And by their fruits... Fruit? I hope it's tasty.

Periodically over my life people tell me I'm a fruit, I'm sure they mean it as a complement. If I was a fruit I think I'd be a pineapple, rough and tough on the outside, lovely and luscious on the inside. But matter of fact, we are all fruits, well, we all bare fruit at least. Whether we do it intentionally or not, every action, every choice, every decision we make has an influence on who we become and, more generally than not, on who others become. If you want good fruit to take root, you plant it in good soil. If you want it to grow, you nourish it with vital nutrients and minerals. If you want it to bear fruit, you give it the light of the sun. Now we could easily go into a discussion on comparing people to plants and fruit; if we want our souls to take root we plant it in the soil of the gospel, if we want it to grow we nourish it with the vital nutrients of the scriptures and prayer, and if we want it to bear fruit we give it the light of the Son, the Son of God, our Living Waters. But we won't go into anymore detail on that for now. If you do want to hear an apostle go into that though, click here! 

That's what I do want to talk about though, the claim of prophets and apostles on the Earth today! Colossians 1:18 tells us that "[Christ] is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead..." Ephesians 2:19-20 affirms the importance of Christ in the church AND of the men He called to establish the foundation of the church: "...ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone." Without the foundation of a building, the structure cannot stand and crumbles, likewise the church (household of God) crumbles without the foundation established by Jesus Christ. Now there are different interpretations within the Christian world as to whether that foundation was meant to be just the words of Jesus, the prophets, and the apostles until they were finished and revelation was ceased completely, or if that foundation was to be a continuing line of revelation through Jesus Christ as he calls new prophets and apostles. Well, what I think.... that doesn't matter. Let's see what Jesus has to say about it. 

Let's jump to Matthew 7, the concluding remarks of the greatest sermon ever given, the Sermon on the Mount. In verses 15-20 the Savior said:

"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."

By their fruits ye shall know them. Jesus is not teaching that there will be no more prophets.  If there were no more He would have said so, but if anything, He is teaching us the exact opposite. There will be more prophets, there will be more sent by Him, and He is giving us the Spiritual 'litmus-test' to distinguish a man called of God and a man called of men. So now about these fruits... 

What a splendid banana? Looks delicious right (assuming you like bananas)?





Let's open it up and see...

Holy guacamole Batman! I just saw my 'knife' flash before my eyes!... Ok, obviously it's staged, you probably won't ever find an actual knife inside of a real banana (if you do please let me and your lawyer know), but hey, we are using an analogy here, so anything goes. It came to me in banana's clothing, but inward was a ravening knife.

So how did the Savior warn us about that?
John 7:24 "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."

He also warns us that "Not everyone 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. 7:21-23
So there's our basis for judging the fruits of men. When judging their fruits, we cannot simply look at the appearance or maybe the stigma or reputation that surrounds something to judge it, for there will be many that appear to do "wonderful works", but the Lord has looked beyond the appearance and He knows what is truly inside them, they are even "workers of iniquity."

Which brings me to my final point, the fruits of God. We know the Holy Bible to be the word of God (as represented by this apple). It is the tangible "fruit" that we have to be able to read, ponder, pray about, and ultimately to be able to know about our Savior's divinity and truthfulness. God has given us addition fruit, as a testament that He has still called men to His work in these days as in days of old. The fruit that He has given us to examine is called The Book of Mormon (as represented by this banana). Just as the Bible is a testament of the prophets in Jerusalem and the dealing of Christ with the people there, the Book of Mormon is a testament of the prophets in the ancient Americas and the dealings of Christ with them there and His ministry among them after His resurrection.
God has brought forth another volume of scripture! It's beautiful. It's breathtaking. It teaches us the gospel of Jesus Christ so plainly that we cannot misunderstand. It testifies of His teachings in the Bible, and ultimately of His calling of prophets and apostles in these latter-days. All we have to do is examine this fruit. We can open it, we can look at it. Many will judge by the appearance though or what they have heard and "set it as a thing of naught." Oh what they are missing! In the end, the greatest way we can know is through this promise from God, 
"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things." God as always invited us to 'seek and we shall find, ask and we shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto us'.
Listen to the words of an ancient American prophet, "For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" 

In other words, how knoweth a man the fruit that he has not opened? How knoweth a man a book by it's cover? How knoweth a man his brother by his appearance? (the Lord warned about this anciently in the Old Testament as well to the prophet Samuel.)

I testify to you that the Book of Mormon is good fruit. I have opened it. I have read it. I have pondered about it. I have prayed and asked God, and He has given me an answer. It is true! It has swelled my being, it has enlarged my soul, it has enlightened my understanding, and it is delicious to me. It has brought the fruits of the Spirit into my life, even "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness" and" temperance"(Galatians 5:22). Someday we will meet at the pleasing judgment bar of the Great Jehovah. I hope, that because of righteous choices, to us it will be pleasing. I also hope that you will have been able to partake of this fruit and know for yourself as I do. I testify of these things in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, amen.