In the sermon on the mount, the Saviour said, "You shall know them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:16)
Whom shall we know by their fruits? and what shall we know of them? These are questions that are worth attention.
The common idea is that in these words the Saviour gave a test of character; that He has given us all a rule which we are to go about applying to everybody we meet, and measuring them up, and deciding on their fitness or unfitness for heaven, or at least of their worthiness to be received in the fellowship with people so good as we are.
Then again, they are taken as applying to one's own self, as if each individual were required to be continually taking an inventory of his own good and bad deeds, so as to be able to tell at any moment just how high or how low he stands in the Christian scale.
All this is but another illustration of the common practice of taking an expression out of its connection, and giving to it an arbitrary interpretation; of putting a meaning upon a text, instead of drawing the meaning out. Let us read the text in its connection. "Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits." (Matthew 7:15-16)
Notice in the first place, that this text says nothing about judging ourselves. Those whom we are to know by their fruits are others besides ourselves.
Bear in mind, also, that this is spoken only of a certain class--"false prophets"--and not of people in general. Neither does it tell us that we are to judge the character even of this class; and we are never warranted in assuming that the Scriptures mean what they do not say.
How are we to act towards these false prophets? Beware of them. Why? Because if we heed them we shall certainly be led astray. What is the work of a prophet? It is to teach, to instruct. The work of a false prophet, therefore, is to teach false doctrines; and we are commanded to: "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causes to err from the words of knowledge." (Proverbs 19:27)
But how are we to know the false teachers from the true? The text last referred to gives us the clue. "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causes to err from the words of knowledge." "Go from the presence of a foolish man, when you perceive not in him the lips of knowledge." (Proverbs 14:7)
We are to prove the teachers by their teaching. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." (Isaiah 8:20) "He whom God has sent, speaks the words of God." (John 3:34) "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God." (1 Peter 4:11)
This is how we are to know the teachers, whether they are of God. Someone will say, "What is the use, then, of having teachers? I thought that teachers were for the purpose of telling us what is true and what is false. If we cannot depend on them, but have to decide for ourselves, why can we not get along without them?"
Teachers are indeed necessary, but they are not to take the place of God to us. Christ is the light of the world, and He himself is the only light to light every man that comes into the world. He says, "If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed; And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32)
The promise of the new covenant is, "They shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least to the greatest." (Hebrews 8:11)
The reason for this is found in the words of Christ, "It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that has heard, and has learned of the Father, comes unto me." (John 6:45)
Christ is the truth. "Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6)
No man can know truth, except as he knows Christ. And Christ must be revealed in and to us by the Father. "But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace, To reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood." (Galatians 1:15-16) "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27)
When we know Him indeed, we know the truth. That is, we know truth; we can tell the difference between truth and error. Then we are to go on, "being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." (Colossians 1:10)
We are to "Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 3:18)
The word of God, like God himself, is unfathomable. The more we learn of it, the more there is for us to learn. There is, and will be to all eternity, something new for us to learn, even in that with which we already are committed.
The work of the true teacher is to open the words of God to the people. He is to lead them to the words of life, that they may drink from the same fountain from which he has drunk. Our part is to have such communion with the Lord that when a thing is presented to us we may know at once whether it is truth or error. We are to know how to distinguish between the voice of the Good Shepherd and the voices of strangers.
So we find that the fruits of the false prophets, by which we are to know-not judge-them to be false prophets, are their teachings. And each one, instead of depending on some minister to tell him what the Scriptures mean, is to have such a knowledge of the truth in Jesus, that he can for himself decide as to the correctness of the minister's teaching.
Thus no man can throw his responsibility upon another. Let everyone take heed that he does not reject truth. As for judging anybody, that is to be left to the one Judge--the Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy.--Present Truth, January 4, 1894--Timeline: IV-15 (Sermon on the Mount)--Matthew 7:16.