:

VIII. SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

TEXT Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 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. 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.-Matt. 7, 15–23.

This Gospel forms the conclusion of the sermon on the mount, that powerful exposition of the law. In the 12th verse of this chapter the law is summed up in the words: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets." After giving this summary of His whole sermon the Lord subjoins a warning and, as it were, says: I, as a true prophet, have now taught you the true doctrine; abide in it, and “beware of false prophets," who would teach you otherwise.

Between that summary of the law and this warning against false prophets, the Lord inserts solemn words which, considered in their connection, throw much light both on that which precedes and which follows. They are these: "Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Two ways to eternity. Each and every one on earth is walking in one of these ways; for a third there is not. The one is commodious, easy to find

and easy to travel; it is downhill: the other is hard to find and hard to travel; it is uphill. The one is traveled much, the other little.

The broad way is the way of the flesh, the way in which all the world walks. There is indeed, a something in every man which upbraids him for walking in that way, but this voice in the bosom is cried down by the flesh, saying: 'It is a pleasant way and delightful to walk in it.' It is a broad way in which the carnal heart has free room to do its pleasure. Walking in this way a man need not bridle his evil lusts and desires, he can freely foster and follow them. In this way there is also good prospect of obtaining riches, honors, pleasures; for with those walking in this way it is customary to use all manner of means to gain these things. In this way a person is not harassed by the devil; for he has built this way and loves to see men walk in it. On the broad way man lives as he chooses, in avarice or in extravagance, in drunkenness or in pride. And many there be which go in thereat." No wonder. It is the broad way of the world. But, says the Lord, be ye not deceived, because many walk in this way. To walk therein is pleasant to the flesh, but the end is destruction. It is a gay way, but ends in the abyss. It is the way of which David says in his first Psalm: "The way of the ungodly shall perish." Of those walking in it St. Jude says: "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain;" and Jeremiah calls it "the way to death."

66

The narrow way is the way of following after Christ. A strait gate leads to it, the name of which is repentance. To enter by this gate a man must put away pride, self-righteousness, and the love of sin and the world, or he cannot pass through. If a man has passed through the strait gate he finds the way narrow, hedged in on both sides by the commandments of God, and leaving no room to follow the inclinations of the flesh. The devil is the enemy of those on the narrow way and he makes it a point to throw all manner of obstructions in their way, and those on the broad way taunt them for walking in so narrow a path when there is a commodious way to walk in. "And few there be that find it." No wonder that few walk in this way,

and that even of these few some turn back again. But, says the Lord, be ye not offended, because the way is narrow and few walk in it; walk ye in this way; for the end is everlasting life.

Why does the Lord place this admonition immediately before His warning against false prophets? What connection is there between walking in the narrow way and bewaring of false prophets? From the Lord's connecting these two things, walking in the narrow way and bewaring of false prophets, we learn that it is something essentially necessary to avoid following any guide who would lead us out of the narrow way. Let us therefore to-day, after we have several times heard the verbal explanation of this text, consider in general:

THE DUTY TO AVOID THE BROAD and to walK IN THE NARROW WAY IN MATTERS OF DOCTRINE AND WORSHIP.

I.

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." Prophets, in the sense in which the word is here used, are all those who teach, or pretend to teach, the Word and will of God. True prophets are those who teach the Word of God right, false prophets are those who corrupt the Word of God by introducing their own opinions or the traditions of men. Not only the false prophets themselves, but also their doctrine may have the "form of godliness," as the Lord here says that they "come in sheep's clothing," yet the true inwardness of their doctrine is always destructive to the soul. Now this is the command of the Lord, to distinguish between true and false prophets, and to adhere to the true, but to avoid all false teachers.

But, as false prophets come in sheep's clothing, by what are we to distinguish the true prophet from the false? "Ye shall know them by their fruits," says the Lord. The fruits of a prophet are his prophecies. By these it is known, whether he

is a true or a false prophet. A tree is known by its fruit, a bird by its song, a prophet by his prophecies, doctrines and teachings. "By thy words," said the Lord on another occasion, "thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Matt. 12, 37. True of all men, this saying primarily applies to prophets. The touchstone by which the doctrines of all teachers must be tried is the Word of the apostles and prophets. By this Word we are to examine the preaching we hear. We should lay it down as our unalterable principle: 'What is in agreement with this Word we adopt, no matter who says it, and what is not in agreement with this Word we reject, even though the most learned and pious man on earth say it.' To do this each and every one is commanded; for to the whole multitude gathered around Him the Lord said: "Beware of false prophets."

Do you say: 'I see that clearly enough; it is true, and my own conscience tells me that I should hold to the truth and not to error; but it is not so easily done; there are difficulties and obstacles in the way.' That is exactly what I meant to tell you: to beware of all false and to adhere solely to true prophets belongs to walking in the narrow way; it is not something sweet and pleasant to the flesh.

Which, in regard to doctrine and faith, is the narrow and which the broad way? The narrow way is, in all simplicity, or rather, if you will allow me the expression, in all foolishness to accept, to hold, to confess the written Word of God and to carry it out in practice. We walk in the narrow way, if we bind ourselves down to the Word; if we say: "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them," Is. 8, 20, and we will not hear them. We walk in the narrow way, if we reserve unto ourselves no room, no liberty, no chance to bring in philosophy, or reason, or to explain the Word according to science, or preconceived ideas, or theories of men. We walk in the narrow way, if we in all things carry out in practice what the Word commands; if we say: 'So it is written and so I do, let the consequences be what they will; let people like it or dislike it.' We walk in the narrow way, if we say: 'The written Word is

supreme authority, from which there is no appeal; what the words express decides our faith and governs our practice;' if we leave no back-door open to escape the Word, and if we seek no artful contrivances to explain it so as to "please men."

So binding ourselves down to the Word we in truth walk in a narrow way, because in this way we are hedged in, and can believe and teach nothing which is not plainly expressed in the Word of Scripture. Is it the right way? Most assuredly it is; for when the Lord here warns us to beware of false prophets He even thereby commands us to adhere only to true prophets. Now if we adhere to the written Word we do adhere to true prophets, because the apostles and prophets were the instruments of the Holy Ghost, as Paul declares: "We speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth." 1 Cor. 2, 13. The words of the Scripture are the words of the Holy Ghost, and they mean what they express; and it is walking in the narrow way to adopt them as they stand and to do what they command.

On the other hand, it is walking in the broad way to refuse to be bound by the Word of Scripture, to reserve liberty to believe whatever suits the taste, or to claim a right to construe the words of the Scriptures according to one's own pleasure. The liberalistic ideas so widely prevalent in our days cause many to ask: Why should I be bound down to that old book? why should I not be free to believe what I please?' To be so minded is certainly the next stepping-stone to infidelity; for if a man thinks he has a right to believe what he pleases in matters of religion, then his carnal reason will very soon not want to believe anything except what his senses perceive. We must not blend together civil liberty of conscience and emancipation from the authority of the Divine Word. Our government grants liberty to every one to believe what he pleases and to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience, and this liberty the government justly guarantees to all its citizens; for the civil authorities were ordained to promote the temporal welfare of the citizens, and not to make provision for the salvation of souls; but we are here not speaking of civil liberty,