JPhillipJones.com

Greetings in Jesus' Name. Let's talk about

discernment for a moment. We, as Christians

are the target of Satan. Satan does not have

any direct power over us and the Holy Ghost

gives us authority over him. Sometimes he

likes to use governments and rulers to

persecute Christians. However, that has

historically proven not to destroy the gospel,

and sometimes even helps it spread and grow.

So what type of weapon does that leave the

enemy? In a word... infiltration.

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.

Here Jesus is laying out a simple guide to determining

who is on our side, and who is not. We don't have to

have some special spiritual gift to weed out those that

would come in and do us harm, we just have to know

what to look for. If we are looking, God will make their

fruit manifest to us.

We should not always accept people at face value.

We need to know them that labor among us. The Bible

not only instructs us to be as harmless as doves... but

also as wise as serpents. The apostles did not tolerate

pretenders in their midst.

Now, I'm not saying that we should grab every new

minister we meet by the throat and drag him off to an

interrogation room (stuff like that tends to start gossip :).

But we should be on the look out. Usually, though there

are a few exceptions, you can tell pretty quickly if someone

is really of God by keeping a watchful eye out. If someone

comes in claiming to be a saint of God and their personal

like sounds like something from some supermarket tabloid...

they're probably not going to edify your congregation.

Look for the fruit. Look at what they teach. Then

look at what they really do. If they have children,

observe how they behave, particulalry toward issues

of faith. Some people are obvious on sight and

manifest themselves quickly. I'm sure most of us have

seen someone walk in the church door that didn't

feel quite right. The Holy Ghost will show us where a

bad spirit is. Remember the woman that followed

Paul and Silas. What she was saying was true, that

they were men of God. But she had a bad spirit that

was up to no good, and Paul saw it and rebuked it.

Other people may seem really good at first, but are

really not what they seem to be. But even those are

become obvious if you have your eyes open and your

heart tuned toward God.

And finally, regardless of anything else, church

leaders should protect their congregation. The

enemy likes to look for the young and weak in the

Lord that are vulnerable. Extra care is needed to

ensure that the wolves don't come in and carry

these away. And a big part of that is discernment.

God Bless!