The Public Lives of Successful Christians: Part 5 - Wary of Deception From Within

Wary of Deception From Within

(15) "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. (16) You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? (17) So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. (18) A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. (19) Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (20) Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. (21) "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (22) On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' (23) And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' (24) "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (25) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. (26) And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. (27) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." [Mat 7:15-27 ESV]

Aware of the Threat
It is usually fairly simple to identify people who live in opposition or apathy toward Christ.  These individuals and groups often make the headlines of Christian magazines and websites, but they do not pose the only (or perhaps even the greatest) threat to the Church. 

Definition: 
A “prophet” is a person appointed by God to speak for God.
A “false prophet” pretends to be a prophet, but really isn’t.  A false prophet may truly believe that he or she is sent by God.


In this passage, Jesus warns us to be on the lookout for subversive forces within the body of Christ, representing themselves as the spokesmen of God. This warning goes beyond the fallibility of human nature. “Horizontal grace” between believers should take care of that. Jesus is referring to individuals who come into the “flock” of God’s people for the express purpose of consuming them for their own benefit. Here are some examples of how this can manifest itself:

• Manipulating a crowd for personal monetary gain.
• Recruiting members of one congregation to join another congregation.
• Discouraging the faith of believers.
• Providing “alternatives” to Biblical ministry or doctrine.
• Attempting to “buy” their way into ministry.
• Defying Godly leadership within the church.
• Teaching that Christianity is “one of many truths” in the world.

Jesus tells that we will “recognize them by their fruits”. A more contemporary way of saying the same thing is “if it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, odds are, it’s a duck.”


Fruit of the True Ministry Gifts [Read Eph 4:11-16 ESV]

• What are the five ministry gifts?

• For what purpose were they given?

• When will their relevance end?

• What is the evidence of ministerial success?

The Big Surprise II
Last week we used this heading for the “religious lost” who will find themselves shut out of heaven someday. Jesus makes it clear that this will not just be a phenomenon of the rank and file of the Church. False prophets will find themselves in the same predicament. 

The Dismal Defense

On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?'

They assume, it seems that the Lord will be impressed by the same things that impress men. On that day the Lord does argue with them about the validity of their claims. It is possible that they did the things that they claim to have done; yet, they were not Christ’s. 

Jesus is not impressed with our sermons or miracles. His concern is whether or not we left the Body of Christ (the Church) in better shape than we found it. Were we contributors and participants or just in it for what we could get out of it? Did we leave damage in our wake as we passed through?

The Foundation Matters
We can spend a lifetime building our lives (and/or ministries) in Christ’s name, but if they are not founded on the gospel the will someday fall. The foundation of any life or work for the Lord is so critical. Regardless of apparent “success” that which is hidden from view, the foundation,  is most important in eternity. Any work, any ministry, that is not founded upon the word of Jesus will not stand in eternity.

Baby, you're my "Life"!

 

In Genesis 2-3 the Bible gives us the account of the creation of our first parents. Here are some things you may not know.

1. The Hebrew word that is transliterated as the proper name “Adam” is used through out the Old Testament as a non-proper designation for “man” or “mankind”. While the translators of our English language Bibles are compelled by necessity and tradition to translate this word into a proper name for the first man, the God-given purpose of his name was to designate his order in creation. That is, he is called “adam” designating him as the one created from the dust but in the image of God, brought to life by the breath of God, and therefore in a standing higher than the animals.

2. “Adam” is one vowel sound different from the Hebrew word for “ground” which is pronounced “adamah”. This usually refers to inhabited or cultivated land.

It is quite conceivable that as God would walk into the garden to talk to Adam, his call is something equivalent to “hey, dirt guy”. Remember Adam is a guy. This name is as good as any other. (Hey, most men will adopt names and nicknames for themselves and for other men that very, very few women would ever be willing to carry.)

3. There is another word that is translated “man”. This words is the Hebrew word “ish” which is used to contrast between male and female. This is first used in Gen. 2:23.

4. The word used for woman or female is similar to “ish”. It is the word “ish-shah”. This is the word that the Bible uses for the first woman all of the way through the creation narrative down to Gen. 3:20.

 

I want to show you what changes in Genesis 3:20.

You may be familiar with the story of the “fall of man”, but if you are not you will need to read the first three chapters of Genesis for this to make sense. Here it is in a nut shell.

• The man (adam) and his wife (ish-shah) are created by God and placed in a garden paradise.
• They are occupied, but not overworked.
• Every need is supplied.
• They are in fellowship with God.
• They have one little restriction. They cannot eat the fruit from one tree, the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”. If they do, they will die.
• Satan enters the picture and tempts the woman. She succumbs and eats the fruit.
• She give to her husband. He is not deceived, but he eats anyway [see 1 Timothy 2:14].
• God comes on the scene, and everything goes sideways.
• The curse falls on this world because of their sin. They will suffer. They will die.

Now imagine you are the woman.

She was “deceived”. In the midst of her disobedience to God, she genuinely thought she was doing the right thing. She gave him the “forbidden fruit.” She had not meant to harm Adam, but because he had eaten the fruit she handed to him…

Adam lost the best job in the world,
Adam lost the best home in the world (God soon evicts them from the garden),
He was now subject to sickness and disease,
Adam was sentenced to hard labor for the rest of his life, and
Adam would die.

Now as the woman stands there next to her husband, they are both the recipients of God's displeasure. She watches as her husband begins instantly to age. I am quite certain, she felt overwhelming guilt. She was guilty. They were both guilty.

Can you hear her weeping to Adam? “I’m so sorry. I’ve brought you misery and death. You would have been better off without me. I’ve messed your life up. Oh Adam, I am so, so sorry.”

Here is where verse 3:20 comes in:

“And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.”

Look at that! Isn’t this an odd time for “dirt guy” to rename his bride? Up until now she has been known as “ish-shah” or “female”, but now she will be known as “Eve” which means “Life”.

Can you see it? There they stand guilty before an offended God, their beautiful life is crashing down around them and he turns to her and says, “Oh honey, you’re my ‘Life’!”


Then something curious happens:

Notice that when the man accused the woman and the woman accused the snake, God came down hard on everyone involved. Now the man shows tenderness and forgiveness to his wife and watch what happens in verse 21:

“Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.”

Was God withholding mercy until Adam showed mercy? I don’t know. I cannot draw such a causative link based on this verse alone, but I can tell you that that principle is consistent with the New Testament teachings of Jesus. Look at Matthew 6:12. This is from what we commonly call the “Lord’s Prayer”. Jesus said we are to pray,

“And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors.”
esv

Then he goes on to explain,

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”

This is probably the least favorite line of the Lord’s prayer. I’m afraid we often try to modify the Lord’s prayer and pray this way :

“God forgive me, and help me forgive everybody else.”

I’m sorry, but this isn’t a prayer consistent with Jesus pattern for us. The correct way to pray, according to Jesus, is to pray, “Father, forgive me as I forgive others…”

That kind of prayer really raises the bar on the importance of our forgiveness of others, doesn’t it? Here is the thing: if we live our lives harboring unforgiveness against other people, we have no expectation of forgiveness from our Heavenly Father.

We could certainly develop this train of thought a lot farther, but at some point you would stop reading. By now I think you probably get the point anyway. So, I'll leave you with this...

“And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” -Mark 11:25 esv