Jude 12-13 – These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
Philippians 1:9-11 – And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
“… eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves.” Matthew 26:14-16, 25, 47-50, 27:3-5 reveal that even sharing the company with Jesus was the one who would betray Him. Judas Iscariot had no qualm about living with Jesus, about being counted as one of Jesus’ twelve Apostles, eating with them, and being taught with them, and yet, he never fully gave his heart to Jesus. Among the people of God there have always been dark souls, empty of the things of God, who come for their own benefit to take what is not theirs. We should know that these fakes exist among us.
Acts 20:29-30 “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.” The other eleven apostles did not know that Judas was to betray the Lord, but Jesus did. (John 6:70-71, John 13:2) From the beginning there has been tares among the wheat, charlatans who care nothing for the flock but only care about themselves. The Lord allowed, and allows, that to be. (Matthew 13:24-30) Yet, He is not outwitted by the evil one, but allows all things to work out for our good. (Romans 8:28) Our discernment and spiritual strength grows the same as muscles which need resistance to become strong. We become strong as we learn to trust His strength for us rather than our own. When the charlatans cause hardship, trials, temptations and heartbreak we discover how weak we are and how omnipotent He is. We learn to rely on Him and not on ourselves. Therefore let us daily look for reasons to continually thank Him. Let us not be sparse with gratitude toward God, but let gratitude pour out to Him for all things. Make sure we do not deny Him the gratitude that He so richly deserves. Instead for our own good, we need to continuously acknowledge and give Him our gratitude and by doing that, our faith grows.
So there are always wolves among us. They come from without as people come who proclaim they are someone greatly used by God but in fact they are not even one of His. These empty vessels not only come over the horizon, but also from within. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15) From within are those who grew among us but never loved the Lord and yet, are at our services and events. Sometimes they seek and get positions of honor. They learn how to play the game, they learn where to get the right education, and yet, their souls are dark. From without and within the deceitful are with us. Yet, as they are found out, we learn to discern. We grow wiser. And our faith becomes increasingly an impervious bullet proof vest.
As Jesus warned us “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15) Though final judgement belongs only to God, the Lord has given us His Spirit and His Word to discern between wholesome and rotted fruit. We must be slow to judge, but ready to discern, as the Spirit guides us. We must remember that the false preachers and teachers are everywhere and surely that means there are some in most every congregation. But we are not sheep without our Shepherd. He is always with us to guide us, to protect us, and to provide for us. We must make sure we know His voice so that we will follow as He leads. We help each other, but it is imperative for us to know Him and His voice. We have no need for a human mediator or guide (between us and Jesus) because our God Himself is our everything. (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 10:19-20) God Himself, by way of His Spirit and the Word, will give us discernment, guide us and protect us. Love and trust each other, but hear His Spirit and know His Word so that we will be safe. Finally, Family and Friends, it is better to be cheated than to cheat, and it better to not judge at all than to judge wrongly. (Exodus 23:1, Leviticus 19:16) Be wise, let love rule, and follow the Spirit. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”