their lives.
- Success: True prophets - good teachers - will generally find that their ministry is blessed by God, especially through conversions under their ministry.
- Power: True prophets will demonstrate great spiritual power, not least through miracles attending their ministry.
On that day many will say to me, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?" And then will I declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness."But the other two, especially the first, probably represent between them the majority view of what the Lord meant by "fruit". And the two are indeed often linked: a "church" like ECUSA is, in large part, both morally bankrupt and spiritually impotent.
However, this view does have its difficulties. For example, there are many churches which have a faithful Gospel ministry but which see relatively little growth, or even a shrinkage of numbers. That scarcely means that their ministers are "false prophets". Equally, there are liberal or revisionist churches that attract large numbers of people. People may even be genuinely converted at a liberal church, since there is often plenty of Gospel inadvertently remaining in these churches (through the use of the liturgy and lectionary).
Furthermore, many "false teachers" are men of impeccable personal morals: Rowan Williams is an excellent example of this, a man who denies many biblical teachings, who has implied that St John was insane when he wrote parts of Revelation, and yet a man who is frequently commended for his personal holiness. And equally, we can all think of examples of apparently "sound" teachers who have undergone tragic collapses in their personal morality.
I was therefore interested to read what was, to me, a new perspective on this passage. The Luther Quest "chaplain", Pr Rolf Preus, has recently posted a devotional entitled Beware of False Prophets, in which he writes as follows (emphasis added):
You can recognize the false prophet by his fruit. A good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bears bad fruit. The good tree is the tree of the cross upon which the Lord Jesus died for the flock. The sheep are fed and nourished by the fruit from this good tree, that is, the gospel and the sacraments that come from the crucified and risen Lord Jesus.This then helps explain what the true "bad fruit" is by which we can recognise false prophets:
On Good Friday, water and blood flowed from the pierced side of Jesus right after He had borne in His sacred body the sin of the world. This was to signify that Christ would bring forgiveness and salvation to His people by means of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These sacraments are the good fruit from that good tree. The gospel of the forgiveness of sins is the good fruit of that good tree ... No bad fruit can come from the tree of Christ’s crucifixion.
Just as the good tree cannot bear bad fruit, so also the bad tree cannot bear good fruit. False prophets practice nothing but lawlessness. They often make a big show of their devotion to an outward appearance of sanctity. In fact, they appear to be quite holy. That’s the sheep’s clothing. You know them by their fruits. They may claim allegiance to the Bible, but they don’t proclaim the message of Christ crucified for sinners.So the outward moral behaviour (or, for that matter, the spiritual "success") of false teachers is not the fruit: it is the sheep's clothing that hides the ravening wolf within. The fruit is the message that is preached: a false teacher produces bad fruit, teaching that directs people away from Jesus Christ and Him crucified, away from the pure Gospel, away from Baptism, Absolution and the Lord's Supper.
They direct sinners elsewhere than to the vicarious suffering of Jesus. They do not preach the pure gospel of the full and free forgiveness of sins for Christ’s sake. They denigrate Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, depriving God’s children of the great comfort the sacraments give. They substitute in the place of God’s saving gospel a message of human potential and human righteousness. This results in lawlessness. This false gospel cannot bear good fruit because it teaches sinners to put their confidence in their own flesh instead of in the blood and righteousness of Jesus.
Conversely, the good fruit of true prophets is also not their outward moral behaviour or the "success" of their ministries (though one would certainly hope for both these to be present). Rather, it is that they bring Christ to us and, with Him, forgiveness, life and salvation, through the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments. That is how we recognise the true prophet, in just the same way (this really shouldn't surprise us!) as we recognise the true church: by the presence of the Gospel and Sacraments.
