2009-04-24
Good Morning Cherished Ones,
The Holy Spirit really feels judgment is an important issue. We continue our quest for Christ’s attitude about gaining good discernment in making judgments. Obviously, Christ was directed by the Father to have a lot to say about it in His Sermon on the Mount. Against the backdrop of MT 7: 6, I am led to compare and discuss MT 7: 15-20. MT 7: 6, “Do not give what is holy to dogs-they will only turn and attack you. Do not throw your peals in front of pigs-they will only trample them underfoot.” MT 7: 15-20, “Beware against false prophets; they come to you looking like sheep on the outside, but on the inside they are really like wild wolves. You will know them by what they do. Thorn bushes do not bear grapes, and briers do not bear figs. A healthy tree bears good fruit, but a poor tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruits, and a poor tree cannot bear good fruit. And any tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know the false prophets by what they do.”
So much of the NT reveals our Lord’s attitudes in different contexts of making judgments. Gaining good discernment is certainly an example. In MT 7: 6, Christ uses the examples of wild, often unfriendly animals, like the wild curs [dogs] that wandered the streets and raided household garbage for sustenance. The same can be said of pigs which weren’t as domesticated as the pigs found on farms today. They are associated with filth and competition with other wild animals for food. Wolves were, as they are today, wild animals with little desire for mankind’s company except for any meals they can take from them. I can’t help but think of the picture of people around a campfire at night hearing the howling of hungry wolves around them, or a stealthy wolf who, under cover of night, snatches a defenseless lamb that has strayed from his shepherd’s watch. These “wolves in sheep’s clothing” in Christ’s example, MT 7: 15, are cagey and come to people with their own agenda, one having nothing to do with God’s. False prophecy is borne out of greed, ego, and other evil agendas. It has nothing to do with God’s holy word. Yet it can be covered up to appear very appealing.
In the days of the early church, there were several groups trying to convert new believers to them. These were groups like the Anti-Nomians [ anti=against; nomian = the law] who believed in grace without license, the Judaizers, who believed you could have faith in Christ, but that believers were not acceptable unless they practiced circumcision of males, celebrating the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, and keeping a kosher dietary regime, and the Gnostics [who believed that upon His physical death Jesus was no longer Lord, and that only people belonging to their secret society would be deemed acceptable by God]. Many of Paul’s writings were inspired arguments which were presented with their irrefutable conclusions directed against the teachings of these groups [RO 6:15-16; RO 14: 31; RO 8: 31-39, for example]. The very best defense against false teaching is a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, gained by daily time every day with them [2 TIM 3: 16-17]. When this is coupled with an active prayer life, then a person really is ready to don the full armor of God against such spiritual warfare as false teaching. It doesn’t hurt to reminded of that armor, described in EPH 6: 10-18. The belt is truth, and no lies are found in the Bible. Righteousness is the breastplate, and readiness to witness: announcing the Good News of peace and salvation through Christ, are the shoes. Faith is the shield, and salvation is the helmet. And it is the Spirit, which helps us to understand the word. The word of God is the sword. All this should be put on and used against false teaching on a foundation of prayer, prayer asking for God’s help.
Such a discussion about preparing us to have good discernment in making ordinary judgments in our lives cannot be complete without at least some mention of what to look for in another person. My sweet and very wise husband long ago said to me, “You can tell a lot about a person by their friends.” He didn’t mean gossip either. He meant what kind of people this person traffics with in his off-duty hours. Of course this is mostly a modern statement, because Christ was known to associate with what the upper crust of society considered its dregs-tax collectors, poor fishermen, even prostitutes about to be stoned to death. So, it becomes necessary to look beneath the surface, something that our Lord is very able in doing. After all, who would think that a man working for the Jewish high council, the Sanhedren, to persecute Jewish believers would one day become the greatest apostle of them all? [I refer here to Saul of Tarsus, who became the apostle Paul]. And how can we look below the surface? Notice MT 7: 16a, “You will know them by what they do.” We have been given GA 5: 22-23, the fruits of the Spirit to guide us in this observation. “But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these.” All along this path to finding godly discernment is that light which lights streets of gold, the word of God. Dear Ones, the Holy Spirit leads me to PS 119: 105, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet, a light for my path.”
PRAYER: O Lord, we approach Your throne with bold confidence that You love us and want us to seek You often [JER 29: 11-13; EPH 3: 12]. First, I must thank and praise You for ever being near to us and caring about our every need [PS 145: 18; PS 37: 23-24]. When we fall, You are truly there to hold us by the hand and pick us up. For all that You are and all that You do, we express our love for You and our gratitude for Your unselfishness with Your time. We express the believer’s commission from 1 PET 2: 9, “But you are the chosen race, the King’s own priests, the holy nation, God’s own people, chosen to proclaim the wonderful acts of God, Who called you out of darkness into His own marvelous light.” This is uttered in our prayer, so that You will know we acknowledge the great sacrifice You have made of Your Son, Jesus Christ, on the cross, so that we may be saved [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. We pledge to You our obedient service with joy, knowing all the while that You alone have made it possible for us to enjoy a blissful eternal life with You to begin at the time You appoint. As a matter of our preparation for that time, we acknowledge that we are sinners, and that we are in need of Your frequent guidance and direction to avoid wasting Christ’s blood shed for us and falling into sin that will lead us to spiritual death. We are ever grateful for the continuing efforts You make in preparing us for that day of glorification. 2 COR 3: 18, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord glory, are being transformed into His likeness with every-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, Who is the Spirit.” [see also 2 COR 5: 17; COL 3: 3-4, 10]. Having said all of this, Dearest Abba, we offer You these pleas for wisdom and discernment. PS 51: 6, “Sincerity and truth are what You require; fill my mind with wisdom.” PS 119: 125, “I am Your servant; give me understanding; so that I may know Your teachings.” This last plea, written long ago, was answered when You gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit after Christ came back to You in heaven [JN 14: 16-18]. Still and all, we know we can ask You to remind us to go in prayer to the Holy Spirit to give us more specific discernment when we are faced with making necessary judgments. We ask for these things with confidence, because we know You want them for us. We pray in Christ’s holy and mighty name. Amen.
Next week, I am led to continue this discussion, as He has more to say about MT 7: 6 and MT 7: 15-20. We were given a gift of a lovely set of wind chimes. These were built out of “thirty-two cents worth of junk” by a dear friend who made it. All the while I couldn’t help but think, “You will know them by what they do.” Discernment doesn’t come easily. Someone without it would say, “he was just casting off his dross on you.” But his dross is our treasure, because of the godly love and friendship that was behind it. We must beware of strangers bearing gifts, gifts that have an agenda outside of God’s behind them. I’m reminded of two ladies who came to my door, rang the bell, and were trying to engage me in conversation. At first, their subjects were general, lightly probing me to talk about myself. As they were getting nowhere, they came to their point. They wanted me to read material from their denomination, one which I recognize doesn’t stick carefully to Biblical truth. Since my experience being pulled into a cult long ago, I have become wary of such friendly strangers, and have found a polite but direct ways of ending such conversations. A part of me feels sorry for these ladies, because they are not evil people. Instead, they have been pulled into an evil theology. So, I don’t wish them damnation, only pray that someday the light of God’s truth will shine on them, and they will embrace it, coming out of the darkness they are in. So, join me in praying for discernment and the ability to show God’s love when we exercise it.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn