It’s time to listen to the Word of God. Today Pastor Bose will be preaching a sermon entitled ” A man shall be known by his fruits.”
“Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. So by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7: 15-20).
We have been shown what it means to go through the straight gate, and what the narrow way is. But the main problem of both the broad and narrow paths is that they have the same direction. Had it been written that one path leads to heaven, and the other to hell, it would have been another matter; maybe people would have made a more conscious choice. Also there are prophets from God and false prophets, who also say they are from God. This complicates issues. What is one to do? How should we relate to this?
Jesus says, “Beware”, so we should not be naïve to this. We cannot afford to be deceived. We shouldn’t allow ourselves to be pulled into an argument – we must be wise and not respond to provocation.
“Beware”, means to be on guard, to be in control. We must defend our faith. Jesus did not hide from us the fact that false prophets exist, but wanted to protect us from them. How do we know them? By their fruits. Do not be carried away by their eloquence, look for what others are not paying attention to. Constantly work on yourself to avoid being caught in their “bait.” Right doctrine and a holy life is what should always be found in a believer. Sound doctrine is balanced teaching. Paul says, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1).
“Preach the word, be urgent in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine” (2 Tim. 4:2).
Real pastors take the place of the Word seriously, they justify everything by it, they are convincing because to them the Word of God is the highest censor.
“Beware” means to respond correctly. Sometimes the enemy wants us to get us off balance, so that we respond incorrectly. “Beware” is not advice, but a commandment.
“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Tim. 4:1).
The spirit of deception is a lie. Each of us must overcome the lie. We must speak the truth, we must learn to speak the truth otherwise the devil will get us to his side. An example of this is our need to pay attention to lies in children while raising them, so that we can teach them to know and live the truth of the word of God and keep them from being deceived later in life.
Hearken to the Word of God. “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:13).
The Word of God is a weapon against lies. Do not allow the word of God to be lost, have understanding! The Word determines your destiny, so do not relate to it lightly! The Word exposes false prophets and reveals their essence that is why they are afraid of the Word.
If a true believer does not know something, he says so. We must live right, and stand before God – this should be our concern. We shouldn’t worry about the other things we don’t know. We are open people, with no ulterior motives, let’s continue to be real, and let God work on us!
False prophets are not only wrong, but dangerous. It is therefore necessary to be categorical in some areas. For example, just the mere thought of adultery is sin. We sometimes think that we can control it, but that’s how the devil deceives us.
Jesus therefore, warns us about the false prophets – they are ravenous wolves. The Bible clearly states that everyone is responsible for allowing or not allowing themselves to be deceived.
“But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” (2 Pet 2:12-22).
It is our responsibility to establish our unestablished soul in God. We should be the ones that are difficult to cheat, because the unestablished, who just believes people’s word, falls into the hands of false prophets.
False prophets hide who they really are, so we have to check to know the kind of person we are following. There are heretics who do not believe in God, but there are also those who know how to manipulate people.
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, the apostles of Christ. And no wonder: for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light, and therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works ” (2 Cor. 11:13-15).
This is a confirmation that the devil comes as an angel of light, so that his real nature won’t be known, in order that he might attain his goal. Our task is to delve into the Word of God, to know God, to be led by the Holy Spirit. We are living in a generation of deception, everything is done in haste.
We must work on ourselves so that we do not become part of the deception.
“Beloved! do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are from God, because many false prophets have appeared in the world” (1 Jn. 4:1).
Evaluate yourself, are you still in the faith, are you a real believer, check your spirit. It is the character, and not reputation that determines who a person actually is. Character is what God thinks about you, while reputation is what people think about you. The fruit is the tree, while reputation is the shadow of the tree. Unfortunately many people work to win a certain reputation but do not work on their character.
To properly judge a man, look at his fruits, at how he behaves in crisis situations. How do you behave? God knows His own by name, and we know them by their character, fruits, and by how they behave. It is possible through little things to know who a man really is. “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23), because what needs to be changed in us is in our hearts. A true leader can also be known by the quality of the character of his followers.
Dear brothers and sisters, a holy life, obedience to God and our leaders will help us to become true believers, established in God. To become such, we need to meditate more on the Word of God, letting the Word go deep in us, and standing before God every day. If we are not established deeply in God, it is easy to take us away from God. Something good cannot bring something bad just as a good tree cannot bear bad fruit. Work on your character every day, and take care of your heart.
May God bless you!
From the Central Church Service
15.05.2014.
Press center of the “Embassy of God Church “
