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Devotion Archive

True Faith: Judgement #5
2nd May 2008

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Good Morning God's Treasures,

I'm led to continue discussing supporting Scriptures to MT 7: 1-6. MT 7: 1-2, "Do not judge others, so that God will not judge you, for God will judge you in the same way you judge others, and He will apply to you the same rules you apply to others." Verses 3-5 are Christ's use of hyperbole to tell us to guard against hypocrisy. He speaks of not trying to remove a speck in another's eye when we have a log in our own. MT 7: 6 encourages us to use discernment in making ordinary judgments that God allows us to make. "Do not give what is holy to dogs-they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your pearls in front of pigs-they will only trample them underfoot." Today, we will examine the metaphor of a tree and its fruit, found in MT 7: 15-20.

"Be on your guard against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves. You will know them by what they do. Thorn bushes do not bear grapes, and briers do not bear figs. A healthy tree bears good fruits, but a poor tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a poor tree cannot bear good fruit. And any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. So then, you will know the false prophets by what they do." It's not hard for someone like myself to write about being gullible, because in my youth I was definitely that. Perhaps there were extenuating reasons for my easy escapism from the pain of self-loathing and need for feeling respected and loved. But I was a prime target for "wolves in sheep's clothing." As a young adult, I found myself suddenly surrounded by what appeared to be interest on the part of others, the attention I thought I wanted, and opportunities galore to feel needed. That is exactly what happened to me when I was gently pulled in to a belief system that was not in keeping with the teachings of God. It was only after I had been in it for awhile that I became aware of the limits on women; certain doors of opportunity were firmly shut. God was patient with me and gradually led me to the comparison between this group's teaching and that of the Bible. Slowly and steadily, my loving Lord inched me toward exiting from this group and into His flock. All the while, He protected me from it's darkest practices. I was beginning the long push up the hill toward spiritual maturity, a push that is still going on, and the Lord Jesus began helping me step by step toward Him.

Watered down theology, theology taken out of context of the Bible, and theology twisted by human intervention is the stuff of "wolves in sheep's clothing." Charles Spurgeon, a deeply respected theologian from the past, put it this way, "There is not enough left to make soup for a sick grasshopper." This kind of teaching preys on the immature, the unstable, and the gullible. It doesn't matter what the reasons are for the condition of the spirits of the people who buy into it. All that matters is that they are brought into the group to serve its human-crafted purposes. Such groups as the Gnostics of the past qualify as this kind of false prophecy. The Gnostics taught that only those knowing the "secrets" are going to go to heaven and that Christ was only God until His physical death. Then, another person would be made god. Gnosticism was the belief system that was popular during Paul's time, which was, I believe, the reason that God called Paul into His service to present an alternative that wasn't apostasy. Souls have always been at stake, which is why Paul was inspired to write so much about our need to believe in Jesus Christ [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25].

Wrongful teaching is, in this writer's humble opinion, the work of the devil. There is no kind way to get this point across. To avoid it, we must have discernment, and that comes from daily study of God's word, prayer, and applying what we learn to our lives as the Lord directs us to do. Being able to tell a tree from its fruit is an important metaphor in this passage. IS 8: 20 demonstrates that this is not just a teaching of the NT. "You are to answer them [people with messages from the spirits and who consult the dead on behalf of the living], 'Listen to what the Lord is teaching you! Do not listen to mediums-what they tell you will do you no good.'" We all have read about what happened to Solomon toward the end of his life when he shucked off the wisdom God had given him, married 700 women and began allowing worship of foreign gods in his household [1 K 11: 3, 8-10, 11-13]. Licentious living and destructive teaching without the word of God accurately offered extinguish God's light in people's lives. In my own experience, it led to real unhappiness that lasted quite a long time. I was blessed to be protected by a God Who wanted me to know just enough of this to open my eyes to my need for the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. PS 139: 5, "He is all around us on every side; He protects us with His power." We must heed the warning of 2 PET 2: 1 keenly. "False prophets appeared in the past among the people, and in the same way false teachers will appear among you. They will bring in destructive, untrue doctrines, and will deny the Master Who redeemed them, and so they will bring upon themselves sudden destruction." God has given us a way to protect ourselves. We should always remember 2 TIM 3: 16-17, knowing that "All Scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching the truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that the person who serves God may be fully qualified equipped to do every kind of good deed."

PRAYER: O Lord, it is with utmost reverence that we approach Your throne today to praise and thank You for Your presence in our lives. It is so easy to be sucked in by false teaching. That is one of a myriad of reasons why we seek and need Your intervention in our thinking and in our entire lives. False prophets make us think that what they offer is the answer to long life and happiness. It is not. John writes about this in 1 JN 4: 1-4, "My dear friends, do not believe all who claim to have the Spirit, but test them to find out if the spirit they have comes from God. For many false prophets have gone out everywhere. This is how you will be able to know whether it is God's Spirit: anyone who acknowledges that Jesus Christ came as a human being has the Spirit Who comes from God. But anyone who denies this about Jesus does not have the Spirit from God. The spirit that he has is from the enemy of Christ; you heard that it would come, and now it is here in the world already. But you belong to God, my children, and have defeated the false prophets, because the Spirit Who is in you is more powerful than the spirits in those who belong to the world." There is so much to make us aware and to comfort us in this passage, Dearest Abba. We are grateful that You have given it to us, through John. We join in the prayer of a king, in PS 101: 7, "No liar will live in my palace; no hypocrites will remain in my presence." REV 21: 27 about the New Jerusalem comforts us, "But nothing that is impure will enter the city, not anyone who does shameful things or tells lies. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of the Living will enter the city." We thank and praise You for this protection, for giving us Your word and the Holy Spirit to understand it, and for loving us so very much. In Christ's holy name, we pray. Amen.

Next week, the Holy Spirit directs me to write about MT 7: 21-23, a passage that that is titled "I Never Knew You." These are more of Christ's Sermon on the Mount words about hypocrisy and how Christ recognizes the true attitude of each human heart. I examined several Scriptures that will help us answer Who Christ really is in our lives. Space permitting, I will share some of those delicious morsels of God's love and wisdom. Yes, even with all the of the challenges of gaining discernment and recognizing the "wolves in sheep's clothing" in our lives, the Lord is here with us 24/7 to help us, to rescue us, to pull us closer to eternal life with Him. PS 71: 3 is a plea I often use in prayer. "O Lord, be my Rock and Refuge, to which I can always go; give the command to save me, for You are my Rock and my Fortress." He provides strength and comfort too. PS 71: 20-21, "You have sent trouble and suffering on me, but You will restore my strength; You will keep me from the grave; You will make me greater than ever; You will comfort me again." We can boldly express our confidence in the Lord and believe in His truth. We are truly a blessed people, because we are the "sheep of His pasture" [from PS 100: 3]. The Good Shepherd knows His sheep and gave up His life for them [JN 10: 15, 18]. Praise be to Him!

Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn

© Lynn Johnson 2012. All Rights Reserved.

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