It’s about the fruit
Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” (Matt. 7:15-20)
Hello Children of God,
As of late, I have found myself reading the writings of Jonathan Edwards who was instrumental in ushering in the First Great Awakening, along with George Whitefield and others. The Great Awakening was a powerful move of God, a revival lasting some 15 years from 1730 to 1745. It was characterized by sermons emphasizing personal faith in Christ and experiential intimacy with God. One of the classic Christian writings that came out of the era was Jonathan Edwards treatise called “Religious Affections” (1746), written to help people distinguish between true Christian conversion and exterior emotionalism. I keep hearing the term “revival’ thrown around these days and hear of outbreaks of spiritual awakenings happening in young people all over the world. I do not doubt for one minute that God is seeking and saving the lost, especially leading hungry youth who are desperately searching for truth and meaning, to venues where they can hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, whether it be in churches or by internet media sources. Pastorally, the question is always, “is this ‘revival’ producing true spiritual transformation (i.e. conversion to Christ through repentance of sins and saving faith in Christ), or is it superficial emotionality?” In the end, I guess only the Father knows whose are His. However, Jesus did say that we could know true from false by the fruit they bear (Matt. 12:33-37).
In reading “Religious Affections” I came across something Jonathan Edwards wrote that intrigued me greatly, which I have found to be so true in my experiences as a Christian leader. He writes, “It is with professors of religion, especially such as become so in a time of outpouring of the Spirit of God, as it is with blossoms in the spring; there are vast numbers of them upon the trees, which all look fair and promising; but yet many of them never come to anything….It is the mature fruit which comes afterwards, and not the beautiful colors and smell of the blossoms, that we must judge by.” The old English in which he wrote can be somewhat difficult for our modern minds, but what Mr. Edwards is saying is that during ‘revival’ times we can get all excited about the flowers we see on the trees, and the aroma they give off, and we think this is tremendously wonderful, but we mistake it for the fruit. Many of those blossoms fall away from the tree and rot on the ground never producing anything. You get the point don’t you? It’s about the fruit…not the pretty flowers, and the appeal to the eyes and the senses. The judge of true revival conversion is not the external emotionalism, the fragrance of affections now turned from the world to religion, church or even God, but rather the production of fruit that lasts (John 15:16). It’s not how you start…it’s how you finish: “He who remains faithful to the end will be saved” (Matt. 24:13).
In the Matthew 12 passage cited above, Jesus brings the fruit down to what comes out of the heart, reflected in our words: “A good person produces good words from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil words from an evil heart. And I tell you this, that you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak. The words you say now reflect your fate then; either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:35-37). Mr. Edwards emphasizes the importance of waiting to see maturity in ‘new believers with the “Parable of the Wheat and Tares” (Matt. 13). While they are growing together in the field they look identical and can even wrap around each other. As they begin to produce fruit (seed), it becomes obvious what they truly are. Wheat produces nourishing, edible grain, while tares produce bitter, poisonous seed. It might be exciting to see all the new growth that looks so vibrant and pretty, but it’s not till we see the fruit that we can determine whether someone has truly been born again by the Spirit of God and the conversion to Christ is genuine.
Nothing grieves the heart more of a parent or pastor than to see the beginnings of the workings of “religious affections” in a person responding to Christ, only to find out that it was short lived, and nothing but empty emotional response that soon falls off the vine and rots on the ground. In Part 2 of the treatise, Edwards gives 12 indicators of conversion that are not reliable although they sure look genuine for a while. They include (I’m paraphrasing in a very brief summary): excitement for the things of God, talking about the things of God, zealously participating in the workings of God, praising God, winning the hearts of the true people of God, knowledge of the word of God. Part 3 of the treatise are indicators that reveal true believers: True humility in regard to one’s own sinfulness and need for salvation from the judgment of God; a change of nature reflecting the character of Christ in love, meekness, mercy, forgiveness; evidence of true transformation wrought by the Spirit of God, producing a changed heart and mind in line with the fruit of Holy Spirit – like true Christian love; a desire to grow deeper, know Christ more, and become holy – a pursuit after holiness; a desire for true Christian service in obedience to Christ’s desire to advance His kingdom.
I realize we are in an age of great deception with many false prophets, false teachers and hypocrites filling our airwaves and screens with all kinds of deceptively attractive teachings. I fear that many are being deceived by false gospels that are producing blossoms but not fruit. Blossoms are pretty and attractive because of their outward fragrance, but they soon fall away. Jesus made it very clear that no fruit is produced unless one abides in Him; in other words…remains attached to the vine pursuing inner nourishment from the source of life, even Jesus! (John 15) True converts to Christ love and desire Christ! They want to become like Him to the point where, as Paul says, “it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). How much more important is it in these days that we practice true discipleship, walking with new believers until they become mature fruit producers, by loving and abiding in Christ. External manifestations of religious zeal are not sufficient evidence of true conversion and surrender to Christ – Lord knows I have been misled many times. Let us do our part in bringing converts to full maturity by “teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded” (Matt. 28:20) “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:8)
Think about it! Act on it!
peace
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