Jesus said, "Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart. You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. You don't pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles. A healthy tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit that is produced.
Not all people who sound religious are really godly. They may refer to me as 'Lord,' but they still won't enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The decisive issue is whether they obey my Father in heaven. On judgment day many will tell me, 'Lord, Lord, we prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.' But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Go away; the things you did were unauthorized.'" (Matt 7:15-23)

What a sobering thing Jesus has said here!

Jesus declares that not everyone who uses his name, is his representative - I guess that's not news.
He tells us further that there are some who are in this situation who don't know it - they will be surprised at the summing up of all things. Others, however, have a destructive agenda: they are "wolves" who are out to tear us apart.

Why has Jesus told us this?

"Beware"
The first instruction is for us to "beware" - watch out for these false prophets who are actually out to hurt us. You can tell them, he says, by the way that they act, not by what they say or teach. Does the way they behave in their own walk with Jesus, help us see how to follow Him? It seems like Jesus isn't talking about frailty and failure in a "prophet" who is still also a learner; he seems to be talking about someone who is not, through and through, what his/her public presentation is. The warning is to be wary - watch and see; don't too easily entrust. Sadly, Jesus has told us from the beginning that the Christian movement will have "false prophets" within it.

Keep in mind, however, that Jesus also said, "whoever is not against us is for us" (Mark 9:40) and that it's a serious thing to blaspheme the Holy Spirit - that is, to call something the Holy Spirit is doing, the act of evil. To be wary is different from, "crusade against" - we are still called to humility! We should be wise, and not sign up with false prophets; at the same time, we should always be open to praying for a brother or sister.

Do you know ME, Jesus?
The second issue for us, is that of course we don't want to be "people who sound religious" but "aren't really godly" - and we want to hear, at the summing up of all things, "well done, good and faithful servant," NOT "I never knew you"!

The decisive issue, Jesus says, is whether we obey His Father in heaven - and what pops into my mind immediately, is the Father saying at Jesus' transfiguration, "this is my Son, whom I love and with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!" (Matt 17:5)

It is too easy for us to do what we want to do, and append Jesus' name to it. But God is out to change who we are, and what it is we want to do...in order for us to "find our real lives," as Jesus so often said, and in order to advance his life-giving kingdom. To be part of what he is doing is not to charge out on our own, but to follow him, to know him, to obey him. And often it really comes down to the daily things: the loving of our neighbors and enemies, the forgiving of those who have hurt us, the time spent in prayer.

May we be careful to search the scriptures and to do what we have been told there; may we not be open to the accusation Jesus remembers from Isaiah: "these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." (Matt 15:8) It isn't about being right or even about doing good; it is about relationship with the living Lord. The good news, however, in following Jesus, is that no matter how far we may roam from him, he is always just one step of repentance away. Let's follow him today.

 

In Him with you,

Pastor Sue