By their fruit

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying…

Mat 7:15  Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Mat 7:16  Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Mat 7:17  Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

Mat 7:18  A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

Mat 7:19  Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

Mat 7:20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Do men gather grapes of thorns?

No.

Do men gather figs of thistles?

No.

Every GOOD TREE will produce GOOD FRUIT.

Every CORRUPT TREE will produce EVIL FRUIT.

A GOOD TREE CANNOT produce evil fruit.

A CORRUPT TREE CANNOT produce good fruit.

CORRUPT TREES are CUT DOWN and BURNED.

BY THEIR FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM!

A good tree cannot produce evil fruit and yet using this as an analogy to prophets and our being BEWARE of them, we have to comprehend that a GOOD PROPHET will not commit evil acts.

How many so called prophets in the last twenty or so years have been found out to be embroiled in sin and yet they preached, they prophesied, they gathered followers to them by the hundreds and even thousands?  A lot. They are secretly leading very sinful lives all the while preaching against sin, they are hypocrites!

We are NOT perfect by any means, but our LORD wants us to BEWARE of those who would trick us into thinking they are HIS when in fact they belong to Satan.

Inwardly these people are wolves- they are Satan's.

Outwardly these people are sheep- they are God's.

And so many will say that they hadn't a clue, they couldn't know, it was kept secret from them, they were deceived.  All they are saying is truth.  It's not hard to be in the dark, to be fooled, to be deceived.  Who among us can say in truth that we wouldn't have been like Eve and Adam, deceived into eating from the tree of Good and Evil?  We don't know, we just don't.

We have to pray NOT to be deceived.

We have to STUDY ALL that the prophet is saying, not just taking that prophet at their word.

We have to take every word they teach and hold it up against our BIBLE, hold it up against GOD'S TRUTH.

If the prophecies, the message coming from these people, contradict God's Holy Word then they could very well be WOLVES.  

Yes, they could be sinners- repentant, struggling sinners, or they could be unrepentant sinners. We have to take their message to GOD'S word and if it hold up to that LIGHT then they are GOD'S. 

Their message will not hold up to God's Word if they are WOLVES.

By their FRUITS YE SHALL KNOW THEM!

We have to look at the FRUIT. There is EVIL FRUIT and lots of it. The quantity of EVIL fruit can be amazing, in fact, I'd venture to say that there is much more evil fruit out there than good fruit and yet it is all FRUIT- the product of a prophet, an evil prophet or a good prophet. If there is tons of evil fruit it is fruit that has allowed itself to be deceived.

The TRUTH exists.

The LIGHT exists.

If we choose darkness rather than LIGHT, we are accountable for it.

Joh_3:19  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

There will be LITTLE light on earth when our Savior returns. The majority of the world will be lost to the darkness of evil and it will be lost to it, by choice.

Don't get me wrong, there will be a great deception and the majority will give the APPEARANCE of being in the LIGHT, but it will only be because they are now calling evil good.

Isa_5:20  Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!

May GOD protect us from deception, from the evil that would have us calling evil good, and good evil. Please LORD as You asked the Father in Heaven, KEEP us from EVIL!

All by YOUR GRACE, in YOUR LOVE, in YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS ALWAYS!