The bramble bushes
are dropping their flowers
and from their buds
you can just make out
little green fruit
that you hope
will become a nice crop of blackberries.
The bramble bush
is quite a pest
it can choke a garden
and is very difficult to get rid of
especially when it can
inflict nasty scratches.
But it can bear good fruit,
lovely, juicy blackberries.
A good year can yield
blackberry jam,
blackberry juice
and blackberries and cream.
Perhaps it makes
the pestilential nature
of the bramble bush
worthwhile.
Of course,
if it doesn't bear fruit,
or the fruit is sour,
or if there is some
unpleasant substance in the soil
that the bramble soaks up
then the whole bush
is dug up and burnt.
By the bramble's fruit
shall ye know it.
[PAUSE]
Our Lord is very clear
about treating the prophets
who come in his name
the same way.
Clergy need to be prepared
to show their good fruit
to people in order
to assure their congregation
that they are truly in it
for God.
Too often
we see some smiling
man in a suit
proclaim the Lord Jesus
only to divert the donations
he receives
Into his comfortable lifestyle.
These folk get exposed
and found out.
And that is when
we must use our intelligence
to stay away from them.
[PAUSE]
Even this warning is proof
of Jesus' love for us.
He doesn't want us
to be mindless,
unthinking,
allowing ourselves
to be blown about
by any wind of doctrine.
A prophet worth the name
will remember this,
remember the entrusted duty
to preach the Word of God.
Prophets, preachers,
teachers and clergy
must be sincere.
Our Lord is clear
that our true motives
will always find a way
of revealing themselves.
The fruit that we bear
is the fruit of our sincerity
as we proclaim
the Word of God.
[PAUSE]
This Word of God
will not be predictions
of the End of the World
because Jesus told us
that we will not ever know
when the end is coming.
Prophets who declare
that they know when
the End is coming
are contradicting
Our Lord.
Their fruit is confusion
and comes from their
intellectual pride.
[PAUSE]
The Word of God is attractive
but not poisonous.
Sometimes it is hard
because it shows us things
to put right in ourselves
and we know that.
But the Word of God
will remind you
of the love of God
and help you
to stand on your own two feet.
A prophet who makes you
dependent on their approval
rather than on the approval of God
is trying to control you.
Their fruit is intoxication
and comes from their
desire to control others
rather than love them.
There is a reason why
intoxication
comes from the word toxic.
[PAUSE]
The Word of God
will not be showy or loud.
Prophets who perform miracles
and make their message
about the miracles
are craving your worship.
Our Lord preferrs
to do His miracles
quietly
in the company of His friends
behind closed doors.
His message
is more important
than His miracles
because He doesn't
crave your worship
but rather needs you to know
that worshipping Him
will bring you all the joy
that you could ever desire.
Prophets who crave your attention
are trying to be false gods.
Their fruits are idolatry and pride
and come from a deep insecurity
and lack of faith in God.
[PAUSE]
And the list goes on.
But we can take comfort
in that true prophets
work for the good
of the people
they are called to serve,
who recognise
the value God places in people
and seeks to bring to them
the best fruit from God Himself.
Their fruit is love.
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