Watch out
Jesus said,
“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 thorn bushes, 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.” Matthew 7:15-18
He went on to say,
“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew7:22,23
The Apostle Paul states,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2Timothy 4:3,4
As Christians we need to be educated in our faith. We need to study the word or God. We need to know what we believe in and why we believe it. Sadly many Christians do not know why they believe what they believe.
Many Christians take a pastor or evangelist at face value believing him or her simply because they have a Bible in hand and are saying things that sound good.
We should not be doing that. Everyone who claims to be a minister, a priest, and evangelist needs to be checked out.
My life as a follower of Jesus spans forty plus years now. In that time I have seen many false teachers arise. I have seen many evangelist, priests, bishops, and pastors fall into disrepute. Yet sadly especially it seems in the evangelical community there are still people taking advantage of Christians by stringing a few scriptures together that sound good.
I for one cannot emphasise enough the need for individual Christians to study the Bible. To not be afraid to check out what a minister or evangelist says.
Yes there are going to be differences of opinion on some points within the Christian community. However the major points cannot be compromised.
The apostles creed while not written by an apostle of Jesus presents to all what true Christians believe it states,
1.I believe in God the Father the almighty maker of heaven and earth
2. I believe in Jesus Christ God’s on and only Son, our Lord and Saviour.
3. I believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary
4. I believe Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate; That He was Crucified, died, was buried. That he descended in hell.
5. I believe He rose again on the third day from the dead.
6. I believe that he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
7. I believe Jesus will one day Judge the living and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost
9. I believe in the Church which is the communion of the saints,
10. I believe in the forgiveness of sin.
11. I believe in the resurrection of the body.
12. I believe in life everlasting.
These are biblical based beliefs that all Christians agree to. I believe you must believe what is said here in order to be a true Christian.
Still beware. Even if a preacher says they believe in this one still has to be careful. It’s easy to give lip service to any belief.
What one needs to do is check what the preacher is saying against the Bible. Look at their ministry is it truly giving glory to God? Especially if money is involved is he and his ministry correctly handling any donations given to it?
Is the person living a life in line with the teaching of Jesus.
Both we as individuals and the ministers we support should be taking to heart the words of the apostle Paul to Timothy that states,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2Timothy 2:15.
Please think about it.
Jesus said,
“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 thorn bushes, 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.” Matthew 7:15-18
He went on to say,
“Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew7:22,23
The Apostle Paul states,
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” 2Timothy 4:3,4
As Christians we need to be educated in our faith. We need to study the word or God. We need to know what we believe in and why we believe it. Sadly many Christians do not know why they believe what they believe.
Many Christians take a pastor or evangelist at face value believing him or her simply because they have a Bible in hand and are saying things that sound good.
We should not be doing that. Everyone who claims to be a minister, a priest, and evangelist needs to be checked out.
My life as a follower of Jesus spans forty plus years now. In that time I have seen many false teachers arise. I have seen many evangelist, priests, bishops, and pastors fall into disrepute. Yet sadly especially it seems in the evangelical community there are still people taking advantage of Christians by stringing a few scriptures together that sound good.
I for one cannot emphasise enough the need for individual Christians to study the Bible. To not be afraid to check out what a minister or evangelist says.
Yes there are going to be differences of opinion on some points within the Christian community. However the major points cannot be compromised.
The apostles creed while not written by an apostle of Jesus presents to all what true Christians believe it states,
1.I believe in God the Father the almighty maker of heaven and earth
2. I believe in Jesus Christ God’s on and only Son, our Lord and Saviour.
3. I believe Jesus was conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary
4. I believe Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate; That He was Crucified, died, was buried. That he descended in hell.
5. I believe He rose again on the third day from the dead.
6. I believe that he ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
7. I believe Jesus will one day Judge the living and the dead.
8. I believe in the Holy Ghost
9. I believe in the Church which is the communion of the saints,
10. I believe in the forgiveness of sin.
11. I believe in the resurrection of the body.
12. I believe in life everlasting.
These are biblical based beliefs that all Christians agree to. I believe you must believe what is said here in order to be a true Christian.
Still beware. Even if a preacher says they believe in this one still has to be careful. It’s easy to give lip service to any belief.
What one needs to do is check what the preacher is saying against the Bible. Look at their ministry is it truly giving glory to God? Especially if money is involved is he and his ministry correctly handling any donations given to it?
Is the person living a life in line with the teaching of Jesus.
Both we as individuals and the ministers we support should be taking to heart the words of the apostle Paul to Timothy that states,
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2Timothy 2:15.
Please think about it.
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