[John Peterson]

The Tree and Its Fruit

15 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. 16 You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. 18 A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. 19 So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. 20 Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. (Matthew 7:15-20

New Testament writers warned about false teachings that sounded good but defied truth. For example in 2 Timothy 4:3, The Apostle Paul warns us, "3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear". And in 1 John 4:1, The Apostle John tells us,"4 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world." Today more than ever believers must still heed these warnings! Ungodly leaders have infiltrated major denominations that were once true to God's Word and have subtly twisted truth with such conviction that unprepared Christians can be charmed by their lies. That’s why the Bible instructs us to evaluate the message of whoever desires to lead us. "Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. (Matthew 7:20).

The false teacher is deceptive. Verse 15 of today’s passage describes him as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He appears to want people to know the “real” truth about God, but his interpretation of Scripture contains outright lies or a distorted mix of fact and error. Since wise believers study God’s Word, they can detect a “sheepskin” starting to slip. The wolf is further exposed by his personal life, which won’t be consistent with righteousness (Matthew 7:16). A close study of his decisions, actions, and words will reveal that he does not follow the Lord’s will or biblical principles.

The false teacher’s life and message are self-indulgent. His enticing ideas appeal to his listeners’ fleshly nature. In fact, he’ll often permit activities prohibited in Scripture. Activities that include such things as ordaining and therefore validating people as pastors and teachers that are living their lives in direct contradiction and opposition to the Bible's teachings. Some deceivers describe God’s grace as a license to live without restraint as we are told in Jude 3-4 "3 Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. 4 I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." The Apostle Paul clearly denounces this lie, teaching that believers have died to sin and shouldn’t live in it as he states in Romans 6: 12-14, "12 Do not let sin control the way you live do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.'. The body of Christ is expected to use Scripture as the standard against which to measure a leader’s lifestyle and words. When we seek divine truth, we are given the discernment to know a holy message from a misleading one.

Finally, remember that it is your duty as a believer and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ to separate yourself from lies, deceit and evil people as the Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, " But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people."

[Greg Newton]

John,

Those are frightening words. The churches today seem all about the god of mammon or money. I recommend any believer to find a Bible translation that is readable to them and to actually read the Bible and to be discerning of what they are being told in church. If it doesn't line up with the Word of God, something is amiss.

Greg

[Andy62]

There are a lot of wolves in sheeps clothing out there. If you have any questions just ask the ultimate source and take it to God.

Mathew 6.6 "But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

[April]

The true Gospel is a hard message: Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus. Many churches do not preach this today. They preach that Christianity is fun, so come to our church for the best entertainment, for nice social events, for political causes, for how to get rich, for watching the SuperBowl...anything except denying yourself, taking up your cross, and following Jesus.

When the focus is anything but Jesus, our relationship with Him, righteous living, then I am suspicious already.

[Andy62]

Christianity has become affiliation oriented. There are over 38,000 Chiristian denominations according to Google. People see Christianity as belonging to this group or that group and the group becomes the focus rather than God.

Not only are these groups totally opposite from the individual religion that Jesus taught they are very vulnerable to political attack and blame from a wide variety of groups which is happening right now.

From what I can tell Christianity has declined to being insignificant in Europe and has been totally neutered in Canada.

I think there is still hope in the U.S. as we are more accustomed to change,but this is a very critical time where things could go one way or the other and religion is a threat to those who want all power centralized with the state.

[Max McKinley]

Greg,

You are absolutely right! Paul's admiration was for the Bereans who didn't take what he said at face value. They weighed his words in the light of Scripture. We should do no less!

[April]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXghT...endscreen&NR=1

Excommunicated Priest Exposes the New World Order

The Church - all denominations probably - has been infiltrated in order to bring down the level of consecration of the believers. It is now up to each individual to do God's will, regardless of whether anyone around him is or not. God will give discernment of His will and of right and wrong to those who seek it.

Our pastor spoke last weekend about a conference put on here by Americans. It occurred on July 7,8,9 I think. In that "Christian" conference, they were doing "Christian" Hip Hop, "Christian" Rap, "Christian" karate, "Christian" brick breaking. Hip hop, rap, karate, and brick breaking have no place at a prayer meeting! Yet they were being presented to the youth as legitimate and fun parts of serving God! YES, the Church is definitely being infiltrated!!! This event was put on by Team X treme. The logo of Team X treme had a big OVAL surrounding the words. Ovals, as we know, represent the eye of Horus, an occult symbol. (Consider: the OVAL office - food for thought). And the X was big and pronounced right in the middle of the logo. The X is another blatantly occult symbol representing witchcraft, Nimrod, and some other evil things. So here is a supposedly Christian event whose very logo contains at least two occult symbols, in which the Christianity being presented is a complete mockery of what Jesus preached! We battle not against flesh and blood, yet there was a line up of muscle men doing some dance or something. Nothing against muscle men, but such an act is completely inappropriate in church!

So this thread is especially significant in light of these recent events over here.

[Shadow]

April, you said it right. There are just too many "prosperity" preachers out there, selling DVD's and books on how to get rich by giving to God (or rather, giving to their ministries). If God wanted every Christian to be a millionaire, he would have made that possible. Giving to His work is an act and a test of faith. It isn't optional.

Does Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, or Bishop T.D. Jakes and many others live in modest three bedroomed homes or apartments, fly in coach and drive compact cars? The problem here is, we are drawn to "Christian" superstars who place the emphasise on wealth, materialistic gain and worldy goals, rather than saving souls.

It is wrong,tragic and dangerously deceptive.

[gbjj]

Sadly there are many denominations that just outright deny Christ altogether.

I accepted Christ in 1986, and first attended a church that led me down a path that I doubted my salvation and got pretty confused. SInce the time God reached down and saved me, He has led me to attend a Baptist church. Since becoming a member ( I don't consider myself a Baptist, I am a christian who goes to a Baptist Church ) of the Baptist church and studying there tenents, as well as many, many others. I have found that their tenents are the closest to Biblical Christianity out there.

Below is a link to them if anyone cares to view them, complete with the verses that support the tenents.

http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp

The best way to know if a denomination is biblical is to ensure you know your Bible, study God's word, and make sure that what they believe matches God's word. There are many wolves in sheeps clothing out there. They are all blind to the truth, and follow their own fleshly desires...