Bible Study Series - The 1st General Epistle of John Chapter 3

 

1 John 3

Authorized (King James) Version

 
In the previous chapter we learnt a few things, like the difference between "to keep" and "to obey or to do", anyone professing they have no sin is a liar, the Antichrist and antichrists and its definition as Christ rejecters, false prophets/teachers, loving each other and loving not the world.

Let us now dive into chapter 3 and see what the Spirit of God is going to teach us in this chapter.

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1 John 3:1 "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."

 

John proclaims for us to BEHOLD! This means to see or observe someone or something of an impressive or remarkable nature. Here he is talking about the Father's love for us. 

When he says bestowed, means to confer or present an honour, or right, or a gift: to bestow, the Father has given us his love as a gift, it was not earned by us, showing the Fathers grace toward us, for what?

The privilege for us to be called the sons of God! And for this reason, the world does not know us because the world did not know him.

John 1:12-13 " But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: ¹³ which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."

And we believers are born of him, because of his virtue, his righteousness.

1 john 2:29 "If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him."

Christians or believers are the aliens of this world, the Lord Jesus Christ was not of this world, and as we are born again, born of the Spirit we are no longer considered of this world; as the world rejects God, the world will also reject us because of him.

John 15:18 "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you."

From this verse, when John makes the proclamation about God's love, we see that from his love, HE initiated our Salvation, for God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son…

Ephesians 1:3-6 " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: ⁴ according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: ⁵ having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, ⁶ to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved."

At the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, we will be re-united with our Father, who loves his children with untold love.

Romans 8:17 "and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."

Jesus paid the price of adoption for us to be the adopted children of the Father.

Jesus is the only begotten Son. We are sons by adoption. We have been bought and paid for by the precious blood of Jesus. We have been presented to the Father without blame, by the Son. Amen!

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1 John 3:2 "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."

John addressing believers here, he says that now we are sons of God: those who truly profess their faith will become a child of God at the moment of belief.

Romans 8:16 "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:"

John 1:12 "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:"

2 Peter 1:4 "whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 

John says that our true selves has not yet been revealed, that's what he is saying when he says "it does not appear what we shall be:" but he develops this message by saying "but we know that," when he shall appear, our Lord Jesus Christ; we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

We shall be like him, meaning at the Lords appearing we will somehow be transformed to be like him, in his glory, this process has already begun with our spirits through the work of the Holy Spirit inside us, working us into the image of the Lord:

John 6:63 "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."

Titus 3:5 "not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"

Our bodies have yet to be redeemed, we are awaiting for the return of our Lord. 

On that day we shall see him as he is, in all his glory; I can't seem to find a word fitting to describe how glorious, wonderful…I need a word much better than this! But what a day it will be!!!!

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1 John 3:3 "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure."

 
Through Faith, we establish the law, we should edify each other and love one another, this "Hope" which is the resurrection, the return of the Lord, that we should seek to purify ourselves in our daily living, our conduct as Christians, even as he is pure. 

This is not a Salvation passage, I know some readers may try to use this as a salvation passage but John is speaking to the saved, and we are not yet done going through this chapter to understand what John is conveying to us in his epistle.

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1 John 3:4 "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."

What we have here is John stating the truth about sin, whosoever commits sin, we ALL commit sin, whether we are saved or not, sin is a transgression or an offence against God's Holy character. 

Now, depending on what side of the coin you are on, will determine your fate. From not having your sins imputed to you as a saved person – Romans 4:7-8 or the unsaved, to everlasting damnation in the lake of fire - Romans 6:23, Revelation 21:8.


But regardless, sin is sin, if you sin you transgress the Law of God.

The law of God for the Christian is to love God with everything within us, and to love our neighbour as ourselves. If we do that, we will be pleasing God.

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1 John 3:5 "And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin."

He was manifested, that is, God in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16) to take away our sins. Jesus died to sanctify the believers, to sanctify is to make one holy.

It is by HIS WORKS, that we have been imputed HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, not of our own which is but filthy rags; this is an important teaching to understand, in order for you to understand true salvation you must humble yourself and accept the work of Christ as the only way to heaven.

Jesus took on the sin of the whole world, he bore the sins of the entire world, past, present and future sins are covered by our Lord Jesus Christ!

2 Corinthians 5:21 "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."

Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; ²⁶ that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

John 3:14-15 "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: ¹⁵ that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."

Jesus was completely without sin. He had never sinned. His body had no broken bones. He was the Lamb without blemish, the perfect sacrifice.

He took our sin upon His sinless body. Our sin died on the cross. Our sins were only temporarily covered by the sacrifices of animals in the Old Testament, which had to be performed every year by the priests.

Our sins are done away with by the blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord. It is his righteousness that now lives in us until the day of redemption; the Lord's Day.

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1 John 3:6 "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him."

Whosoever lives or dwells in him sinneth not, as believers we take on the Lord's righteousness it doesn't mean the believer is not going to sin at all, if we are to say we sin not, then we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

Look if you were to read these verses on their own it would indeed seem to contradict a multitude of other verses including the verses contained in this epistle that John wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

So what do these verses mean then?

Stay with me, you'll soon see what is really being said with the help of other scriptures in the bible, these verses are stating the absolute facts about sin, we all sin period, with one exception in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord and saviour!

 
Whosoever, meaning whoever (synonyms: whatever person; anyone) that sins has not seen him, neither known him.

So what does this verse mean, well anyone that abides or believes on him does not sin, why because in light of other scriptures in the bible, it says we take on his righteousness. Look at what Paul says:

Philippians 3:9 " and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:"

So if you abide in him you are saved and you sin not, here's the important part of the verse, anyone who sins has not seen him, neither do they know him IF YOU DON'T ABIDE in him.

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1 John 3:7 "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous."

My dear brethren, let know man deceive you, this is the subject; do not let any man deceive you!

Since false teachers were attempting to pervert the fundamentals of the faith, this letter was written to the believers to not fall for their deception, to not be led astray by these false teachers.

He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous; this verse literally means what it says, a righteous man will do righteousness, even as our Lord Jesus Christ is righteous.

Before we move on (I feel another mini sermon coming on!), I need to expound on what righteousness is and need to make perfectly clear of its implications. 

If you do not know what righteousness is and how it is implemented in the bible, YOU WILL come away with false doctrines by interpreting scripture with a perverted view.

Now let's get this out of the way!

What does it mean to be RIGHTEOUS?

 
Righteous is synonymous with Justification, in fact being just is being righteous. When the Lord speaks to us through the bible he says we are justified, made righteous, imputed righteousness are all related to Salvation.

In fact it can all be summed up like this: Righteousness is the state of moral perfection required by God to enter heaven.

The bible clearly states that man cannot or rather is unable to achieve righteousness through his own efforts:

Romans 3:20 "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."

Romans is a book that teaches all about righteousness, and in this passage teaches that anyone who tries to come before God by his own works, or rather, thinks he is going to get into heaven by following the Law shall not be justified (righteous) in HIS sight. 

By the Law is the knowledge of sin, which means the Law is to make aware that we are sinners.

The Law or 10 Commandments is to show us how far we fall short of God's standards. – Romans 3:23

The only solution to that dilemma is God's plan of salvation.

People receive righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour. Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, took man's sins upon himself and became the willing, perfect sacrifice, suffering the punishment mankind deserved. 

God the Father accepted Jesus' sacrifice, through which human beings by grace through faith can become justified or made righteous.

Romans 3:24-26 "being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: ²⁵ whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; ²⁶ to declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."

Christ's perfect righteousness is applied (Doctrine of Imputation) to imperfect humans, believers receive the righteousness of Christ.

This process of imputing or crediting the person with righteousness is a free gift from God, which is called the Doctrine of Grace.

Salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ is the essence of Christianity, TRUE Christianity.

No other religion offers grace, they all require some type of works on behalf of the participant, and human effort cancels out God's grace.

In light of this, 1 John 3:7 "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous."

Let no man deceive you, because Jesus is the only righteousness that the Father will accept, and you are righteous because he made you righteous by his precious blood that he shed for you.

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1 John 3:8 "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."

Those who commit sin are of the devil, the devil sinneth from the beginning as we read about in Genesis. 

For this purpose, for because of devil, sin crept into the world, and from sin, death; that the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, this verse is implying that the devil is the source of sin.

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1 John 3:9 "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

Whoever is born of God does not commit sin, born of God, born again, born of the spirit. 

Our spirit wrestles with our own flesh, our spirit is born of God and is made righteous by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Our flesh is stained in sin, our flesh has not yet been redeemed, in previous verses we learn that our body will be like his when he returns; glorified like his.

So when the bible talks about us being born of God, it is the spirit that is born of God, his seed remains in us through the Holy Spirit working in us, our spirit into his image, our spirit will not sin because our spirit is born of God.

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1 John 3:10 "In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother."

The Children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: anyone who doeth not righteousness is not of God, and we established that to do righteousness is to be imputed with HIS righteousness, the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ and to make that happen, you must follow God's plan of Salvation. 

To do righteous is to be born of God, to be born of God is to be born of the spirit.

John makes a distinction as to which family you belong to in this world, you are either part of God's family or part of the devils family, and he who is not righteous, or hates his brother is part of the devils family, he calls you the children of the devil. Jesus speaking to the Jews says the following:

John 8:44 "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

Religious institutions that teach that all are God's children are in err and gravely mistaken in light of these scriptures, God clearly distinguishes that you are either a child of God, or a child of the devil.

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1 John 3:11 "For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."

Again John is re-emphasising what was taught from the beginning, and that we should love one another. Doing so will fulfil the Law.

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1 John 3:12 "Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous."

Did Cain fulfil the message to love one another?

The bible says Cain was of the devil that wicked one, and slew his brother Abel.

For what reason did Cain slay his brother?

The bible says it was because his OWN works were evil, and his brothers righteous. Time for another mini study!

 

Why was Cain's works considered wicked, and his brother's righteous?

 
By using New Testament scripture to interpret the Old Testament story of Cain and Abel, we can get a better, more comprehensive understanding of why God rejected Cain's offering and accepted his brother Abel's offering.

The story begins in Genesis chapter 4:

Genesis 4:3-8 "And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. ⁴ And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: ⁵ but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.⁶ And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? ⁷ If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. ⁸ And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him."

After the two boys were born and after a considerable amount of time has passed, we learn that both Cain and Abel began to make offering to the Lord.

Cain's offering to the Lord were of the produce of fruit frown from the grown, this could've been a mixture of fruit and vegetables. 

Cain was what we would call in modern times an agriculturalist.

Abel made an offer to the Lord his firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. Abel would be called a Shepherd, he kept sheep.

What are the firstlings of sheep called? A lamb.

So then, why did God have respect to Abel's offering and rejected Cain's offering?

If we go back in Genesis chapter 3 where we read that God clothes Adam and Eve:

Genesis 3:21 "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them."

Prior to this, Adam and his wife were only covered by an apron made of fig leaves; this my brethren is a picture of man's own works, his efforts to cover up or, to atone for his own sins.

Then before God ejects them from out the Garden of Eden, we read that God makes them clothes, from what?

He makes them clothes from coats of skin, and how do you get coats of skin?

By slaying an animal of course, Blood had to be shed!


This verse alludes to the first instance of an animal offering made to cover man in his sins. 

God basically says get rid of that pathetic little fig leaf apron, which barely covers you and put on these clothes made from animal skins which I, the Lord Almighty have provided to cover you more adequately with.

And of course until, the Lord provides for himself the ultimate, perfect sacrifice…

Right, so why did God have respect to Abel's offering and not to Cain's offering?

Cain brought the fruit of the labour of his own hands, and Abel brought a lamb as an offering to God.

Cain presented his own works, while Abel acknowledged himself to be a sinner worthy of death, who could only approach a holy God by means of a blood sacrifice which is a shadow of the true Lamb of God whose blood has purchased His sinful unworthy people.

It was in their manner of approaching the only true God that distinguished the one's works as being righteous and the other's as evil.

To "do righteousness" is to approach God through the sacrifice of His Son who gave Himself for our sins and clothed us in His own perfect righteousness.

1 John 2:1-2 "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: ² and he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world."

We also learn that Cain was very wroth about this incident, his countenance fell, the Lord questions him ever so gently: Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? ⁷ If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
 


After this, we learn that Cain slays his brother in the field. 

This part of story is another study in of itself, but I'm going to quickly say here that, because Cain failed to humbly accept a correction from God, his pride drove him to murder his own brother, in comparison count the times that you failed to take correction from someone of authority and end did it end up well?

I'm going to stop here and continue on with the actual bible study or else we'll be here forever!

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1 John 3:13 "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you."

Don't be in wonder my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you why?

Because we are not of this world, and because he is in us, and the world hated him first! So do not be surprised that the world will hate you!

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1 John 3:14 "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death."

We have passed from death unto life, this is everlasting life, for what reason? 

Because we love the brethren, he that does not love his brother abides in death, or lives/dwells in spiritual darkness, in wickedness.

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1 John 3:15 "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."

Jesus did not come to abolish the Law, what he came to do was fulfil it, not only did Jesus fulfil the Law but he tells us that the Law is not just about our outward appearances and actions, but that the Law is spiritual and that sin comes from within, what is in our hearts he says the following in Matthew chapter 5:

Matthew 5:22 "but I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire."

And then goes onto say this in Matthew chapter 15:

Matthew 15:11 "not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man."

Hate comes from within, the mere thought of hating someone could easily manifest itself into a physical outward action resulting in murder. 

The action is preceded by the thoughts of the heart.

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1 John 3:16 "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

Jesus laid his life for us, this is the love of God, we should lay down our lives for the brethren also, and we should forsake our own lives for the brethren, our fellow saints like our Messiah did for us.

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1 John 3:17 "But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"

But whomsoever has this world's good, or material possessions and denies his brother who has need, and has no compassion or sympathy on his brother, how does the love of God dwell in him?

This is a question, so it's best not try to give an answer, but to try to understand it, because it may very well be answered shortly!

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1 John 3:18 "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."

Brethren, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, in other words that saying goes "you're just all talk!"

We must show our love in deed and in truth, else how is our fellow man supposed to profit from our faith in the Lord if we do not show our love through our works towards the brethren? 

Not A salvation Passage!

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1 John 3:19 "And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him."

Hereby means "by means of" we know that we are in the truth when we do the deeds of love in truth, the love of God is in us, and because we are of the truth our hearts shall be comforted before him.

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1 John 3:20 "For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things."

If our hearts condemn us, the treachery it is capable of, we can be assured that God is greater than our heart and knoweth all things. 

As believers we are still tempted to give into the lusts of our hearts, but we can be sure because God knows all things, he knows more of what's in our hearts than we do.

In light of John's strict teaching above, he may have felt that some readers might start to begin to despair. 

He assures them that, although our shabby attempts to honour God may leave us feeling defeated inside, God is greater than our own self-awareness and can justify us even when we would condemn ourselves. 

1 Corinthians 4:4 "For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord."

He sees not only our actions, which at times are disillusioned or imprudent, but also the motives and intentions behind them.

Sometimes we feel guilty about not helping someone when we really could not, and should not do it. 

Sometimes we blame ourselves when there should be no blame placed. We cannot, and should not, help everyone that asks. 

We should be asking ourselves, are we doing this to please God, or are we doing this to please man?

If we are unsure we should pray and ask God what to do.

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1 John 3:21 "Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God."

When a Christian identifies in his life the demonstration of love in their deeds and actions, it results in confidence about his relationship with God. 

Man will benefit from such works and see our faith and love toward God. 

In James chapter 2 he asks the question to the brethren, what does it profit? 

Who is going to receive any benefits from your faith if you don't act on it? (Not teaching about salvation or a faith that isn't there! Every Christian will have days where their faith is dead!)

This is talking about how we can now have a clear conscience about our sins, think about it this way, in the Old Testament, the animal offering was only to temporarily atone for ones sins, and it was a temporary covering.

When Jesus came he abolished our sins, and gave us a clear conscience. 

If we know in our heart that we have done the right thing, then we can stand before Jesus on judgment day with a clear conscience.

This clear conscience is also associated with rest, we can rest easy!

Hebrews 4:3 "For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world."

Hebrews 4:10 "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his."

Matthew 11:28-30 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Even Jesus said it himself, those who come to me will rest, he says to take his yoke upon yourself and learn of him; for he is meek and lowly of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. 

His yoke is easy and his burden is light, I notice that people who believe in a works based false religion always say that getting into heaven and living like Christ is hard, if you believe this then you make Jesus a liar and the truth is not in you. You are NOT saved.

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1 John 3:22 "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight."

Whatever we ask, whatever we ask in prayer, God shall give it, why?

The bible says it is because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight, if we do this, God will answer everything that we shall ask for.

In the next verse, we will learn what THE commandment is, and what things we do that are pleasing to his sight.

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1 John 3:23 "And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

Everything that we read in this chapter and including chapter 2 is culminated in this one verse, this is the eureka moment, the verse that should enlighten everything you have read so far, and honestly speaking, is a verse that ties in with all other scriptures of the entire bible and what it teaches.

This is the statement that should be burned into your hearts, the commandment that we have received from heavenly Father is this:

"That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another"

That's what he commanded us to do, from this we inherit everything that he, himself, the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished all, and the works he did for us so that we could enter into his rest, because it is easy to get saved!

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1 John 3:24 "And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us."

He that believes on the name of the Son and loves one another dwells in him, and he will dwell in him. And as a result of this, we know that he abides in us, why?

By the Spirit which he has given us, and this Spirit is the Holy Spirit of God.

John 14:16-17 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;¹⁷ even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you."

May hope and understanding come to you all, glory be to the Father, grace and peace be unto you, love our Lord Jesus Christ, in his name, Amen.

Go to 1 John Chapter 1 2 3 4 5

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

 

Matthew 7:15-20 "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. ¹⁶ Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? ¹⁷ Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. ²⁰ Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them."

 
The subject I want to talk about today is the subject of false prophets that will come to you in sheep's clothing.

When you study the bible, there is a consistent theme that is taught throughout the New Testament that compares false prophets to evil trees; trees that produce bad fruit.

Let's go to the book of Jude which contains a similar passage:

 

Jude 1:4-5 "For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁵ I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not."

 
Now verse 4 says there are certain men crept in unawares – the wolves in sheep's clothing these people are ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Now verse 5 is talking about how he destroyed the Israelites that did not believe after our Lord delivered them out of the land of Egypt. These false prophets are not saved people according to these verses.

 

Jude 1:12-13 "These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; ¹³ raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever."

 
These are unsaved, unbelieving people who are on their way to hell, who creep in amongst the sheep with the intent to beguiling and deceive with their lies and false doctrines.

 
Now it's important to understand that there are people out there who will take Matthew chapter 7 and twist it to say that this applies to all people. 


They will tell you that if you don't bring forth good fruit, you're not saved.

 
This my friends is a flat out lie, a false teaching designed to teach works salvation, designed to teach you that you have to do the works to get into heaven.

 
They take Matthew Chapter 7 out of context, what does verse 15 say?

 
He says beware of false prophets, and what is another word for prophet?

 
Another word for prophet is the word preacher.

 

He is saying beware of false preachers, beware of false teachers who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly THEY are ravenous wolves. You should know THEM by their fruits.

 
Who are you going to know by their fruits?

 
False Prophets, False Preachers, and False Teachers.

 
Is he saying you're going to know who is saved by their fruits?

 
In no way is this passage teaching that you are going to know who is saved by their fruits, this teaching is not applied to all people, and unfortunately I have heard a lot of people quote this.

 
It says you will know false prophets by their fruits. False Prophets and preachers in the bible are compared to evil trees, a good preacher or someone who preaches the gospel to the unsaved is likened to a good tree.

 
Think about this verse:

 

Proverbs 11:30 "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise."

 
The bible talks about us as believers, that if we are rooted and grounded in what we believe, if we were to add to our faith, charity, and to charity into temperance and all other things; we would be fruitful. And then he puts a number on it, he says some 30, some 60, and some 100.

 
Now what do you think that is when he talks about a believer bringing forth fruit, and then he puts a number on it?

 
What does it mean to be fruitful?

 
If we look at the very first time in the bible that the word Fruitful is ever mentioned in Genesis chapter 1, what is it talking about?

 
God says, "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth…"

 
So the first time the word fruitful is ever used, it is talking about animals and humans reproducing, and when they are fruitful and they reproduce there is a multiplication taking place.

 
This is consistent with the saying of some 30, and some 60, and some 100 fold fruit bearing.

 
Think about this, if I had an Orange, this Orange is a piece of fruit, and if this Orange where to reproduce fruit; it would produce fruit after its own kind right?

 
So the Orange will reproduce more Oranges.

 
So as Christians, if we bring forth fruit, when we win another soul, bring forth fruit means we bring forth another believer. If go out and win another soul to Christ, that me bringing forth fruit, because I have now multiplied another spiritual child for the kingdom of heaven.

 
If my wife and I are fruitful, we are going to bring forth fruit after our own kind, which means we're going to have children. We are human, so we are going to produce human children. The orange will produce the orange.

 
Let me ask you this question, what about a human who does not reproduce, does that not make them human?

 
What about an Orange that doesn't reproduce?

 
Does that make it not an Orange?

 
In fact, what percentage of Oranges do you think will actually bring forth fruit after its kind?

 
Some Oranges will be eaten by animals and insects, and some will be consumed by humans bought at the grocery store. It is only a minority of the Oranges that will fall from the tree and die, and waste away and the seed will go into the ground to produce another Orange tree.

 
So when the bible says a good tree will bring forth good fruit and a bad tree will bring forth bad fruit, and that a good tree cannot bring forth bad fruit and vice versa; what the bible is teaching here is that a tree will bring forth fruit after its own kind.

 
So an apple cannot produce a banana, or an Orange cannot produce a mango fruit. But does that guarantee that every orange tree going to reproduce from every fruit?

 
Does every human being going to reproduce?

 
Does that mean that every saved person is going to bring forth other saved people?

 
The answer to the questions is No, but you are going to know what you are going to get.

 
This is what people are mistaking when the read these passages, they think that these passages is teaching that every saved person is going to bring forth fruit, but in reality the bible is teaching if a saved person brings forth fruit; it's going to be good fruit, and if an unsaved, false prophet, false preacher brings forth fruit, it is going to be evil fruit.

 
These fruits will reproduce themselves and keep producing more evil fruit, and the saved person; IF they reproduce, they will reproduce more saved people, more Christians.

 
It is impossible for an unsaved person to get somebody saved. The bible says for it is impossible for a bad tree to produce good fruit, so for example this person can be out somewhere preaching a gospel, going through the motions and even holding a KJV bible in their hands, this person is not going to save anybody.

 
To get someone saved it's a Spiritual job, it's going to take the Spirit of God dwelling inside you to get that person saved.

 
Did Judas Iscariot not go preaching and soul winning?

 
Judas Iscariot was one of the 12 that was sent out 2-by-2 into towns to preach the Word of God and win souls. Now the bible is clear that he was never saved to begin with, he never believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in the first place; from the beginning Jesus said that he was a devil from the beginning. – John 6:70


 
A lot of people who don't believe on the eternal security of the believer will use Judas Iscariot as the example that he lost his salvation, but how can that be when Jesus stated that he wasn't saved to begin with? He was a devil from the beginning and you can't lose your salvation.

 
There also people who will say that when the bible is talking about a Christian bringing forth fruit it's not talking about winning someone to Christ, it's talking about seeing changes in the Christians life…who's heard that before? I've heard it plenty and I've been ridiculed and attacked by so called Christians who think they know all there is about being a Christian.

 
They'll also mistaken it for the fruit of the Spirit as well, listen, that's not the fruit of the Christian; that's the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is what the Spirit produces, and the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, generous, goodness, meekness, faith, and temperance, that's what the Spirit produces, why?

 
Because he is reproducing after his own kind. The Spirit embodies all those things, because God is love; the fruit of the Spirit is love, and the bible calls the Holy Spirit the Oil of Gladness – Psalms 45:7 and Hebrews 1:9

 
Those things mentioned are spiritual qualities brought forth by the Holy Spirit, but look with common sense this is not talking about the fruit of the Spirit, because you see numbers put to the statement, it's not some produce 30 love, some produce 60 love etcetera, this is a multiplication taking place of a Christian producing fruit after his own kind, producing more saved people.

 
The fruit of believers is more believers, the fruit of the Orange is more Oranges, the fruit of my wife and I are children, and the fruit of the saved child of God is another saved child of God!

 
Another reason why people don't like this doctrine is because they don't do any soul winning, and they do not want to be a zero. But in reality when it comes to fruit bearing and if you're not winning anybody to Christ, if you never won anyone to the Lord in your life; you're at zero right now, you're not up to the 30 level yet, this doesn't mean you're not saved, you ARE saved, and you're a child of God.

 
But have you become a Tree of Life?

 
Have you become fruitful?

 
Have you become fruitful and reproduced fruit in your life?

 
Jesus said if you follow me, you might become fishers of men, Is that what he said?

 
No, he said if you follow me, I WILL make you fishers of men. So when you win somebody to the Lord that is you bringing forth fruit.

 
Now if every saved person were to bring forth fruit, then the whole world would probably be saved right now right?

 
But much like the apple tree, only a small percentage of apples ill produce more apples, not all apples will produce fruit so not all saved people will produce more fruit as well. The vast majority of Christians will not bring forth more fruit, this is what Matthew chapter 7 is teaching.

 
Want more proof?

 
So if the bible says, the evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit but according to most people they believe that the fruit of the person is about bring on the changes in their life?

 
Oh how wonderful, you quit drinking that's fruit in his life!

 
Oh look, he quit smoking, there's more fruit in his life!

 
Oh and look again, he got baptised, that's more good fruit in his life!

 
My goodness look, he's joined a church, that's more fruit in his life!

 
OK, let me ask you this question, can an unsaved person quit drinking?

 
Can an unsaved person quit smoking?

 
Can an UNSAVED PERSON get baptised?

 
CAN AN UNSAVED PERSON START DRESSING AND LOOKING DIFFERENTLY?

 
CAN AN UNSAVED PERSON, VOLUNTEER TO DO COMMUNITY WORK AND GIVE TO THE POOR!!!?

 
Look, an unsaved person can do all these things; but you know what an unsaved person can't do?

 
WIN SOMEBODY TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!

 
They cannot produce a saved person, let's be smart here and really start thinking for ourselves, you can train a monkey to ride a bicycle, you can train a dog to shake hands and roll over.

 
But you know what a monkey or dog would never be able to do?

 
Bring forth Human fruit. A monkey or a dog will never be able bring forth a human because they are not human.

 
A non-Christian, or an unsaved person is NOT going to be able to bring forth a saved Christian, because they are not saved or a Christian!

 
Paul in the bible calls it "begetting them".

 
Look, this isn't saying that every person you give the gospel to is going to be saved or become a righteous living Christian, a lot of the times when you're talking to people and when you give them the gospel they'll just pretend to get saved.

 
Let's say you said you won 100 people to the Lord, I guarantee you that a handful of those people were lying and just going through the motions and going along with you, deceiving you just to get you off their backs or just deceiving you for whatever reason.

 
Don't let that discourage you, it's not the majority of them but if you are doing your soul winning thoroughly, and presenting the gospel properly most people you talk to will end up getting saved. Now that doesn't mean they are going to go on to produce fruit of their own also, the majority of the people you won to the Lord will probably not go forth to produce fruit.

 
Look, Jesus reached Judas Iscariot, but we know he was a fraud to begin anyway, was he a son of Jesus?

 
No, Judas Iscariot was not his son in the faith at all, Jesus did not make him into a wicked person; he was already a wicked person before Jesus came along.

 
We will not go out there and produce wicked false teachers, they were already out there before you came along, so remember that we did not produce these wicked people, and not everyone you preach to will be get saved, and won over to the Lord.

 
You need to understand that those passages in the bible are really important to understand, you might even ask yourself why we should even bother to learn this doctrine.

 
Because the bible tells us that THESE PEOPLE WILL BE AMONG US, AND CREEP IN AMONG US, THEREFORE WE NEED TO BE WARNED OF THEIR EXISTENCE.

 

 
We also need to make sure that we are not misinterpreting those passages and start teaching a false doctrine about salvation, that people have to quit drinking, be baptised and go to church to be saved because otherwise they didn't bring forth any fruit…YOU DON'T HAVE TO BRING FORTH ANY FRUIT TO BE SAVED.

 
There is a statement that is really similar to Matthew chapter 7 in Matthew chapter 3, let's take a look.

 

Matthew 3:10 "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire."

 
People will read this verse and take it out of context and say, "see! If you don't bring forth good fruit, you're going to the fire!"

 
But hold on a second, that's not what that verse is saying at all, it says every "tree" NOT every "Person". What does the bible define a tree as from Matthew to Revelation?

 
God uses the tree, to represent a good prophet and a bad prophet.

 
Now is every single person a prophet?

 
A preacher?

 
The bible is not talking about every person here.

 
Look at verse 7 of the chapter, who is John the Baptist talking to?

 

Matthew 3:7 "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?"

 
John is talking to the religious leaders or the sects known as the Pharisees and Sadducees, he is not even preaching this to the general population!

 
Now the good tree, those who bring forth good fruit are those who are planted by the Father, then there are the evil trees, the corrupt trees which are not planted there by God, the bible calls these trees; twice dead.

 
He says they are trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.


 
What does it mean to be twice dead?

 
Now all of us, before we were saved were dead in trespasses and sins but we are not twice dead.

 
The one who is twice dead, is the one who becomes two fold more a child of hell, it is the one who becomes what the bible calls "reprobate" or rejected.

 
Let's go on over to Matthew chapter 15.

 

Matthew 15:12-14 "Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? ¹³ But he answered and said, every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. ¹⁴ Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."

 
One of the funniest verses in the bible is in verse 12, here the disciples say to Jesus after he had finished preaching to the Pharisees, they say to Jesus, "Do you realise that you have offended the Pharisees?" 

hahaha, very funny because Jesus didn't care one bit, he was preaching the truth and that was all that mattered.

 
Anyway Jesus responds to his disciples by saying to them that every plant that his Father did not plant will be uprooted, leave them be, for they are the blind leaders of the blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. Jesus is calling the Pharisees the blind leaders, these plants that were NOT planted by his Father in heaven, these plants, these trees that withereth, with no fruit, twice dead shall be plucked up by their roots and cast into the fire.

 
Now just so you don't get me wrong on this subject, but there are pastors and preachers out there who aren't deceiving people intentionally, I agree that there are some trees out there that are sincerely ignorant about what they falsely teach because they didn't know any better for example take the Apostle Paul; remember he used to be the enemy of Christianity, the enemy of the gospel.

 
The Apostle Paul persecuted the church of God, and he says, "But I obtained mercy, because I did ignorantly in unbelief".

 
This tells me that there are preachers and pastors out there that teach false doctrines in ignorance, they don't know any better, but look the other kind of preacher who does it intentionally the bible preaches much more against this type of tree.

 
The Apostle Paul did it in ignorance and suddenly he got saved, obtained mercy from God and became what many would consider one of the greatest preachers the world has ever known.

 
There are a lot of false prophets and preachers out there that are not doing it ignorantly. The bible tells us that there will be many ravenous wolves out there that will creep in among the sheep to devour them in their lies and hypocrisies to lead them all into the pits of hell, remember these prophets and preachers are twice dead, two folds the child of hell.


You might ask the question, why would anyone want to do that?

 
Well, let's go through and list the reasons why.

 

1. They are under the power of Satan.

Satan can influence anyone, especially the unsaved to do those things that he wants, look at Judas Iscariot; Satan entered him to get him to betray the Lord, Satan was manipulating Judas into doing what he wanted. 

When it was done, Judas realised what he had done and felt bad about it and repented and brought back the money he sold out Jesus for to the Jewish rulers, they wouldn't accept the money back so Judas just threw it on the ground and ran away and killed himself.

He was under the power of Satan, and that is one reason why these false prophets do what they do.

1. Another reason why they might do such things is the bible says, teach things they ought not to, for filthy lucre's sake.

Basically, they do this for the money, they have a love for the money, they want to serve mammon.

 
These people are your TV Evangelists, your TV Preacher, you see these preachers who are multi-millionaires and they drive fancy cars, and fancy houses.

 
To sit there and think why these people do that, and you know what? A person who judges everyone by their own heart, and they think to themselves that I am a nice person, I'm a good person, which means that everybody else is good, everybody else is nice; that person is called NAÏVE.

 
And look, many people who profess themselves to be Christians are way too naïve, they think to themselves that, I would never do things like that, I could never imagine doing it; but the fact is, there are wicked evil people out there that would not stop at nothing to destroy, hurt, lie, deceive, to pervert, and to corrupt.

This is what the bible is trying to warn us about. If you don't know that these people are out there, if you don't know that these people exist; YOU WILL BE THEIR VICTIM!

 
You can be their victim in multiple ways:

 
You can fall for their false doctrines. A lot of people will sit there and listen to a preacher who is not even saved, and you point out to them that they are wrong on the gospel, they're seriously wrong; and these people listening will say, well you can still learn good stuff from this preacher.

 
No! You need to make sure, that if you're listening to anybody, that's including myself that they are biblically sound, and that what they teach is coming from the bible, the Word of God, but even more, THEY HAD BETTER BE SAVED and I've already written articles on how to be saved on my blog site.

 
You know if they're teaching Works Salvation, or they're teaching Baptismal regeneration, teaching a pre-tribulation rapture, teaching you can lose your salvation which is a deal breaker; you shouldn't be listening to anyone who believes you can lose your salvation period.

 
Heading over to the book of Jude:

 

Jude 1:4"
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ."

 
So in Jude, he talks about how certain men crept in unawares, he talks about how these are the evil trees, trees whose fruit withereth, twice dead and all of this.
And let's continue from verse 5:

 

Jude 1:5-7 " I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. ⁶ And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. ⁷ Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."

 
Now he brings up the story of Sodom and Gomorrha, and he says they went after…strange flesh, they gave themselves over to fornication, but it was not the normal kind of fornication between a man and a woman; the actually went after strange flesh, meaning men with men or women with women, which of course we read that in the story and elsewhere in the bible that is crystal clear.

 
In verse 8 he says the word "likewise", what is the word "likewise" mean here?

 

Jude 1:8 "Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities."

 
Likewise = in the same manner or in the same way.

 
And he says, likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, what is that saying?

 
He saying THEY defile the flesh the same way as who?

 
What does that mean?

 
It means they are perverted.

 
If we keep reading, he says likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Let's go to 2 Peter 2 which is the parallel passage to what we've been reading to find out more:

 

2 Peter 2:1 "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."

 
Look how Peter uses the words false prophets and false teachers, he uses these two terms interchangeably so you know what he's talking about. These false teachers will bring in damnable heresies, not might, WILL bring in these damnable heresies, these false teachers deny the Lord that bought them this is saying that even the Lord Jesus Christ bought sinners through his crucifixion, because of this they will bring upon themselves swift destruction; a very powerful warning here.

 

2 Peter 2:2 "And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of."

 
What's he saying at the end of verse 2?

 
He is saying that these people are going to bring Christianity a bad name. These people will creep in, teach false doctrine, pervert and defile the flesh, and give Christianity a bad name!

 

2 Peter 2:3 "And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not."

 
Feigned words, means they will use fake words, they're going to stay stuff that they don't even believe; they're going to preach things that THEY don't even believe.

 
Judas would've preached the right things when he went door to door, his companions would've thought that he was legit; but he was preaching feigned words, he was saying stuff he didn't really believe.

 

2 Peter 2:4-6 "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; ⁵ and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;⁶ and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;"

 
Do these verses not parallel the passage sin Jude?

 
Let's just stop for a second at verse 6 for moment and let me ask you this question, is the story of Sodom and Gomorrha an outdated story, was it only just an Old Testament Story?

 
In the Old Testament that's how God was, he was Hell fire and damnation, and now the God of the New Testament is all just accepting and loving, is that how it is?

 
The God of the Old Testament IS the God of the New Testament; Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, he says in Malachi 3:6 "For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.".


 
Verse 6 of 2 Peter 2 is saying here, is that the New Testament example of what God thinks of sodomy and homosexuality is the story of Sodom and Gomorrha in the Old Testament, that's the New testament example according to 2 Peter chapter 2!

 

2 Peter 2:7 "and delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:"

 

Sound familiar from the other parallel book? Remember the filthy dreamers, the false teachers, the wolves in sheep's clothing, and the ones who creep in, he said they're the filthy dreamers, and in verse 7 here, he talks about how the sodomites are filthy.

 

2 Peter 2:8 "(for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)"

 
And jumping down to verse 13:

 

2 Peter 2:13 "and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;"

 
While they do what?

 
While they feast with you, they are with you, they are AMONGST YOU, and they creep in privily; Jesus had it in his church, every church will have people who creep in.

Unless the church is unsaved, then you wouldn't have to worry about this because they're already there!

 
But if it's a saved church, a bible believing church he says THERE WILL BE FALSE TEACHERS AMONG YOU! 

He didn't say there might, he didn't say there isn't going to be any false teachers among you, look the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 20 says, "I KNOW THAT AFTER MY DEPARTING, GREVIOUS WOLVES WILL COME IN; NOT SPARING THE FLOCK".

 
He said, also among your own selves shall men rise up speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them. He said, I KNOW for a fact, that some of you are a fraud and will rise up and preach heresy after I am gone, and that other people will come in, that after that I'm gone; he says I know it, I know it will happen.

 
2 Peter 2 says it's a fact, Jude says it will happen, it's not something that will be a questionable thing, it's a guarantee that something like this will happen.

 
Continuing on:

 

2 Peter 2:14-15 "having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: ¹⁵ which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;"

 
Can you see all the common denominators that are coming up throughout all the passages, they do it for the love of money, or they doing it for the lusts of the flesh, or they're committing adultery, or they're beguiling the unstable souls; all these different perverted acts, these false teachers, all manner of wickedness found in the same person; this false prophet, this person who creeps in amongst the sheep.

 
Look at all the stories of these Catholic Priests and child abuse stories, and it's NOT just them, ALL false teachers will be capable of doing all these things; they're called the EVIL TREE, who will ring forth corrupt fruit.

 
You know this doesn't have to be a pastor or a preacher, this can also be a soul winner, this could be a missionary, and this could even be somebody who is leading a bible study.

 
You know there are people who creep in that are evil people.

 
Now you really need to get this in your head right now, that not everyone who goes to church is automatically saved. 

Not everyone who goes to ANY church is automatically saved. 

NOT EVERYONE WHO GOES TO CHURCH, TALKS THE RIGHT TALK, AND EVEN GOES SOULWINNING IS SAVED!

 
There are evil people out there who wilfully will try to deceive you, if you buy into their deceit you will become their fruit, do you get it? You will start to believe their lies, you will start to preach their lies to other unsuspecting people!

 
Jesus is sending us a strong message here, the message is that I have these evil trees (Speaking of Judas Iscariot) in my church, what makes you think that you don't have these evil trees in your church?

 
Just because someone is from church doesn't make them automatically a genuine nice person, agreed? Heck not even a saved person is going to be automatically nice!

 
Here's a bit of advice for parents attending a church with their young kids, ALWAYS keep an eye on your kids, I'm serious, keep an eye on your kids at all times, just because you are in a church doesn't mean you're in a safe environment, if you know that there are evil trees in your church, and the bible says there WILL be evil trees in your church, and God is telling you there evil trees in your church, YOU HAD BETTER KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR KIDS AT ALL TIMES!

 
So what, if the church does background checks?

 
Let me explain something to you, every criminal, every paedophile, and every pervert at one point had a clean record; cos there's always the first offence right?

 
And by the way, they usually don't get caught on the first offence right? I've even heard that many of these creeps will get away with it for many years, 20 years even before they're ever busted.

 
In my opinion, to sit there and say, oh we do background checks has to be the most stupid thing I have ever heard in the world! To sit there and so, oh don't worry about a thing, we did a background check on this person; that doesn't tell me anything unless you could look into the future!

 
Background checks shouldn't even exist, they are just another way for the authorities to squeeze money out you. In a matter of fact, background checks wouldn't be needed if the penalties of the bible were still in force today, because the bible says these types of people deserve death. 

Don't be offended that I wrote this, in fact, don't get angry at me, get angry at God if you will, he said it, I agree with it.

 
In fact this next section of my article may very well offend you or make you feel uncomfortable but I need to say this because this is the truth!

If you stop reading my articles from this point on, then you don't have a love for the truth, go find a liberal church, preacher or writer who gives you the smooth talk!

 
If our Justice system was truly just, then child molesters and murderers, along with the sodomites would be put to death according to God's punishment.

 
In Australia, 1967 was the last time the death penalty was used. In America, about 7-8 years ago, the Supreme Court made a ruling that paedophiles are no longer to be put to death.

 
Look at the world we live in now, everything is backwards on how God wants us to deal with things of life, we are living in a world that no longer does what God wants us to do.

 
To be honest, I would rather be murdered than touched by a sodomite pervert. If someone were to point a gun at me and say we're going to physically abuse me and touch me, molest me, and kill me; I would tell them to just pull the trigger right away.

 
I would rather be killed than to be molested and tortured by some sodomite.

 
I would teach my children this, seriously if someone was pointing a gun at them and told them to get in the car with them. 

I would always tell them to no matter what, to just scream and run in the opposite direction as fast as they can to safety.

 
I would rather them take the chance of being shot, or killed than them getting into and disappearing into a car with a stranger. They would more than likely suffer a fate worse than death if they got into that car.

 
Tell your children to always run screaming in the operate direction. You may not agree with me here but, I believe this is the best option to take.

 
What I'm saying is that you shouldn't just assume that because you are in church, it doesn't mean it is a safe place. 

Don't just let your kids wander off on their own; especially the young ones always make sure they are with the older kids if you have them.

 
When it comes to your young kids, the best attitude to have is to suspect no one, trust no one.

 
God says we are living in perilous times, he said that in the last days, perilous times shall come; look we are living those dangerous times right now where you cannot be too careful with your children.

 
Look I'm not saying that everyone in the church is this evil wicked tree, but look there could be 100 people in the church, 99 of them are godly righteous people, but what about that 1 Judas, that filthy dreamer, that 1 evil corrupt tree, that pervert, that defiler of the flesh that the bible says will exist in your church; where the church is giving unfettered access to your child that you should be worried about; it isn't worth it, I would rather teach with the kids around myself where they can hear the complete Word of God being preached, not some watered down version of the Gospel!

 
I'm not trying to teach that you should not allow other people to look after your young children, what I am teaching you is to be very cautious of whom you leave your children with, we are living in perilous times people! It has even come to the point it is so perilous that even family members and extended family members cannot be trusted!!!

 
Please, for your children's sake just be very cautious. We should strive to not be a magnet to these wicked people, now I'm not saying we should avoid all unsaved people, we should give the Gospel to them so that they too can come to the saving grace and mercy of our Lord; what we should be doing though is to try to identify those reprobates (God rejected) people, and to be honest, they do stick out like a sore thumb amongst the rest of the unsaved.

 
The Word of God is our defence, and will help us to discern truth.

 
Now, the bible is teaching that these people that teach perverted doctrine will also pervert the flesh; it's that simple, perverted doctrine = perverted person, not talking about nit-picky doctrines in general, but major doctrines.

 
You may not like what you are reading, you may not agree with what is being talked about and taught, but the 1 thing that I would really like you to take from this article is this, please, I sincerely hope you take this into account that you should not blindly trust people from your church (I don't need to say strangers here, that's a no brainer) because you don't know who the Judas is, and typically by the time you find out, it's already too late.

 
I'm not saying that you should be suspicious of all people, I don't want you giving people the evil stare, looking at them up and down making them feel all uncomfortable, and I just want to advise you to be vigilant and cautious when it comes to your kids; the best way to start is to always watch your kids, especially the very young ones you might have.

 
That 1 Judas, may not be in your church right now, or you might have an entire church full of Judas' (In which case get out as fast as you can!) but that 1 Judas may not be there now in your church, doesn't mean there isn't going to be 1 at the next service and so on.

 
Remember, the bible says they will be there, so be on your guard for these false prophets and teachers.

 
I am going to leave this article with the following verse, turn to 1 John 2.

 

1 John 2:18 "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time."

 

 
John is telling us that we have heard that there will be the ANTICHRIST (singular), and that he is coming, but even now there are many antichrists (plural), whereby that we know it is the last time.

 
Doesn't this verse tell you that as we get near to the end, the last day; there's going to be more antichrists?

 
And what is an antichrist?

 
The bible says in 1 John 2:22 "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son."


 
So basically it is this unsaved person, who will creep in amongst us.

 
How do we know that they are amongst us?

 
It says in verse 19,

 

1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."

 
It says "they went out from us", now were these people amongst them?

 
It says they went out from us, but they were NOT of us, now some people will misapply this verse to say that this applies to ALL believers, and they'll say, "If they don't continue with us, they're not saved".

 
Um no, but when it comes to a preacher, a false teacher, these antichrists, these false prophets he says, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us."

 
Now look, John had sent out false prophets in his day, what makes you think that we ourselves cannot be fooled also? Maybe when you receive that knock on the front door by that well-dressed person, speaking smooth things, saying all the right things that tickle your ears, would you be fooled?

 
All the disciples were fooled by Judas Iscariot, Jesus said to his disciples, one of you is going to betray me, and they responded, "is it I?"

 
None of them had any suspicions about each other, they all thought it might be themselves rather than Judas, they said, is it I?

 
Jesus even said to them, it is the guy who I hand the sup to after I've dipped it, Jesus dips the sup, hands it to Judas and he says to Judas, "That thou doest, do it quickly"; AND NOT ONE OF THEM UNDERSTOOD!

 
EVERYONE AT THE TABLE THOUGHT THAT JESUS WAS SENDING JUDAS TO GO BUY SOMETHING, because he had the bag with the money in it.

 
Your enemy, could be that person you would least expect to be your enemy, you know most gun clubs will tell you, that most people who get killed in a gun fight is the result of them being killed by someone they know; even the world is teaching this!

 
This may not be a fun, positive, uplifting message, but it's the truth, and this could save your life, your children's life, and perhaps someone that you love.

 
Grace and peace to you, and all glory be to our Father in heaven, who is most blessed and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 
Amen.