"By Their Fruits You Will Know Them" Kathryn Kuhlman Matthew 7:20

Today you and I are going to have some old -fashioned Missouri cornbread. And it's going to be very old -fashioned. It's going to be just the kind that Mama made. And it's going to be good for you. It's going to be so good for you. Oh, you may not enjoy it. You may not appreciate it at first. But would you please just sit there with an open heart and an open mind and I'll tell you how this little heart -to -heart talk all started. The engineer and myself were discussing something in the studio and... We were discussing a person. And in the middle of our discussion, he turned and said, why don't you talk about this over the air? It may help somebody listening. Do you realize that all these things are unrehearsed? I wonder sometimes if you really do. Do you realize that when I come into your home and you and I have these heart -to -heart talks, that I don't work with the script? I just sit here and talk to you just as though I was in your own home and just as though I'd walked into your kitchen. The door was unlocked and I come in and say, have you been waiting for me? I was born noisy. You know, it's the most natural thing in the world for me to say, hi. Sure, I can stand on the streetcar and see somebody a block away and think nothing of just opening my mouth when it comes out and I say, hi there, you know. Mama always did say I was the noisiest kid that was ever born. Ask anybody in Concordia, Missouri, and they'll tell you the noisiest. Kid that ever lived in Concordia, Missouri was Joe Kuman's girl. And it's just like that. Mm -hmm. I remember when I was very young and Mama was always afraid that I was going to do something to disgrace the family. Always. And I remember that Papa said to her one day, Now, Emma. You won't have to worry about Catherine. It's these quiet girls that you have to worry about. These girls that are so good and so quiet. You have to watch them. But you'll never have to worry about Catherine because she's so loud. She's so noisy that everybody knows every minute where she is and what she's doing. And it's kind of like that, you know? Sure. Well, sir, I'll tell you how this little heart -to -heart talk was born. The engineer and myself were discussing a person who is very irritable. Everything. The slightest little thing. gets on his nerves. Just, you know, some people will fight at the drop of the hat, but he's one that you don't have to drop the hat. He's ready to fight, even though he doesn't even see a hat. And he takes everything to himself. He's sure that you are meaning him. when you weren't even thinking about him. Just constantly. Until one day I actually said, I believe that's the meanest person in the world. I just think he is. Then we got to analyzing him and I said, well, how could he be anything else but irritable? Because we were both trying to understand him. How could he be sweet and wonderful? How could he really be happy? How could he really be a cheerful person? How could he really be a big person when he's not being true to himself? His life, his personal life is very questionable. Inside of him, there couldn't possibly be peace. You know, it is impossible for a man or a woman to be living in adultery and have peace of mind and peace of soul. That thing constantly is nagging you like a cancer. in the physical body. It's there. It's inescapable. There's just something about it. You may not be aware of it, but it's there. It's a constant pain. It's a constant knowing. You may not be conscious of it, but if this very moment you are living a double life, You are living in adultery. Nobody in God's heaven may know it but you and the person with whom you are committing adultery. Just the two of you, you feel. Know anything about it. It is done with such secrecy. And yet, that thing is knowing at you. It's knowing. It's dragging you down mentally, physically. It isn't long before you are wondering what's happened to your nerves. You're wondering what's happened to you. You cut people off. And the strangest thing is that you put the blame on everybody else but yourself. Mm -hmm. You'll blame your wife. You'll blame your husband. You'll blame your employer. You'll blame the neighbors. When really, if you just stop and look yourself directly in the face, you'll find that the trouble lies within yourself. You cannot be a thief. Oh, you may say I haven't robbed the First National Bank. Ah, I haven't. It isn't a matter of the thousands that I am taking. It's just that, well, mentally you have sold yourself on the fact that you have a right to those things. Mm -hmm. If you were caught at it, you'd have a good argument. You'd say, well... It's rightfully mine. It's amazing how we can sell ourselves a bill of goods. We can just sell ourselves right down the river. You cannot have peace of mind and peace of soul. You cannot be a happy, you cannot be a free person. You cannot be a big person. You cannot be a happy person if you're doing anything underhanded. You cannot. If you are living a double life, I don't care what it is, if you're not living a life that's above board, it is impossible for you to be a happy, a contented, a free person. It does show. It shows. Somebody said, is that the way your mother made Missouri cornbread? That's exactly the way she made it. I'm going to read you a portion of the Word of God. Oh, the Bible is great. Oh, it's so practical. And this thing of living the Christian life? Life is a life. It's not just something that you enjoy on Sundays or the hour that you sit in the place of worship on Sunday. You don't hang it up in the closet like you do your Sunday clothes. No, it's a life. Seven days a week, 24 hours a day. 365 days a year, 60 seconds of every minute of your life. It is not only an experience, it is literally a life. And it affects every part of your living, your life, and your being. Let me read from the seventh chapter of Matthew. ye shall know them by their fruits do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles he asks a question even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit evil fruit neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit and it's just like that wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them the only way that i can know a person is by their fruits by their outward action, their deeds, their conversation. I cannot look deep into the recesses of their hearts. I cannot look into their minds. The only way I know you is through your conversation, by the life that you live, the fruits of that life. But those fruits are a result of what you are on the inside of you. That's what Jesus is saying here. And it's just like that. You can tell a great deal about a person from just studying his attitude. People are mean and suspicious and vindictive outwardly. Only when they are mean and suspicious inwardly. If you see somebody who is mean, who is suspicious, somebody who'll snap at you, then there's no reason for it at all. You know that inwardly, there's a very disturbed person. Inwardly, at the very root of that person, inside. Inwardly, they're mean. They're vindictive. They're suspicious. And when a person on the inside is clean and good, when they've been born again, they know. know that God is their Heavenly Father. They are confident. There's assurance. There's a cleanness there that you just can't describe. There are no words in the human vocabulary to describe it. They go to bed at night. Peace of mind and peace of soul. They awake in the morning. They're positive. There's assurance. Mm -hmm. Then the fruit that comes from such a life is good fruit. They're happy people. They're contented people. And the more confident a person is of his own value as a person, the better his attitude toward others and the world in general. He just adds up like two and two make four. It's just like that. And big people, and I call these people big people. Now, when I speak of big people, I'm not talking about their materialistic value. You know, we put such value, we've gotten so materialistic in our thinking that we've gotten so that we've got a dollar and cent sign on everything. I'm not talking about a moneyed man or a moneyed woman. Forget it. The cheapest thing in the world is money. I'm talking about things that money can't buy. And when I talk about... big people. I'm talking about people who know how to love. I'm talking about people who know how to forgive. I'm talking about people who can smile. I'm talking about people who hold no grudges. I'm talking about people who aren't always carrying a chip on their shoulders. I'm talking about people who are self -assured. When I say big people, that's what I'm talking about. You can be a big person and not have a copper cent. You can be a big person and not own a stick of furniture. That's right. And a big person knows how to give. And a big person knows how to love. And big people just naturally treat you well. They're smiley. They're courteous. They're confident. Being happy on the inside, they reflect it. And they have nothing to fear. You see, fear is one of the very worst things in the world that you can take into your body. Fear is the worst enemy in the world that you can take into your mind. Fear is an awful thing. And the man, the woman who's living in adultery, constantly lives under the shadow of fear. Fear of being caught. No man can be happy, no woman can be happy if they are living under the shadow of fear. You can't do it. You cannot be happy. Big people are just happy because they're happy within. And they reflect it in everything they do. You meet them on the street, they're perfect strangers. But... They'll smile when they pass you. You've never seen them before. They've never seen you before. But when you glance up in their face, there's an automatic smile there. They have nothing to fear. They can look the whole world in the face. They're clean on the inside. It's only little people who'll treat you badly. And these are the people who have never really grown up. never mature. Something stunted that inner growth. They have no confidence in themselves. Not really. How can a person have confidence in himself when he knows that he's wrong in his living and wrong in his life? And since they're not happy within themselves, not confident in their own ability and worth as an individual, They can only see the world in their own reflection. As a result, their treatment of you is a kind of punishment of themselves. Do you want to know something? We can only love others to the extent that we love ourselves. Mm -hmm. By carefully observing how others treat you, especially strangers such as store clerks and salesmen and elevator operators, the men at the gasoline station, or the fellows in the garage, or the bellboys, employees of all kind. If you observe how they treat you, you can make a pretty good evaluation of what these people think of you, and you'll know pretty well what you really are like. Oh, God forbid! that anybody in the whole world, when they see me coming, would say, oh, quick, quick, quick, quick, run, run, run, run. Here comes Catherine Coleman. Oh, dear God, I would feel like I was the biggest failure in the whole world. If anybody, whether it's the little newsboy on the street, or whether it's the fellows in the garage who see me coming in, or whether it's the bellboy in whatever hotel I'm checking in. I tell you, it's the nicest feeling in the world. I feel like the richest person in the whole world. When I can get in a taxi cab, no matter whether it's in Los Angeles or in Pittsburgh or in New York or wherever it is, and the cab driver will say, why, that's you, Miss Kuhlman. You've just made my day. You know something? I could just... Honestly, I feel like the richest person in the world. When I walk across the street and the policeman on the corner, right in the middle of the traffic will walk over and say, Catherine Coleman, just seeing you makes me feel so good. The smile on your face just... I feel like it's a wonderful world just... seeing you, you know. When somebody, maybe just a newsboy, a half a block away will say, Hi, Catherine! And I'm just as loud and high back at him. Uh -huh. Or when the garbage collector will just rattle those old garbage cans a little louder. Oh, sure, I can see them out of the window. I've seen him empty the garbage cans and put the lid on and wait a little bit and I didn't come out. So he just takes the top of that garbage can and he just rambles it real hard. Just cause he wants me to come out and say, hi, how are ya? Oh, sure. Kinda makes the garbage smell a little sweeter, you know? It's like that. God forbid that anybody in the whole world, when they see Catherine Cooman coming, want to run. Mm -hmm. Sure. Oh, you can't give love to anyone else unless you have it on the inside of you. Mm -hmm. Sure, you know. People frequently make the mistake that when they meet a successful and a happy person, they're so quick to say, well, I'd be happy too if I had what he's got. You know, it's a natural tendency to think that his attitude is the result of his success. It's not like that at all. That's not the case. It's just the reverse. Oh, I've heard it. You've heard it. You may have been guilty of having said it. Oh, sure. If I was in their position, I could smile, too. Sure, if I had what they had, I could be happy, too. I could smile. Mm -hmm. But it isn't like that. When you see a successful person, when you see somebody who's happy, it isn't the money they have that makes them happy. No. It's the peace on the inside of them. Knowing you're clean, knowing you're right with God. having that wonderful relationship with him sure by their fruits jesus said ye shall know what's on the inside