In our daily meditations, we examine what Jesus taught His disciples in the Sermon on the Mount. In chapter seven of the Gospel of Matthew, the Lord turns to warning us about those who come to us looking as if they are genuine teachers speaking forth the Word of God, but if one looks with a discerning eye, the fruit of their words and lives show us something different. Here are the Lord’s words:
15“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them (Matthew 7:15-20).
Many do not see how false prophets are speaking their messages every day. We are all aware of those who spend five minutes teaching and 20 minutes on how we should give our finances to them, but it is more than that. The false prophet looks the part on the outside but talks little, if any, about repentance and faith in Christ. Without a proper presentation of the Gospel, many have a false hope and just an intellectual belief instead of the real thing, a turning from sin to a relationship with Christ. In our time, this world’s false prophets come to us more through lies and deception through the media. With the repeal of the Smith Mundt Act in 2013, propaganda is now lawful to be propagated to the American public. The false prophets come at us on the news programs of today, presenting a false reality and putting down anything to do with God’s kingdom. The news programs and tech companies are all owned at the board level by spiritual Babylon and advance false narratives, seeking to promote a world system controlled by evil spirits acting through people from behind the scenes. The believer in Christ is to be discerning about what the main TV news channels and entertainment channels are advocating. May God give us discernment to see the fruit of laws and things that are being supported. We need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes: “To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn” (Isaiah 8:20). With so much deception going on in this world, more than ever, we should be those who search out the Scriptures daily. The Lord carries on in His warning to God’s people:
True and False Disciples
21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:21-23).
There will always be those around us who behave Christianly but do not have the life of God and His Spirit operative in their lives. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing. They look like genuine believers and even seem to be walking in power and authority but lack the fruit of the Spirit. They will say the right things, although when you ask them about Biblical teachings of the Christian faith, they will avoid plain statements of where they stand on certain sins of the flesh. Some are deceived into thinking they are going to heaven because of their deeds, but Christ is the Door of the Sheepfold, and He knows if we genuinely believe and trust in Him. One of the most horrifying things that can ever happen to a person is to think they will go to heaven when they die only to hear the Master say, "I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" (v. 23). One can look the part, say the right things, but never come into a right relationship with the King of Heaven by faith in His substitutionary death on the Cross. May God open our eyes to see what is true from what is genuine. Keith Thomas
This meditation is from the complete study found at the following link: