Matthew 7:15-27

March 10 - Matthew 7:15-27
Not everyone who uses God’s name will enter the kingdom of heaven. This idea can give us pause. What is Jesus talking about? If someone is casting out demons in His name, doesn’t that make them a Christian?

The answer to this can be found in the beginning of our reading today. This is the end of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus just spent the last two and a half chapters telling us what God’s kingdom is like and how we are to live and act as part of it. He then gets to a type of person who walks the wide way to destruction while pretending to be on the narrow way to salvation: the wolf in sheep’s clothing.

A prophet is someone who speaks on God’s behalf to the people. A false prophet (a wolf in sheep's clothing) claims divine revelation while actually speaking contrary to God’s Word. They do not keep God’s name holy. Such people are recognized by the fruit they bear, the results of their words. Time will tell if they speak rightly about God or if they profane His name. Protect us from this, heavenly Father!

How are we to make sure we are speaking rightly about God and are not led astray by false teaching? We listen to His Word and put it into practice, like the wise man who builds his house on the rock. We build our lives on THE Rock. We learn to speak rightly about God (and to recognize those who don’t) by reading the Bible, going to Church, and living a life that is guided by God’s law. We make the Bereans in Acts 17 our example and examine the Scriptures daily to make sure what we are hearing is true.