The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Being Able to Discern between True and False Teachers!

Today’s Scrip-Bit   6 July 2026   Matthew 7:15.

Matthew 7:15.        Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening (ravenous) wolves.

It’s Monday my brethren… and that means work! Yes, we’ve got to get out there and face the rat race that our world has become. But the good news is that we have all the parts and all the tools to handle it through the help and comfort of the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ that indwells us. We just have to get our act together and make use of what we’ve been given to live a godly and abundant life. And I believe the rat race and dog eat dog situation that our world has become was well described by Bruh Paul in his second letter to Timothy, when he solemnly warned him: ‘This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.’ (2 Tim. 3:1)

And the scholars explain that verse thus: ‘The last days began with the birth of Christ, (or the ushering in of the church age), and will culminate in Christ’s return to the earth to set up His kingdom. The prediction of perilous times indicates that apostasy (turning away from the faith) will characterize the final days of the church age.’ And there are indeed a lot of people turning away from the faith in these evil and ungodly times. Our world today is exactly like Bruh Paul describes it to Timothy.

‘For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous (money lovers), boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, truce breakers (irreconcilable), false accusers (slanderers), incontinent (without self-control), fierce (brutal), despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady (reckless), highminded (haughty), lovers of pleasures more than (rather than) lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.’ (2 Tim. 3:2-5)

Oh friends, if we go through all those categories, we’ll find that our world is indeed overwhelmingly full of each one, consequently why it’s in such a disastrous and chaotic state. For a world filled with so much ungodliness and evil cannot help but be disastrous and chaotic; it’s just the very nature of such a beast. So, we should not be surprised that some think that these are truly the last days, because our world is in such an unholy mess. And per the term, a form of godliness, the scholars explain that as having mere religion without power or spiritual life. That’s why Paul commands Timothy to stay away from those false teachers.  

And Bruh Paul also warns about them in his letter to the Corinthians, where he writes; ‘For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed (transforms himself) as the angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.’ (2 Cor. 11:13-15)

And in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Himself warned about these false people. ‘Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening (ravenous) wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil (bad) fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil (bad) fruit), neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.’ (Matt. 7:15-18)

Those false prophets and teachers distort the truth of the gospel, and although they look like innocent lambs, they are instead ravenous and destructive wolves hiding under the umbrella of Christ’s gospel to lead people astray. And most of them preach one thing but live another. That’s why it’s of the utmost importance that we check the conformity of their teaching with that of the scriptures. That’s why John in his first epistle also asked his readers to test the doctrine of those who come pretending to be teachers of the gospel.

‘Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try (test) the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come, and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.’ (1 John 4:1-4)

And that’s the gospel truth my brethren! Christ who dwells in us believers, is greater than Satan who dwells in the followers of the world. And our strength to overcome lies in the fact that we are born of the omnipotent, omniscient, and omni-present God! So, although the antichrist and his cronies might be somewhat powerful and very deceitful, they are no match for those who believe in Christ. However, as we said at the beginning, we must be careful and use all the tools we’ve been given, if we want to be successful in this chaotic world.

Now, let’s go to the throne of grace, through our Monday Morning Battle Hymn, with humble confidence, (smile) seeking divine aid in these troubled times. Altogether: ‘Our Father, who art in heaven, we, Your humble servants, praise and thank You  this Monday morning for our jobs; jobs we sometimes don’t like, jobs that are unfair, difficult and even dangerous, but which serve a useful purpose; keeping lives and families together.

We also thank You Father for the renewed vitality and enthusiasm You’ve wrought in our weary souls over the weekend. It’s that rejuvenation of spirit which now allows us to sally forth with confidence into the evil and ungodly world, to begin a new week of work, constantly buffeted and bombarded by the enemy’s evil schemes. But heavenly Father, we’re not afraid, for we know we’re invincible, sure conquerors, once we’re wearing Your powerful, protective spiritual armour!

We surrender our all to You, and humbly ask that You allow Your incredible aura of LOVE, the Holy Spirit to lead and guide all Your servants, as we go out to meet the enemy in battle. Fill us with steadfast faith, so that we can make worthwhile inroads into the enemy’s ranks, thereby furthering Your glorious kingdom. We pray this in the Holy Name of Your Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! Amen!’

Oh my fellow believers, it’s time we turn up the heat on the devil and his evil cronies! That’s our bounden duty! So let’s get to it nuh! Much LOVE!

…the devil only comes to lie and steal and destroy…but Jesus came that we might have life…and have it more abundantly…

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Today’s Scrip-Bit 17 November 2018 Matthew 7:20.

Matthew 7:20.   Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
 
Well friends let me begin by apologizing for the fiasco that was yesterday’s Bit. I don’t know how and why it really happened but it did, and consequently, in the header, I made the mistake of quoting the Bit as being from Job 17 instead of Job 27. But I do know that you, my astute and well-versed readers would have known exactly where it came from. (smile)

Please excuse the ole fella for that. But I just hate to make mistakes when writing about the Lord’s word. Oh I know He’s forgiven me, so in your godliness, I hope you will too. (smile) 

And since it’s Saturday, let’s turn to some quotes that our friend Anselm sent us this week, as he nobly aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. Here is the first one, which says: ‘Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.’ And that’s oh so true. 

And it’s well encapsulated in a quote from a Rasta breddren who taught me history in High School eons ago. As he thoughtfully scratched his scraggly beard, with his brogued feet up on the desk, he would ask: ‘What is History? And why do we learn History?’ And His answers were: ‘History is a record of the past, and we learn it so we can understand the present and predict the future.’ 

And especially if you are child of God, you need to be continually questioning and learning and growing in the faith; hopefully moving from glory to glory, becoming more Christ-like everyday! 

And the second quote is like unto the first: (smile) ‘Everybody wants to be famous, but nobody wants to do the work. I live by that. You grind hard so you can play hard. At the end of the day, you put all the work in, and eventually it’ll pay off. It could be in a year, it could be in 30 years. Eventually, your hard work will pay of.’ 

Yeah friends, there are no serious rewards without serious work. As the Good Book says, you reap what you sow. And that’s gospel truth. You can’t put in a little work, or only plant a small crop and expect to reap huge rewards and harvest.

And it doesn’t matter how long you have to work hard before you reap those rewards and harvests either, for as the Lord said to the people of Judah through the prophet Azariah, when they were going through tough times: ‘Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.’ (2 Chr.15:7) 

And if you don’t believe that, then listen to Bruh David from Psalm 31: ‘O LOVE the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth (fully repays) the proud doer.’ (Ps.31:23)

And if you still don’t believe that, (smile) then listen to Bruh Paul to Timothy: ‘For the scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn, and the labourer is worthy of his reward (wages).’ (1 Tim.5:17) So friends, whatever effort we put into our work, that is what we will gain from it. 

And all of that runs smoothly into our third and last quote: ‘The value of life is not in its duration, but in its donation. You are not important because of how long you live, you are important because of how effective you live.’ And wiser words were never spoken in that regard my people! 

Listen to this discourse of Jesus on the subject. ‘Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening (ravenous) wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil (bad) fruit.

A good tree cannot bring forth evil (bad) fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.’ (Matt.7:15-20) 

Yes my brethren, it’s ever so important how you live, not so much how long you live. And the longer you live, the more good fruit you are expected to bear in Jesus’ realm. And that good fruit must be exposed to the unbelievers so that they can see it and accept Christ themselves.

That’s why Christ also said that we are the salt and light of the earth, and we’re not supposed to hide our lights under a bushel, for what good is flavourless salt or a hidden light eh? None whatsoever! (Matt.5:13-15) 

And we’ll end with this oh so important admonishing of Jesus on that subject. ‘Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.’ (Matt.5:16) Now that friends, is what all we supposed Christians, believers and whatever we call ourselves are supposed to be about. 

But I don’t think we’re doing such a good job; we’re not bearing as much good fruit as we should, or being as flavourful and bright shining to the heathen world! And that’s why Jesus’ LOVE Revolution is faltering; why more people are seemingly leaving it, than joining it. And we just can’t have that my people! 

So today, I implore us to take a good look at ourselves and truly ruminate on the role we are playing in Jesus’ body, where we are falling down, because all of us have faults and foibles, and sincerely make the effort to do better. Let’s take it to God in prayer and ask for His help, for with God’s help, we can all do better! Much LOVE!

…truly living for Jesus means…being flavourful…a bright shining light…and producing good fruit…in this evil, corrupt world…