Judge, but don’t Judge!

Judge, but don’t Judge!

The same Lord Jesus Who said “Do not judge” in Matthew 7:1, said in John 7: 24: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment”.

Judging (critically looking down upon others with contempt) as in Matthew 7: 1, and discernment (righteous judgment) as in John 7: 24 (where the Lord Jesus Himself says to “judge with righteous judgement”) is totally different as hell and heaven.

In John 8: 15, 16, Jesus said: “You judge according to the flesh; I am not judging anyone. But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me”. From this we can understand that discernment is part of the wisdom the Lord gives us in different situations, as we helplessly cling on to Him as a branch to the vine (John 15: 5) – in order to distinguish the true from the counterfeit. And the Lord gives us discernment not to condemn anyone, but to intercede for the deceived and/or to warn others about the counterfeit.

If you don’t discern the preachers whom you listen to, you will be thoroughly deceived by many things that happen around us in the name of Christ! That is why 1John 4: 1 says: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world”.

In Matthew 7: 15, Jesus Himself tells us to be beware of false prophets and in verses 16 and 20, to know them by their FRUITS (of the Holy Spirit) – that is, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control (Galatians 5: 22, 23).

Jesus said in Matthew 10:16: "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be SHREWD AS SERPENTS and innocent as doves”.

The apostle Paul says in Philippians 1:9: “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all DISCERNMENT”.

We need to see how much a preacher reflects our Lord Jesus Christ in his humility as well as in his integrity to the Lord, especially in money matters. Only such ones are worth to be listened. May the Lord help us to judge righteously in everything!

True and Counterfeit Experiences of the Holy Spirit

 True and Counterfeit Experiences of the Holy Spirit

Beware of the Counterfeit Fullness of the Spirit

One of the parts of fruit of the Holy Spirit is self control (Gal.5: 22, 23).

1 Cor.14:32, 33, 40 reads like this: “ and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints... But all things must be done properly and in an orderly manner”.

From the above verses, it is crystal clear that if somebody loses control over himself or herself, that can never be because of the Holy Spirit. Because Holy Spirit helps us rather to control ourselves better – like controlling our thoughts, tongue, eyes etc and makes us more like Christ Jesus.

Like Br Zac Poonen says Holy Spirit fills people, but demons possess people. The difference is that the Holy Spirit gives us more control over ourselves, whereas the evil spirit takes away the control we have over our lives. That’s why demon possessed people sometimes mutilate themselves (Mark 5: 5), for they don’t have any control over what they think or do.

Demon can push somebody down. But Jesus and the Holy Spirit always lift people up (See Luke 9: 42). “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, yes and forever” (Hebrews 13: 8). Today soulish “Christian” leaders push people down and call it the Holy Spirit! That is really tragic! But actually when they do opposite to what Jesus did, know that it is the spirit of antichrist! Beware of being part of all those Babylonian tricks of the devil!

Sudden shaking and shouting can also be a conscious attention-seeking behaviour, or it can be a dissociative trance.

Whatever that is, do not look down upon anybody, but rather discern what is of the Lord and not of the Lord. Compare Matthew 7: 1 and John 7: 24. The same Lord who said “Do not judge” in Matthew 7:1, said in John 7: 24: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment”.

1 John 4:1 clearly warns us: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world”. If many false prophets were there in the first century itself, how many more would there be in this 21^st century, which is so close to the second coming of the Lord.

The first sign of the last days that the Lord told in Matthew 24:4 is: “See to it that no one misleads you”. He further warns us of the same thing in verses 11 and 24. If you read verse 5 without the inverted comas as in the original language, you will understand that the many false prophets will say that Jesus Himself is the Christ, and holding the Bible in their hands they will deceive people (as given in 2 Cor. 11: 4) with

i) another Jesus (who does not say anything about overcoming sin by the power of the Holy Spirit),

ii) another spirit (which pushes people down and induces all kinds of “holy laughter, barking, vomiting etc.)

iii) another gospel (which is a health- wealth- prosperity counterfeit, and begs for your money to build the preacher’s kingdom rather than that of the Lord)!

See Matthew 7:15- 23: "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?

So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

So then, you will know them by their fruits.

Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.

Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'

And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'”

So discern a person by the fruit of the Holy Spirit, that is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”(Galatians 5: 22, 23). See how humble, approachable and Christlike he is. See what his attitude towards money, women, honour, the poor and the rich. Compare that with the attitude Jesus had towards all these categories. Then you will understand whether he is a leader worthy to be followed. Otherwise “if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit” (Matthew 15: 14).

The strong commandment of the Lord in 2 Timothy 3: 5, especially for those living in the last days (see verse 1), is to avoid those who have a form of godliness (sheep’s clothing) but have denied its power. Instead, follow the Lord along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart (2 Timothy 2: 22).

Receiving the True Fullness of the Spirit

When we surrender everything to the Lord as a burnt offering and a living sacrifice (Romans 12: 1), the fire of the Holy Spirit will come and consume every part of our being. And we will be flooded with the love, joy and peace of heaven! (Romans 5: 5; Gal. 5: 22, 23). We will be endued with power from on high to be a witness of the Lord by our life and by our words! (Luke 24: 49; Acts 1: 8; 4: 31). That is the true filling of the Holy Spirit.

Even after being filled, we can lose the fullness of the Spirit with our own carelessness and pride, which are like holes in a vessel. We need to repent and plug those holes daily and ask the Lord to fill us with His Spirit again and again. That is the exhortation in Eph 5: 18 in the original language – to be being (continually) filled with the Spirit.

The Lord, in His sovereignty, will give us the gifts of the Holy Spirit as He chooses (1 Cor. 12: 7, 11). Gifts of the Spirit can be compared to vessels with which we can pour out the living waters of the Holy Spirit and bless others. We are commanded to desire earnestly for the gifts of the Holy Spirit, especially the gift of prophesying (that is, edifying and exhorting and consoling others through the specific Word from the Lord from the Scriptures, that is needed for the people at that particular point of time– 1Cor. 14: 3).

May the Lord help us to strike the right balance in the experience and emphasis of the fruit as well as of the gifts of the Holy Spirit!

May the Good Shepherd Himself guide us into true springs of living water of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 49: 10; Rev. 7: 17)!

Beware of the Counterfeit

This is a modified version of the reply I gave to a person who needed some clarification on how we can keep ourselves safe from being not deceived by those who pretend to be the Lord’s workers:

I’ve seen through these years after I have come to faith that many of those who take Christ’s name are counterfeit! So, we have to be ‘shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves’ (Matthew 10: 16).

I have heard of a book circulated by apostles in the early centuries mentioning as to how to discern a false teacher! What they say is that whoever comes to you and asks you for money for themselves in Jesus’ name would be a false teacher, whatever else he says! In those times when there was no printing, and written manuscripts of the Bibles were not so much available as we have today, that principle was very useful to those early Christians! But I’ve to say that it is equally or rather more beneficial to today’s Christians also as they can write off vast majority of so-called ‘pastors’ today with this single test!!

So, if some money-loving counterfeit preacher approaches me for money, I do not want to give him even a single paise! As somebody said: “What these people are doing in Jesus’ name, is what Jesus Himself would never have done!” We are accountable for each rupee God has entrusted us! So we need to ask Him before we “help” others! I also have made many mistakes in the past in helping others without discernment!

Lord Jesus said in Luke 16:13: “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

True gospel frees you from the love of money. Lord Jesus is with a whip today too, against those who are cheating people and extracting their money in His name!

The Lord has called only a few people to full-time Christian work and has given them the faith to trust Him for their daily needs! But the tragedy is that so many have ventured to do His work as a means of gain! (1 Timothy 6: 5). The Word of God clearly commands us to “avoid those who hold to form of godliness and deny its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). I never wish to be part of a church which is led by such covetous persons, because otherwise I’ll be disobeying His Word! Jesus told many things to people IN LOVE (Ephesians 4: 15) without caring whether they would get offended and leave Him. We have to follow His example.

The commandment in the Scripture is: “Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them” (Ephesians 5: 11).

At the same time, we need to be sensitive and generous to the needs of those who are sacrificially and selflessly serving the Lord and those who are really poor! Only the Lord can give us wisdom concerning these! So, though we have to be strict against sin and hypocrisy, we have to be loving and compassionate as well, because that’s the balance we see in our Lord Jesus.