Daily Devotional For Friday, November 22, 2024
Today is Fabulous Friday and in a few more hours you may be home from work or school or both or maybe you are retired. Either way, the weekend is almost here for you to rest and relax. We are making our way through Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount. We come now to Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:15-20:
“Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. (16) You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? (17) So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. (18) A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. (19) Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (20) So then, you will know them by their fruits” (NASB).
After giving the invitation to “enter by the narrow gate,” to come to God by the only way He has provided – through Jesus Christ, we come to one reason so many people choose the wide gate instead of being diligent and intentional to find the narrow gate – false teachers. Today, and for three days before we wrap verses 15-20 up, we are going to look at three ways or three tests you can apply to spot and identify a false prophet/teacher/preacher.
The first way is by their character. This focuses on and reveals their inner motives, standards, loyalties, attitudes, and ambitions. Each of these will eventually show through in what he/she does and how he/she acts. John the Baptizer was not one to mince words, especially when it came to the hypocritical religious leaders of his day. When some of them came to him to be baptized, he said this to them in Luke 3:8, “Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham” (NASB).
John the Baptizer knew their self-righteous lifestyles contradicted that they did not love God nor wanted to serve God. When the people heard John say this to these religious leaders, they asked him, “What is good fruit?” John the Baptizer responded with this in Luke 3:11, “The man who has two tunics is to share with him who has none; and he who has food is to do likewise” (NASB). Then some tax collectors asked John what they should do and responded to them this way in Luke 3:13, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to” (NASB). John’s point is the person who is sincerely repentant and says they love and trust God, will also love and serve those in need that God loves. That same character evaluation is found in these verses:
- James 2:15-17, “If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, (16) and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? (17) Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself” (NASB).
- 1 John 3:17, “But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (NASB).
- 1 John 4:20, “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (NASB).
We are not saved by good works, but we are saved to do good works. Look at Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (NASB). The Apostle Paul reinforces this same idea in Colossians 1:10, “So that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (NASB). Even Jesus emphasized this same idea in John 15:8, 10, “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so [d]prove to be My disciples . . . (10) If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (NASB). It all comes down to character.
Fruit-bearing is connected to character and it is not something that grows externally. It grows internally by the indwelling presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul wrote this in Philippians 1:11, “Having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (NASB). Then the Apostle Paul gives us a list of that internal spiritual fruit the Holy Spirit produces in us in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (NASB).
Anyone who has been called by God, especially a prophet or teacher or preacher, will bear this good spiritual fruit in both their attitudes and actions. This means that anyone who is a false prophet/teacher/preacher will bear bad fruit of his self-righteousness, greed, manipulation, selfishness, and pride. So, what do they do? They try to hide or mask their bad fruit. I am not naive here. Yes, someone who is a false prophet/teacher/preacher can hide or mask their bad fruit for a time.
How do they do this? By expounding their Bible knowledge, or who they are friends with in higher places or positions, belonging to certain Christian organizations or even by simply speaking all the right church lingo. So, how they demonstrate their attitudes and actions around non-believers exposes them. What is in their heart will eventually expose their rotten and impersonating fruit. The Apostle Peter reminds us of what good fruit looks like that validates that we are genuine and authentic. Look at 2 Peter 1:5-8:
“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral [g]excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, (6) and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, (7) and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. (8) For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (NASB).
And then Peter drives the nail in the coffin so to speak with this in 2 Peter 1:18-21:
“And we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. (19) So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. (20) But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, (21) for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God” (NASB).
See, it all hinges on character. Pastor and author John MacArthur warns us about this:
“Unless those who claim to be God’s spokesmen give evidence that their deepest motives and life patterns are to honor, glorify, and magnify God, and to grow in humility, holiness, and obedience, we can be sure that God has not called or sent them. If they are oriented to money, prestige, recognition, popularity, power, sexual looseness, and selfishness, they do not belong to Jesus Christ. If they are proud, arrogant, resentful, egotistical, and self-indulgent, they clearly are false prophets. The true test, a beatitude attitude of humility, can be summed up in Jesus’ words in John 7:18, “He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who is seeking the glory of the One who sent Him, He is true, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (NASB) – (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Matthew,” p. 469).
Pastor and author Martyn-LLoyd Jones writes this:
“A Christian can generally be known by his very appearance. The man who really believes in the holiness of God, and who knows his own sinfulness and the blackness of his own heart, the man who believes in the judgment of God and the possibility of hell and torment, the man who really believes that he himself is so vile and helpless that nothing but the coming of the Son of God from heaven to earth and His going to the bitter shame and agony and cruelty of the cross could ever save him, and reconcile him to God—this man is going to show all that in his personality. He is a man who is bound to give the impression of meekness, he is bound to be humble. Our Lord reminds us here that if a man is not humble, we are to be very wary of him. He can put on a kind of sheep’s clothing, but that is not true humility, that is not true meekness. And if a man’s doctrine is wrong, it will generally show itself at this point. He will be affable and pleasant, he will appeal to the natural man, and to the things that are physical and carnal; but he will not give the impression of being a man who has seen himself as a hell-bound sinner, and who has been saved by the grace of God alone” (Source: Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, Vol. 2, pp. 258-259).
The tragedy in all of this with false prophets/teachers/preachers is that they attract both believers and non-believers because they appeal to the carnal nature, that old sinful nature in people. Since their goal is to be liked and accepted, they will not say anything that is offensive to the godly, the holy, the righteous redeemed disciples of Jesus Christ. But the truth is – you can only hide a dead corpse for so long until the stench is so overwhelming it is discovered. Their rotting fruit eventually shows and they are exposed – all due to their rotten and corrupt character.
Questions To Consider
- The first way we say today to spot a false prophet/teacher/preacher is their character. I do not know who originally said this, but years ago I heard this about this issue of character: “Character is what you are when no one is watching. It is what you are in the dark.” What is your character like when no one is watching or is around?
- Such false prophets/teachers/preachers make it all about them while making it appear they are not. That is part of their charming deception. Televangelists such as Jessie Duplantis, Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar have asked their viewing audiences from $36 to $65 million to buy another jet – yes – another jet. This was not to feed starving children in a 3rd world country. This was not to begin a new work of missions with an indigenous people who have never heard the Gospel. While most of us see the fraud and their false character, many do not. Why do you think so many in their viewing audiences fork over the money?
- A genuine prophet/teacher/preacher is meek, humble, sacrificial, and aware of their own sin and its consequences in their life and impact on others. Does this describe you? How?
- In Colossians 1:10, the Apostle Paul tells us to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him.” Do you do this? Why or why not? What is the evidence? How would you explain this to a new disciple?
- How does the Fruit of the Spirit qualify you to be legit as a prophet/teacher/preacher of a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ?
Scripture To Meditate On: Matthew 3:8, “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (NASB).
Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I never want to be guilty of fraud or being a false disciple. I want my fruit to be that which honors You, brings You glory, leads people to Christ and into a discipleship growing ministry. I never want to manipulate anyone for selfish reasons. Give me discernment and wisdom to spot those false prophets/teachers/preachers. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly