SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 2/23/2021 9:03 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-1 “Creed”
Bible Reading & Meditation
Reference: Matthew 7:16-20
Message of the verses: “16 “You will know
them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs
from thistles, are they? 17 “So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad
tree bears bad fruit. 18 “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad
tree produce good fruit. 19 “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire. 20 “So then, you will know them by their fruits.”
Today
we begin a new sub-section as we continue to look at verses 16-20 in our study
of Matthew chapter seven, the concluding chapter in Jesus’ Sermon on the
Mount. As I looked for synonyms for the
word “creed” I find a number of them that seems to help me out in better
understanding what we will be looking at.
“Statement of Faith; doctrine,
belief, and article of faith are several that I found.
There
is a second area in which a false prophet can be judged and that would be his
doctrine, or I suppose his creed. One
has to really know their Bibles and also be in tuned with the Holy Spirit of
God in order to catch the unscriptural and the absence of a strong, clear
theology that a false prophet has. He
may seem to be telling the truth, but in subtle ways is teaching a lie. He will give false ideas as he teaches or
perhaps at least important truths will be omitted. Many times there will be a combination of
both. Then eventually the fruit will
show a tree for what it truly is because “a good tree cannot produce bad fruit,
nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.”
Jesus is saying that it is impossible for a false prophet to entirely
speak truth, and the reason is because they do not have the Spirit of God in
them because they truly are not believers.
Let
us take a look at something Jesus told to the Pharisees, something that John
the Baptist had already told them and Jesus’ statement is found in Matthew
12:34-35: “34 "You
brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak
what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. 35
"The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the
evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.”
Isaiah
helps us to be able to judge whether or not a teaching is from God as seen in
Isaiah 8:20 “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to
this word, it is because they have no dawn.” MacArthur adds the following about
the word dawn “That is, they have no light.”
The analysis of a false prophet cannot withstand the teaching of
Scripture because they are not a true believer.
MacArthur
writes “Jesus has just shown that the way of salvation, the gate to God’s
kingdom and life, is narrow and demanding, whereas the gate to hell and
destruction is broad (Matt. 7:13-14).
Immediately He begins the warning about false prophets and how to
identify them. The false shepherd’s way
to heaven will never be God’s way, and their way of living will never be
according to God’s standards.”
He
goes on then to quote Arthur Pink, and we will conclude with this quotation: “False prophets are to be found in the
circles of the mot orthodox, and they pretend to have a fervent love for souls,
yet they fatally delude multitudes concerning the way of salvation. The pulpit,
platform, and pamphlet hucksters have wantonly lowered the standard of divine
holiness and so adulterated the Gospel in order to make it palatable to the
carnal mind.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Jesus tells me to be continually on the
lookout for false prophets and through the help of the Holy Spirit and the Word
of God know when I spot one.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust that the Lord will give me His plan
in order to begin a prayer group to pray for revival.
2/23/2021 9:30 AM
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