Matthew 7:15-20 Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: February 13, 2019, Matthew 7:15-20
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
(Understanding the Text) Guzik’s commentary connects this to the previous verses by saying that “there are many who would try to guide us along the broad path that leads to destruction; how can we guard ourselves against them?” Previously, Jesus had said “For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Thus, the connection between false prophets and the narrow way is that they are one of the methods that the devil uses to keep us on the wide road to destruction and out of the narrow gate that leads to life.
(Application) Should this be applied only to prophets, or can it be applied to anyone? People come acting harmless, but they are looking for prey. I experienced that last summer. The problem with recognizing the predators by their fruits is that the fruit itself comes in the form of injured victims and the loss of reputation for God. It would be nice to not have to deal with the evil predator at all instead of having to pick up the broken pieces after he or she has gone.
That’s the other problem I have. Even when I recognize the wrongness, I don’t know what I can do about it. In many cases, to directly confront or start a whispering campaign against such a predator does just as much harm as the evil person. How can you protect others from him/her? How can you get rid of him/her when others don’t see the problem? When others don’t talk to you or involve you, how can you tell them of your suspicions?
We can also recognize that someone is doing something right with God by seeing the fruits. The fruits are not the number of baptisms or the lack of baptisms. The fruits are if others are built up or torn down by contact with the individual. The fruits are the words out of their mouth. Do those words demonstrate the character of Christ or a love of the world? The fruits are the actions. Do those actions show humility or arrogance? Attitude is displayed in words and actions and looks. Attitude demonstrates character.
(Revelation of God / Understanding the text) God will get rid of the harmful people, but in the mean time, He wants us to be wise in our interactions with others. We need to watch for fruit, and we need to judge, not based on titles or positions or numbers, but on the character of Christ displayed in the person. We need to look for the fruits of the Spirit in their lives. Guzik’s commentary gives three ways to judge. “i. We should pay attention to the manner of living a teacher shows. Do they show righteousness, humility and faithfulness in the way they live? ii. We should pay attention to the content of their teaching. Is it true fruit from God’s Word, or is it man-centered, appealing to ears that want to be tickled? iii. We should pay attention to the effect of their teaching. Are people growing in Jesus or merely being entertained, and eventually falling away?”
(Application) The problem is that many times these false prophets even deceive themselves. If someone truly believes that he or she is doing God’s will, it is harder to see that he/she is not just a sincere follower of Jesus who needs to grow some more. What do you do in that situation?
(Prayer) Help me to trust your leading in judging whether someone is really sent from You or not. Please help me to know what to do if the person isn’t. Help me to interact correctly with people. I am not good at interacting with other people, especially when I have to get close to negativity, either theirs or my own.