Allen Raynor Weblog:
“Knowing Others By Their Fruits” (Pt. 2)
(Mar. 20, 2019)
You have
probably sang the Christian song that goes “And they’ll know we are Christians
by our love, by our love; yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” The meaning behind that chorus is that the
fruit produced by being a “true” Christian/believer is love. Christians bear good fruit, whereas pretenders
either produce bad fruit or are simply barren.
True believers differ in significant ways from false teachers who try
and catch the latest wave or are blown about by every wind of doctrine. Sadly, in this day and time, many preachers
with substantial platforms have succumbed to the spirit of the age and have
compromised on many key issues where the Bible is clear.
It would be
impossible to try and cover all the types and specific examples of false
teachers in our age. We could study them
and critique them one by one, but there is not tremendous value in doing
so. When people who handle money are
taught how to spot counterfeit money, they do not try to learn about every
possible type/way of counterfeiting.
Instead they study very closely the real thing – real money! They know it inside and out. That is what leads them to not get taken
easily. If you have been a believer for
any length of time, you should not have to wonder if a certain preacher/teacher
is a false preacher/teacher or not. But,
sadly many are being manipulated and fooled.
What are
false teachers? Where do we draw the
line? Are Methodists, Presbyterians,
Nazarenes, and others false teachers because, perhaps we as Baptist see things
differently? We can vary on numerous
points and it is ok. Maybe they are wrong. Maybe we
are wrong. The false teachers
discussed in the New Testament go well beyond the majority of mere
“denominational” differences. These
would deny, to greater and lesser degrees, such fundamentals as the inerrancy
of Scripture, the virgin birth of Christ, the substitutionary atonement of
Christ, the literal bodily Resurrection of Christ, the literal bodily return of
Christ, salvation by faith in Christ alone (not universalism), etc. Today it most certainly would include those
who advocate wrong, unbiblical positions regarding practices such as same-sex
marriage, practice of homosexuality, advocate abortion, allow sex outside of
marriage, etc. Teaching a “this worldly”
approach to Christianity such as the “name it and claim it” or “health and
wealth” (prosperity gospel) which paints a false picture of the Gospel. In fact, it is more than misleading; it is another
“gospel” entirely. Sadly, it can also
include silence where raising a voice is called for. One prominent preacher at a very large
Houston church said in an interview that he just did not like to mention “sin”
because people have enough bad stuff and negativity going on in their lives and
they know what sin is. There was just no
need for him to talk about it. He
believed his job was to help people feel good about themselves.
We see
plenty of examples of television preachers flaunting their wealth with luxury
cars, multi-million dollar homes, gold fixtures in the bathroom, their own
private jets, air-conditioned dog houses, extravagant jewelry, expensive
tailor-made suits, and on and on. What
are they teaching when they live this way?
They are conveying that their living that way is more important than
missions, the homeless, the poor, the diseased, the oppressed, the suffering,
and much more. Would Jesus really live
that way if He were to come back today? Ten million dollars will purchase one
jet plane for a televangelist or could do extraordinary amounts of evangelistic
work in the hands of missionaries.
Commentator Douglas Sean O’Donnell writes “To contemporize our Lord’s
teaching, it’s as if Jesus says, ‘I teach self-denial; they teach look great,
feel great. I teach the dangers of
materialism; they teach live your best life now. I teach that there is only one way to God;
they teach love wins – that the wideness of God’s mercy is so wide that
everyone is eventually included in his kingdom.
I teach humility and dependence upon God; they teach if it’s to be, it’s
up to me.’” (Douglas Sean O’Donnell; Matthew:
All Authority in Heaven and on Earth; PTWC; 198)
A tree is
known by its fruit. When I was growing
up, we would not say, “that tree out by the barn,” we would say “The walnut
tree.” We would not say, “those trees at
the end of the garden,” we would instead say “The peach trees and the apple trees.” Many can deceive for a time/season but
eventually, it becomes known that they are by what kind of fruit they are
producing. In Matthew 7:18 Jesus says “A
good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” A prophet’s fruit includes both words and
deeds. True prophets teach doctrine that
is sound and live holy lives. False
prophets may have great speaking skills and social graces but their doctrine and
their ethics are gravely flawed.
During his
long reign of terror, Saddam Hussein claimed to be a bold fighter and brilliant
leader. But his deeds and words when he
was captured revealed who and what he really was. He had a loaded pistol at his side, but chose
not to fight. Instead he showed his
cowardice. He said, “I am willing to
negotiate” when he was captured, as if he was in a position to bargain! His words showed that he was vain and deluded
not brilliant. Every tree, Jesus says
that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown in the fire,
signifying punishment for the false teachers who bear bad fruit. By the fruit they produce, you will know
them. Some will say, I know this person
is a good teacher because look at how many followers they have; listeners they
have; books they sell; some may say “I personally know people they have
helped.” We should never judge by that
standard. Only God’s Word can be the
standard. You can justify almost
anything if you follow the numbers, or find people who like something, or think
they have benefitted from something.
God’s Word
is “living and powerful” and it conveys God’s agenda for this world. It needs no mixture of selfishness,
individualism, or worldly-oriented false teachers with their lies,
self-promotions, and distortions. What
we need now is what we have always needed –Truth! By a person’s fruit, you will know them.
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
No comments:
Post a Comment