Wolves Disguised as Sheep

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:15-20 NIV’84)

Sadly, not everyone is who he says he is or who he appears to be. We have many “wolves in sheep’s clothing” among us who serve in the positions of pastors, elders, and deacons (and like positions) within the gatherings of what are called “churches,” and as politicians and government heads within our national and localized governments, and as news anchors on TV stations. Many famous actors and businessmen (and women) and sports heroes are also those who pretend one thing while they live another. But not just them!

But this subject is focusing in on those in positions of power, rule, authority, and/or influence who have the capability to deceive a massive amount of people and to lead them astray to follow after false gods and false beliefs and false gospels created in the minds of human beings, and which are not of God, and not in agreement with the Scriptures, if taught in their appropriate context. And so this is a warning to us that we are to watch out for such people, and so this involves us testing to see if they are of God.

Now, when this says here that they come to us in “sheep’s clothing,” it means that they are pretending to be followers of Jesus Christ in order to get us to trust them so that they can deceive us. So, just because someone claims to be a Christian, it does not mean that person is really a Christian. For Jesus said that not everyone saying to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING the will of God the Father who is in heaven. So, it is not what we profess that matters, but it is what we do.

And not only do they put on an outward appearance of being Christians, but inwardly they are “ferocious wolves” out to destroy us and to lead us to destruction and not to eternal life with God. And one of the biggest ways in which they deceive is by teaching the Scriptures outside of their appropriate context and thus twisting them to make them say what they do not say if taught within the right context. So this is why I try to always emphasize the importance of context, so that we don’t end up being deceived by lies.

Now it says here that by their fruit we will know them, but this is not speaking of literal edible fruit. This is referring to how we live – our lifestyles, our practices, our words, our deeds, our attitudes, our behaviors. 

“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” (Galatians 5:22-26 NIV’84)

Now, this is not to say that any of us will do all of this perfectly all of the time, but if we are following Jesus Christ with our lives, in truth, these qualities should be reflected in our lives, but understood according to their biblical meanings. For patience is not tolerance of deliberate and habitual sin in the lives of other professing Christians. And kindness is not withholding the truth from people they need to hear, and/or speaking lies to people in order to make them feel good so that they will like us and not reject us.

Peace, as well, is not compromise of truth and righteousness and moral purity just so we don’t offend people with the righteousness of God and with his requirements that we, as his followers, live holy lives, pleasing to God, in walks of obedience to his commands, and no longer in sin, if we want to have the hope of salvation from sin and eternal life with God. And gentleness is not soft on sin, but it is meekness and reserved strength. And Jesus was meek, but he was not weak. He spoke the truth boldly, and they hated him.

For you see what it says after this list of qualities (fruit)? Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. So this fruit mentioned here has to agree with that statement, in practice. Every quality of that fruit has to agree with the instructions given in the Scriptures regarding how we are to live, as followers of Christ. So this means we live by the Spirit and in step with the Spirit, so our lives are under Holy Spirit control and not under the control of the flesh. We are not worldly.

I believe the biggest thing we need to be watching out for is consistency in words and in practice, and that those who profess to be of God and to be ministers of the Lord in sharing his messages should be people of integrity and who speak truth and not lies. So this is why the Scriptures encourage us to be those who make it our practice to test what we hear said in the name of God/Christ to make certain it really is of God. But we have to read Scriptures in context if we want to get to the truth and not receive the lies.

[Matt 7:15-23; Matt 24:11-24; Lu 6:26; John 10:1-15; Rom 2:13; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Eph 4:17-24; 2 Co 1:12; 2 Co 11:13-15; Php 1:11; Php 3:2; 1 Tim 1:3-7; 1 Tim 6:3-11; 2 Tim 2:22; 2 Tim 3:12-13; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Pet 2:5; 2 Peter 2:1-22; 1 John 3:7; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:3-23] 

Open My Heart  

An Original Work / July 2, 2013

“Be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil” (Rm. 16:19b).

Open my heart. Let Your truth in.

Make of me a servant, pure within;

Sing of Your praise all of my days. 

Let Your Spirit transform all my ways.

Jesus Christ died on a cross to

Save me from my sin.

“Repent of sin. Be cleansed within.

Obey all of His commands today.”

“Why do you doubt? Why do you fear?

Jesus Christ will wipe away your tears.

He cares for you. He feels your pain.

Die to sin, and life with Him you’ll gain.

Follow Him where’er He leads you.

Talk with Him each day.

Then you will know what He has planned

For your life before your world began.”

“Come unto Me, weary in heart.

Let My love and grace to you impart.

Believe in Me. Trust in My care.

Take your burdens to the Lord in prayer.

He will meet all of your needs, 

And give you peace within.

Rejoice in Him! Tell of His love.

He will give you comfort from above.”

https://vimeo.com/116072845