“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.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.”  Matthew 7:15-19

The scripture passage just prior to today’s passage, in Matthew, talks about false prophets.  Both of these scripture passages warn us of fake or phony Christians.  They warn us of people professing to be Christians that are anything but.

This scripture passage speaks of inspecting the fruit.  We spoke of that yesterday.  In these end times, we must be very careful of who we listen to and very careful of the information that we take in and store.

You see, the bottom line here is that if you want to know if someone is really a Christian, just watch their behavior.  Do they claim to be a Christian but are constantly gossiping behind everyone’s back?  Do they claim to be a Christian but seldom have a kind word to say to anyone?  Do they claim to be a Christian but never seem to lift a finger to help someone out of a jam?  You get where I’m going with this.  Christians will consistently exhibit Christian behavior.  Now of course we all make mistakes.  Even the best of Christians stumble at times, but when you get to know what is in someone’s heart then you get to understand who and what they are really all about.

This scripture passage describes false prophets as wolves in sheep’s clothing.  If we are not careful, we could easily be devoured before we know what’s happened.  The scary thing about this is that often times these false prophets or false Christians disguise themselves very well.  Often times they will be the one always there to lend a helping hand.  They will come running to bail you out of a jam.  But if you are careful and you stick around them long enough their true colors will eventually come out.  This will usually happen the first time things don’t go their way.  I have seen so-called Christians behave horribly when things don’t go their way.

This is where the whole inspecting the fruit thing comes in.  You certainly wouldn’t run to a fig tree and hope to get strawberries.  This scripture tells us that we can’t pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles.  If you listen to the simplicity of this scripture you see how simply Jesus broke this down for us.  As Christians we are not to judge people, but we are clearly told here that we are to inspect their fruit.  Jesus explained as simply as could have been done that a bad tree does not produce good fruit just as a good tree does not produce good fruit.

So if you stick around someone long enough you will see exactly what kind of fruit they produce.  You will see what is important to them.  You will see why they do what they do.  Sadly some people do good deeds for others as a way to get them to do what they want.  Once again the first time you are unable to accommodate this type of person, you will see what they are really made of.  The first time you want something that is outside of their will, their true colors will come out.

So what do you do?  Well first and foremost you follow God and stay in His will.  I have learned that when I stay in God’s will that my true Christian friends are usually in agreement.  The devil is the author of confusion.  He will always have his minions out there trying to convince you to do things their way.  They may appear to be very kind and helpful but be careful.  If you are sure that you are doing God’s will and they come against you, don’t worry.  Just keep on doing God’s will and you can’t go wrong.  God will deal with them at the proper time.

My prayer for you today is that you are not confronted by any wolves in sheep’s clothing but that if you are, that you are able to recognize them and act accordingly. Put on God’s armor, fight the good fight if necessary and when God releases you move on.

Have a great day!