Based on Matthew 7:15-23 (New King James Version)
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 21 ‘Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!.’’”
Today, and now more than ever, we see much corruption in the people of the Lord, in particular, in many of those that say that they serve God, those that supposedly teach the Word of the Lord, those that have put themselves in leadership or high visibility positions so they can influence and be able to attain what they want. Quite frankly, not everything that shines is gold. And the worst problem is that what they say sounds like the Truth, seems like the Truth, and they even use the Bible to substantiate their teachings and doctrines. They do just like Satan did when he tried to tempt the Lord Himself, when he put Him at the top of the temple and told Him to cast Himself down to show that He is the Son of God, and he manipulated a passage that is found in Psalm 91 to get Him to do it, where it says that He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways, in their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. It sounded like the Truth, but it was not, and moreover, he was trying to make the Lord do something that goes against God’s will. But God will never obey Satan, and we should never do it either.
If the lie seems so much like the Truth, how can we then filter out what is evil, what should be cast aside? Just as today’s passage teaches us, we can see what a person is if we understand how to decipher or discern their fruits. And well, this can only be done through the Holy Spirit and the Word, but for that, you need to be born again. This does not consist of intellect or some human teaching, not even on our instincts. Everything can be seen in the person’s fruit, and by fruit, we are talking about what a person produces. What is their product? What do they do? Their actions are what demonstrate what is in their hearts, their intentions. The Word speaks to us also about the following: 3 “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, 4 he is proud, knowing nothing, but is obsessed with disputes and arguments over words, from which come envy, strife, reviling, evil suspicions, 5 useless wranglings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself.” 1 Timothy 6:3-5. Quite simply, one of the clearest ways of being able to see a deceiver is through their personal practices. Because there are those that ask to help others, but they don’t give anything for the cause, but rather, they look for their own convenience, and they look for it and accept it as “a blessing that comes from God”. These are the people that suppose that godliness is a means of gain; everyone that uses the Lord’s things to favor themselves, in one way or another, bearing on other people, and not on their own work. So then, not only should you be careful with the Christian millionaires (because those should be obvious not to follow), but also, with those that seem like they don’t have very much. And this passage is very clear in what we should do when we find someone like that. The Bible does not teach us to pray for them, or to be subject to them, and of course, even far less, to support them in their evil. But it says simply: “From such withdraw yourself.” So then, put some distance between them and you. You don’t have to make a spectacle, just look for another separate and distant path from them.
Now then, what will happen with those people. Will they be punished? Of course, but that is up to God. The Lord is going to sort everyone out, per se, and very carefully. Even more so, the Lord will sort through all of us (and here is where we start turning the attention from others towards each of us), especially if we live the moment of the church’s rapture, when the Lord comes for His “true” people; not for those that say they are His people. For it is written: 36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. 37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. 40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” Matthew 24:36-44. The Lord knows who is who, and everything we think, feel, and do. He knows everything and based on that knowledge is that He will do things. That’s why everyone will be judged; not just the unbelieving. Do not let yourself be deceived by the same people the Word warns us about, by false prophets and corrupt men. Even those of us that follow the Lord will answer for our actions. It’s not a popular belief because hardly anyone likes the idea of responsibility, of having to answer for the wrong they do. God forgives. There is no doubting God’s forgiveness, but with the condition that we follow Him, that we remain in Him, that we let Him work in our lives, little by little being transformed into new people, taking on the Lord’s characteristics; not for us to continue doing those things that produce death, by practicing sin, by trying to abuse the grace of God.
The Bible is very clear on the issue of doing the will of God. So then, it does not just consist on saying you are a child of God, or by trying to convince through a position or posturing. That really does not matter. If there are no fruits or clear actions that demonstrate before God that you are doing His true will, there is nothing of value. We read of this from the Lord Himself relating to His earthly family: 31 “Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, ‘Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.’ 33 But He answered them, saying, ‘Who is My mother, or My brothers?’ 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, ‘Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.’” Mark 3:31-35. You can say, pretend, and try to convince all you want, but if you are not doing the will of God, you are nothing before the Lord. So, who are you? And, what are you doing with your life? Lord bless! John