Missions Paul

When our lives are aligned to the Word of God then what Jesus did becomes possible. The centurion was certainly near to that truth in this passage that we are becoming familiar with over the last few days:

“Jesus said to him, ‘Shall I come and heal him?’ The centurion replied, ‘Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, “Go,” and he goes; and that one, “Come,” and he comes. I say to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.’ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” (Matthew 8 v 7-10)

The Church that emerges from lockdown must be the Church that uses the Bible not to beat people with but who speak healing to every part of their lives with. I am not suggesting we memorise verses to quote although that would be great to do. But I believe our lives need to be saturated in the Bible and the Bible in us so that in every situation what flows from our lives is the Word of God.

Following on from yesterday I want to stay on the use of the Bible.

I recently was asked to write on ‘Why is the Bible relevant today?’

Let me share this with you today and tomorrow. It might inspire you to carry on with your life in the Bible.

‘Why is the Bible relevant today?’

In 2007 I was pastoring a Church in Yorkshire and having led that Church for 11 years I discovered through a survey conducted by the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity who were acting as Church consultants that my members were not reading the Bible daily. But also when they did read it they could not see any application into their lives.

I was thankful to know the truth but you can imagine the disappointment in myself that after 11 years of Pastoring I wasn’t producing disciples.

So I began a daily blog of systematically reading through certain books of the Bible with a small passage of application to help my members, this was linked to a Bible plan. 

They would get a simple tool to use. This one from 21^st August 2007 was for 1 Samuel 10, the chapter where Saul was anointed by Samuel the prophet and then was made King of Israel.

Date	Thursday 21st  August 2007
Bible Reading	1 Samuel 10
What grabbed my attention?	“At that very moment, God transformed him – made him a new person!” v9 (the Message)
How can I use this when I pray?	Ask God to transform me, to change my life around, so that people can see the difference.
Now Pray!	Praise Him for who He is and all He’s done for you.Remind Him of His Word          eg. Thank you for your word today. Thank you          that you transformed Saul and made him a new          person etc etc.     Apply His Word          eg. Come and transform me and change my          life. etc etc.      Your needs for today – whatever you are facing.
Journal Record This is anything, eg. certain Bible verses, notes of meetings/events attended that were note-worthy, questions, concerns and general updates of your life.

We instantly saw 80% of our members engaged in the Bible. It was one of the many wonderful memories of church transformation that I have been privileged to see.

I have carried on this practice 14 years later. The above table is my daily discipline.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3 v16-17)

There are works out there which need us to be thoroughly equipped for. Situations like the Centurion’s servant. May God breathe His Scripture into our lives today.

Whatever plan you decide to adopt for your Bible reading, stick with it. Let your whole life be consumed with the fascination of the Bible. As you are aligned to God’s Word in your life then you will find that the Spirit is at ease to work through you and miracles become possible.

I know I am risking preaching to the choir. The fact that you are reading this blog shows that the Bible is really important to you.

This year more than at any other time in our generation we need to rediscover the Word of God, Jesus, and it is to find our voice in speaking that Word into our everyday life. “Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘I have put my words in your mouth” Jeremiah 1:9. The Bible is our answer. The prophets spoke the Word of God in the Old Testament and then the Word of God was personified in Jesus. There is power in the Word of God as the centurion shows us with his understanding of ‘Go’, ‘Come’ and ‘Do’.

“Jesus said to him, ‘Shall I come and heal him?’ The centurion replied, ‘Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, “Go,” and he goes; and that one, “Come,” and he comes. I say to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.’ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” (Matthew 8 v 7-10)

The Church cannot be Bible-less Christians. That’s not to say having a Bible in the house rectifies that, it doesn’t. The Bible has to be in our lives. It is our daily bread. Christians fast more from the Bible than they do bread. Bible-less Christians are powerless ones. Bible-less Churches are drifting or declining ones.

The centurion didn’t know everything. He knew less of Jesus than you. But one thing he did know was that a word from the lips of Jesus came with a higher authority that he had. A word from Jesus was enough for his servant’s illness. Where are the words of Jesus? We have them, the whole of God’s Word right here in front of us, the Bible.

There is still power in the Word of God. But it must come from the pages of the Bible and into your heart and mind and out onto your lips. Both Ezekiel (3:3) and Jeremiah (15:6) knew the meaning of ‘eat this scroll’ and so must we. We must eat the Bible so that when we speak wisdom, power, healing, grace, discernment and truth flows.

I will write more on this tomorrow.

The Church needs to rediscover the authority of this centurion.

It is not an authority that builds a culture of fear and intimidation. It is not an authority which is afraid of losing any argument and coming second and so losing it’s important power and position. It does not use loyalty and commitment as the drivers to keep being the authoritative voice. It is not an authority without accountability. It will not quote, ‘Thou Jezebel’ or ‘touch not the anointed one’.

But nevertheless it is authoritative over the schemes of the evil one and the brokenness of our world.

The centurion knew the power of the spoken word when it comes from the place of authority.

With authority you don’t need to touch, manoeuvre or place into position. With authority you just need to command.

The centurion experienced this every day of his life. Authority was normal for him. He didn’t need to manhandle his soldiers, he just spoke over their lives, they heard and it was done.

“Jesus said to him, ‘Shall I come and heal him?’ The centurion replied, ‘Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, “Go,” and he goes; and that one, “Come,” and he comes. I say to my servant, “Do this,” and he does it.’ When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” (Matthew 8 v 7-10)

We see in these verses the centurion said there was a lot of going and coming. But when it came to his servant he had said, ‘Do this’ but this time there was no doing.

There are times when what we thought should happen didn’t and there is no sign that it will again.

What do we do when we can’t get things to move? When there is no breakthrough?

His authority was powerless because his servant was powerless.

Perhaps this is your situation today?

Here is how we begin to rediscover authority over what is broken.

Faith in the authority of Jesus to heal the servant was greater than his authority.

This year more than at any other time in our generation we need to rediscover authority and it is found in Jesus. Our faith in Jesus is not some mystical higher thought. But it is to discover the Word of God, Jesus and it is to find our voice in speaking that Word into our everyday life. Our authority needs to be less than our faith in His authority. He can do it. “Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘I have put my words in your mouth” Jeremiah 1:9

The Bible is our answer. Tomorrow I will write more on this.

(Note: Matthew’s version of the story is shorter than Luke and is told differently. Luke who is writing to Gentiles emphasises the Jewish friends and messengers of the centurion whereas Matthew writing to mainly Jews emphasises the Gentile centurion at the feet of Jesus. It is not contradictory, but put together you have a fuller story, there are a number of people involved.)

I’m getting emails most days from Pastors regarding their plans for returning back to normal. Yesterday one Pastor wrote that he couldn’t wait! He said that he was excited because there are a significant amount of people coming back to in-person services who had never been to the church building before! They entered lockdown as a small church and are returning back to their building as a larger community of people. How good is that?!!

My prayer is that churches returning remain in alignment with what God is doing. We have learnt over the last year that God does work outside of what we view as normal. When we don’t limit our circumstances and when we are flexible to embrace the new then anything can happen. As we see in these 2 verses.

 “When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” (Matthew 8 v 5-6)

“Now when Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, pleading with Him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.” (NKJV)

The centurion was a Roman army officer who was in charge of 100 soldiers. A Gentile, outside of the community of the chosen people and he is before Jesus.

Since his sermon Jesus has met the man on the edge of society, the leper. Now he has this important man but an outcast nevertheless because of the Roman oppression in front of him. (Luke’s version describes him as having Jewish sympathisers but I’ll say more of the differences tomorrow.)

It is interesting that all the centurions mentioned in the New Testament are seen in a positive way. A quick look shows us:

The centurion at the cross; Cornelius; the centurion appealing for Paul’s citizenship; 2 centurions protecting Paul’s journey to Caesarea; a centurion guarding Paul; Julius who spares Paul’s life in the sea journey and here the centurion in our story.

There are opportunities for the gospel when we allow ourselves to engage with people outside of what is the norm for us; outside of our culture perhaps; usually these are places of fear because of our lack of understanding or because of their aggressiveness.

Let me caveat what I am thinking by saying this: Jesus didn’t start a ministry to reaching all the centurions. I am not advocating that we narrow our focus to people outside of our norm so we ‘specialise’. I am saying miracles happen when we align ourselves to opportunities that come our way which can include people we would not normally connect with.

This centurion was different to what was expected.

It was known that under the Roman law a master who saw his slave as useless for whatever reason had the right to kill him.

But not this man. We see him pleading on behalf of his servant. We don’t know what the problem really is but it is a terrible, tormenting paralysis. All we see is his heart of compassion for his servant. We see his grief, the trauma of watching someone else suffer.

Every month, I bring a professional Counsellor and Psychiatric Therapist into my regions to hold a workshop seminar with the ministers. This week my friend will speak on vicarious trauma. I had never heard of the term though I have experienced it often. It is the impact that people such as ministers can experience when they have become witnesses to hearing so many traumatic stories of pain, suffering and grief. I believe I have suffered from vicarious trauma on a few occasions as I have sat with rescued child soldiers, the restored trafficked girl, the cries of ISIS victims etc.

Here is a very important man, full of authority suffering because he is watching someone suffer. There is always something you cannot fix. Everyone needs a Saviour at some point in life.

Outside of what we view as our normal life there are people who will approach us.

• They will be people we may not normally associate with, the centurion.
• They will be respectful, notice the centurion uses the title, ‘Lord’.
• They will reveal their humanity is kinder than perhaps we would expect revealing how they have needs not for themselves but for others.
• They will reveal their own groaning for a fallen world that comes under the terror of disease and pain.
• They will reveal that no matter how important they are everyone needs a Saviour.

If we can be ready for such opportunities then we perhaps will discover miracles happen within alignment to where God is.

Today the UK marks 1 year since our first lockdown, 23^rd March 2020. Churches will open, a minute’s silence at noon and people will stand on their doorsteps again tonight and we will think back on a year when over 126,000 people have died with this terrible virus.

Tomorrow we will again look forward to post-lockdown dates to come soon. We want to get out and to get back. We don’t care where we go we just want to go. Health and safety will be our concerns. The state of our mental health and the impact of our losses will be in our discussions. There will be many hurdles to overcome. We will need to instil confidence and we will need to make sure we are in alignment with the Holy Spirit.

I always believe the best is yet to come. I am an optimist. There are many doomsayers out there in the Christian world predicting awful times ahead. I’m not one of them. God hasn’t changed. We still need to keep in alignment with Him and when we do miracles can happen.

Over the next few days I am going to pause and read slowly our next verses of Matthew’s gospel:

(Matthew 8 v 5-13) “When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.”

Miracles within alignment – there are places that we have to enter.

“When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.” V5

This town was Jesus’ base. He continually kept coming back here ever since he left Nazareth. It became his home.

Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— Matthew 4:13

A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. Mark 2:1

Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. John 6:24

Jesus knew the town very well and he also knew the shores of the lake too spending lots of time there. The town also was where Peter had a house.

Don’t give upon your city, your town, village or street. There are places that we will need to enter for miracles to happen and your place is one of them.

• It is a place known by God.

Isaiah had prophesied about Capernaum and Matthew could see the connection, “to fulfil what was said through the prophet Isaiah: “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:14-16).

On reading and memorising these Scriptures, Jesus would have realised that he was the great light, he was the dawn for a dark land and he had come for people like those living on the Way of the Sea, in Capernaum. Scripture was guiding him.

You are the great light for your place. It may be a dark place but you are there and you have to enter again knowing He knows your place.

• It is a place known by you

Jesus put down some roots even for a short time and lived as a man amongst them.

The residents of Capernaum had God on their streets, in their shops, in their synagogue and homes. God was there talking, laughing, in power performing miracles of healing and transformation. Much of the town were indifferent to the presence of God and judgment would be pronounced later in the gospel.

You know your place and you enter it with enthusiasm. Someone else may look at where you live with disparaging remarks but you will stand and defend your place because you are there and it is your place.

Capernaum was the home of Jesus for some years, it was his place which he would return to time and again. Where do you live today? Where is home? There are places that we have to enter, familiar places and when we do miracles can happen because of our alignment to where God has placed us. You are there for a purpose and it is your place.

The only place for that problem you are carrying is worship. The only way you are going to stop it getting larger so that it dominates your environment is worship. You can consume your problem with worship or you can be consumed by the problem.

After his sermon the first person he encounters is a leper. There are no more details about the man, we don’t know what kind of leprosy and at the time it would cover all kinds of skin disease, but what we do know is that leprosy stigmatised him within his community, he was an outcast.

“When Jesus came down from the mountainside, large crowds followed him. A man with leprosycame and knelt before him and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” (Matthew 8 v 1-4)

If there was fear of contracting any disease then leprosy held the greatest. It totally ruined your life and those of your family. You became ostracised, an outcast with a social stigma that you never recovered from. Leprosy was permanent and gradually got worse. There was no future for the leper.

Whoever this man was he knew that according to form, Jesus could heal leprosy.

Even though his leprosy was so bad he was covered with it, Jesus could do it.

It is whether Jesus was willing.

So the man did what we all should do in similar situations.

Lay the burden down in worship.

The KJV says of verse 2, “And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.”

He laid down, he brought the leprosy down to the feet of Jesus. His sickness was not even on the same level of importance as Jesus and certainly not bigger than him. His problem was less than the presence of Jesus. Our problems still are. No matter how huge they are or how terminal they may be, they are not as important as His presence in our life at this moment.

The man fell down into the posture of worship.

There was a moment when Jesus fell down in the garden and said a similar thing. For Jesus he would realise the will of His Father was to keep going to the cross.

For us, whatever the seismic problem you wake to today, then lay down in worship before His presence. Realise whether He wills it or not, here at His feet is the best place you can be. There is nowhere else to go but His presence. What can you do but worship? Worship outweighs will.

But for this man he found that Jesus was willing.

Jesus was willing to do what no other would do, he touched the man. Whatever your problem Jesus still touches men and women today and you are never far from a move of God upon your life.

Jesus was willing to work with his cultural laws, the priest had to examine the man so he could re-enter his community. God has a place for you within community and He will lead you to take up that position so you can hold your head up high.

Jesus was willing to take the risk on the real reason for his mission. That is why he asked the man for silence. He didn’t want to jeopardise the reason by causing people to only focus on the miracles. The answer to your problem has to submit to the higher purpose that God has for you.

What’s the greatest sermon you have ever heard?

Whilst you’re thinking of that, let me remind you we have over the last several weeks just read the greatest sermon ever preached. Here are the final words of Matthew to end that sermon:

“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” (Matthew 7 v 28-29)

Can you imagine being in the crowds that day?

Can you imagine having listened to Jesus’ sermon?

The Message: “When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers! This was the best teaching they had ever heard.”

Amplified: “When Jesus had finished these sayings [the Sermon on the Mount], the crowds were astonished and overwhelmed with bewildered wonder at His teaching.”

Can you imagine sitting there, blown away, flabbergasted, awestruck at what you had just heard?

This was not a discussion. It was not some soundbites or short devotion. This was teaching like you had never heard. And … (I presume!) … without notes!

You cannot but start to compare what you usually get. And the teachers of the law (and the pastors!) began to squirm and prepare to hand their notice in for who can ever compare with such authority? The teaching that was given always used someone else’s material quoting them verbatim in order to be acceptable. But with Jesus He only quoted the Scriptures not Rabbi such and such.

Authority in the pulpit isn’t connected to the decibels of noise coming out of your mouth nor how much sweat you pour out, neither is it determined by your upbringing, as Jesus of Nazareth would remind us.

Nor does it come from some religious credential, Jesus didn’t have any.

Nor does it come from a conformity to the religious rule book, Jesus tore his generation’s book up. No. This authority comes not from man or prestige or performance but from a relationship with God.

Go back to the Message translation and see how I have underlined a few words.

Authority with authenticity. This sermon was within Jesus. He lived it.

The beautiful thing is that you and I can have that same authority with authenticity. God’s Word in our lives.

Yesterday I was privileged as I always am to sit in an interview whilst a Church leadership board asked many questions of the pastoral candidate. But the privilege was hearing the Pastor use the Bible in his answers. He wasn’t trying to show off. The story of his life was held by the Word of God. He had authority with authenticity.

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God fills your life with stories and experiences that belong to you, so that you can draw on them later in life set within His Word.

God gives you authority through learned obedience. Painful journeys where you have learnt submission to His will and to His Word.

God gives you authority beyond your years as you reside in Him and lay hold of the promises in His Word.

The good news is that Jesus has said that He possesses all authority and He has given it to those who follow Him.

Let’s rise and be the greatest sermon that our personal world has heard.

Let us rise with authority and authenticity.

We are now at the end of the sermon Jesus gave to his disciples and to the crowds on the mountainside. A sermon that demands more than applause; this is not a sermon of 10 keys to improving your life; this is a sermon that says ‘do all of this’, ‘build your life on the whole sermon’; this is what Jesus said to end his message:-

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7 v 24-27)

There is no promise from Jesus to say you won’t face tough times. Living in His kingdom doesn’t mean you won’t be facing floods and torrents striking your life with such force that you become in danger of collapse. Why do bad things happen to good people? Wrong question! They happen to everyone, good or bad. There isn’t enough good in you to stop the bad happening anyway. Life contains the floods and the torrents, rivers are beautiful but they burst their banks and bring ruin. That is how it is.

But being in danger of collapse and collapsing are different.

What’s underneath you today?

Deuteronomy 33:27 The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying, “Destroy them!”

The enemies will come, you will face them and they will beat against the life you have built. All that you have built, all that you call are blessings, all that is beautiful in your life will be challenged to its core. It will happen but the destruction that it brings is determined by you.

Jesus is rounding off his beatitudes and he is saying to his disciples that just hearing his sermon is not enough. He wants them to be in the kingdom. The only way is not through listening, through worship or through respect. What Jesus says is so important that we must take the sermon and make it the base of our lives, we must practice the message of his parables that are to follow, we must live according to the Word of God with all the responses and decisions and the attitudes of the heart that it calls for. If we do then it doesn’t matter what the enemy of our souls throws at us, we will respond not in the way that was expected, we will not lie down, back off, walk away, crumble, crash out. We will not become a casualty, a statistic, we will not walk through the valleys of the shadows of death in fear of our surroundings.

If there is one sermon in your life you must remember and apply to your life it is this sermon on the mountainside. Let the Church do this sermon. It is our security.

We are nearing the end of this sermon from Jesus and today we are reading what some feel is the scariest verses in the Bible.

 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7 v 21-23)

Jesus is not trying to dangle his disciples over the pit of hell forcing more allegiance out of them. Don’t read this in fear and trepidation that you are not going to make it because you haven’t been good enough. It is not to raise doubts like, “I haven’t done the Father’s will! Have I done enough of the Father’s will? I’m not sure I know the Father’s will!”

Let me ask 3 questions.

1. Who are you behind the stage?

When the curtains close to rapturous applause who are you?

Not every great communicator, demon chaser and miracle worker have a relationship with Jesus. These wonderful activities in comparison to being known by Jesus are worthless. They may benefit the crowds but there will be a final curtain call and when it is all over what will be left? This whole sermon has been about being different to the religious Pharisee who gives so much attention to the outward appearance in order to be praised and respected. However at the same time this individual ignores true justice, lacks humility and is actually unkind, ungracious and does not show mercy.

• How important is your activity on the stage?

On the 25^th April the Academy Awards will be held and many will be hoping for their well-deserved Oscar. Do you think you deserve some awards? What about promotion? Recognition? After all you have done do you feel entitled to opportunities that have not come your way? Look at all those great things you have said, you have really helped people from the demons of their life and you are known by so many who have received miracles because of you. Crowds can change a person. They can give a person a feeling of superiority. They can deceive someone to think they are better than they really are. On that final curtain call, ‘that day’ which will be bigger than any Academy Awards night, there will be a possible reward or rejection, you will either be standing empty handed or carrying your prize. The stage will have given you all the rewards you will be getting. The reward from heaven will be for your life off the stage where you never got earthly applause perhaps and maybe the crowds never saw who you were.

• Are you known off the stage?

“My deepest awareness of myself is that I am deeply loved by Jesus Christ and I have done nothing to earn it or deserve it.” Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel

The audience of the One is better than the auditoriums of thousands. “I never knew you” is the strongest ‘never’ you can understand. It is ‘never, ever’; it is an absolute and objective denial; it is you have never at any time been a disciple of mine. “You have never opened your heart to me and become vulnerable to my grace, love and mercy”.

The greatest thing of your life today is that you will once again open your life for Him to know you. You will share your struggles, ask forgiveness, ask for strength and you will desire Him. In doing this He will know you. Being known each day will mean these verses will never apply to you. Amen!

The prophets who predicted Trump to gain a second office didn’t do the greatest of harm. They may have appeared foolish just like those who announced the end of the world in the year 2000. They may have caused embarrassment to Christian circles but some were causing that way before they started prophesying the next US President. Some of these prophets appear to be very eccentric but then again the Bible has its characters doesn’t it?! Isaiah took off his clothes and preached naked for 3 years; Jeremiah hid his underwear under a rock and then after a long time went back for them! He also attached a cattle yoke to his shoulders for a season; Hosea married a prostitute; Ezekiel ate a scroll. He lay on his side for 390 days and then rolled over and repeated the action for a further 40 days. People had difficulty believing these prophets!

Here are our next verses:

 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7 v 15-20)

Watch out!

And perhaps watch out if you are a false prophet as fire is the result.

Mistakes in prophecy doesn’t necessarily make you a false prophet any more than if you teach an inaccuracy behind the pulpit makes you a false teacher. However the Church are forever lighting fires to burn people, it has never stopped.

In the US most evangelicals have heard of Jeremiah Johnson. He has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. “I was wrong, I am deeply sorry, and I ask for your forgiveness,” he wrote in a detailed letter he posted online. “I would like to repent for inaccurately prophesying that Donald Trump would win a second term as the President of the United States.”

But perhaps what they don’t know is the fire that Christians had erected for him. On Facebook, he reported that he received “multiple death threats and thousands upon thousands of emails from Christians saying the nastiest and most vulgar things I have ever heard toward my family and ministry.” Is he a false prophet? I think he is a mistaken one. He got it wrong. But others clearly disagree.

The false prophets as I view Jesus’ words here are not the ones who predicted the end of the world 21 years ago or those that said Trump would get a second term. But they are the Pastors, leaders, members, spiritual people who have ‘heard from God’ that the person should remain and submit to that abusive situation because marriage should not be broken. It is to the Pharisee who cause others to suffer because of their conduct lists. It is those who hide and appear to be like one of the sheep who share a fear of the wolf and only end up being revealed as the wolf themselves. They attack from within. There is a rising of insurgency within our world and within the Church. This is the falsehood we must watch for.

“Can this person be trusted? Is this person good?” A question we continue to ask which Jesus answers.

We all want people around us who will benefit our lives for the good. We don’t want our fruit to be growing in thistles of complaint, jealousy, regrets eating away at them and bitterness or superiority, pride and self-satisfaction.

So how can we spot a false prophet?

• We listen, not to the first thing that comes out of the mouth but perhaps the last sentence. The reasoning behind the words. The attitude. The story of the person’s life. The tone of their voice. We experience them not listen to their words.
• We slow down and we look for the good to impact our lives. That might mean we spew out of our mouths what is not so good about the person but digest the good. Ever wondered what to do with a series of books from an author that you thought were a super saint only to discover that they were not a very nice person? Do you hold a burn the books ceremony? If so, I think you may have a small library by the end of your life! No, we look for the good that we want to come into our life, we take the good and we make less heroes in our life.
• Give it time. Let time reveal the truth. Good fruit will come, good things will emerge and good words will be spoken and the reverse also. Just because it is a tree it doesn’t mean a thing, wait for the season of fruit, wait for time to pass, all will be revealed.
• Don’t light a fire. You don’t have to burn every mistaken gift or office.