The Pulpit Commentary — Matthew — Volume 1 — Section 304

the other. '.l.'he broad way is not a short cot to the narrow way. Each t.as a. sepiua.te destination. W o do not all come to the same end. But the character of the en,\ is detormined by the charactor of the way. Thls makes the way of great importance. It is not a city in which we dwell, nor even a temporary camping-ground on which we rest for a night. We are always moving along it. The great question is-Whither does it tend? Christ sets the alternative before us , ery clearly-eternal li:e or destruction. Here ia reason for rousing ourselves and list.ening to the urgent entreaty of the Saviour, "Enter ye in," etc.-\V. F. A. Vera. 15-20.-The tree and its fruit. It is not enough for Christ to spread his own wholesome toaching; he most warn against the dangerous influence of Lad teachers. Later in his ministry he had occasion to speak of the pretended shepherds, who were really thieves, or at beat hirelings (John x. 10, 12). Here bis reference to the tree and its fruit is meant to be applied to the teacher and bis work. It shows that he expects people to be watchful over those who assume to be their instructor11. Christiana are to judge prophets. J. '.J.'HE QUALITY OF THE WORK 18 DETERMINED BY THE CHARACTER OF THE WORKER. 1. Worlc is fruit. A man's true work is not something which be has chosen to do by free selection from any number of possibilities. It is the very product of his being; it is himself thrown out and expressed in action. All real work is a growth from a man's life. 2. 'J.'hefruit must correspond to the tree. It is not just a miniature tree, but it is "after its kind." The teaching and life-work may not be merely photographs of the mind of the teacher and worker, but they will correspond in kind. This is necessary because it is natural. Christ's parallel goes beyond an illustration, and becomes an argument from analogy. The whole course of nature makes it monstrous to suppose that good work can come from bad men, or bad work from good men. II. THE WORKER MUST BE JUDGED BY ms worui:. 1. He should not be fudged pre- maturely. We 11.re tempted to form hasty prejudices about people, the results of first impressions. But these are most delusive. A pretentious or an attractive teachet may be worthless. One who vexes and offends us may be o. very prophet of God. The present popularity of a preacher is a poor test of the value of hie ministrations. 2. His work must be examined. Our Lord distinctly requires this. We are not to judge men in private life and as to their own individual conduct. But when any one takes on him the office of a public teacher he invites examination. It is not incumbent on us to criticize for the sake of the criticism, but we must decide whether a man whom we follow is leading us aright. 3. The test is to be found in final ~ffccts. There are snares in the judgment by result11. We may look only at external effects; we may be impatient for quick returns; we may mistake quantity for quality. It is necessary to wait for some autumn fruit ripening. 'l'hen the question is as to kind and quality. If these are good, the teaching is wholesome. The best form of Christian evidences is the biography of Christian men. Honest missionary reports are an Important element in apologetics. III. 'l'HE BAD WORK WILL CONDEMN THE UNWORTHY WORKER. The tree only exists for the sake of its fruit. Its goodly shape, its vigorous growth, its luxuriant foliage, count for nothing, or worse than nothing, for they cumber the ground. What would be a merit in the forest is a fault in the garden. 'l'rees planted for fruit must bear fruit, or they will be useless. It is bad to produce poisonous or worthless fruit; but it ia also o. matter of condemnation to be barren, like the fruitless fig tree of the parable (Luke xiii. 6-9). God's tost at the great judgment will ignore the fame of popular preaching, the glitter of daring thinking, the honour of exalted position. All will go by tlic quality of the output. And on this teat will follow more than the acceptance or the condemnation of the work. The worker himself will be judged-condemned or rewanled.-W. F. A. Vera. 24-27.-The rock and the sand. Christ turns from the judgment of the teacher, in the parable of the tree and the fruit, to the jud:;ment of the bearer, in the parable now before us. The hearer is responsible as well as the teacher. I. LIVING 1s BUILDING. Every man is building himself a house, for all life-work is the putting together of a habitation in which the worker will ho.ve to dwell. Soma 298 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW. [on. vn.1-29,