December 18

Known by our fruits

“Ye shall know them by their fruits. . . . Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. . . . Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:16-17, 20).
What is the use of an apple tree if it never bears any apples?
And what is the use of calling yourself a Christian if there is no fruit in your life, no change in your conduct?
A boy went home from a meeting one evening, and told his little sister that he had got a new heart.
“Have you?” she innocently replied, “then please show it to me!”
And that is just what all Christians have to do, to show in their changed life and conduct that they have a new heart.

Actions speak louder than words, because they commonly cost more; we usually test the utterances of the lips by the conduct of the life. The words of promise spoken at the marriage altar are weighed in the scales of wedlock; they may prove to be solid gold, or they may be lighter than a feather. We test the solemn confessions and covenants made by many of you before this pulpit by the lives you are now leading before the world. Our Master’s own challenge is, “by their fruits ye shall know them.” The religious truth contained in a book, or in a creed, or in a discourse, is only a theory. The same truth, if wrought out into noble deeds and godly character becomes certified by experiment.
Christianity, attested by its fruits, is unanswerable. If it purifies the human heart; if it elevates the affections; if it conquers sinful lusts, and subdues evil passions; if it prompts to generous sympathies and noble deeds; if it sweetens the home and cleanses society; if it lifts fallen humanity up toward God; and if it makes its possessors the better, stronger, purer and holier—then doth it vindicate its divine origin and establish its divine authority. Such a religion no scoffer can laugh down, and no philosopher can silence.
—Theodore Cuyler.

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