Study

For Jesus gave us a way to determined if someone is doing right in the sight of God the father. We'll be in the book of Matthew chapter 7. First I'd like to discuss why this even comes up in the first place. Judgement of others. 

1. Judge not, that ye be not judged. 

2. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 

3. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? 

4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

5. Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 

6. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.... Here we have a warning on what not to do about judgement. 

Now we go to verse 15. This is where Jesus is giving us a guide line on how to tell when someone is a false prophet. 15. 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..... 

Now, if Women are not supposed to preach, then why are so many producing good fruit? And are even blessed beyond most here at this website? Let's take Joyce Meyer for instance. You think God would allow her to get where she is at if she was not doing his will? How many times in God's word have we seen God just shut the door of blessing on somebody for doing wrong? And they end up losing everything! But do we see this happening to these women preaching today? If god did not want these women in what they were doing, they would be cut off. They'd get behind the pulpit and stutter because God was not with them. But you don't see that happening.

 Then you have the word prophetess in the bible. Why do you think that is there if they did not exist? I believe God is calling women to the pulpit because to many men are lazy and sit on their backsides, and here we are right at the time of rapture. Then there's this thing that's brought up about the woman being responsible for the down fall of man. You know the Adam and Eve thing. It was that sin that cursed the woman. Now, what did Jesus die for? All sin, not all except that one. No! He died for all sin. So this should not even be an issue.

Also, by looking at the fruits they bear, are we not letting God be the judge? God controls the fruit, so looking at the fruit we are actually looking at the judgement of God on what this person is doing for God. By letting what we hear and what others say on the subject(mostly gossip and hearsay), we are actually letting man be the judge. Because this is a Godly thing we are trying to judge. Would it not be better to let God judge and we look at the fruit(judgement of that person) they bear? Which would allow us not to go against the first verse I quoted (1. Judge not, that ye be not judged). Besides, who is better at judging Godly things, Imperfect man or a perfect God?

No one can actually know "all" the truth that is in God's word. On this particular issue, there are verses that can make it go either way. As someone said to me the other day, It was a gut feeling she had about what she was doing. Others, like myself, look at what God is doing in a person life and ministry as judgement to whether they are doing the right thing in God's eyes. 

There will always be false prophets. But we need to be sure we are calling the ones that "are", and not the ones that "are not". For if we hinder what God approves of, we may also hinder someone from going to heaven. When Jesus was asked by his disciples about these people who were casting out demons and healing in his name. Jesus said to leave them alone. Then also when Jesus was to heal the sick girl who had just died. He sent some people out of the room. Who were they? The ones who did not have faith. Then once they left he told the girl to get up, and she did. To much unbelief can hinder what the powers of God can do. This is also why we pray. Prayer shows faith that we believe that God will do what we ask or need of him. Looking at the fruit that someone bears as a sign to God's will or not God's will, is showing that we trust and believe that God is still in control of everything. Instead of trusting the feeling we may have about someone in our flesh(being judgmental).

God bless, Issac

A lot of what I posted on the "should women preach". Applies here also. "By their fruits you shall know them". We as Christians tend to make our own judgements which include our own opinions. Preachers like Benny Hinn. I have heard so many things bad about him. So I watched him several times and could not find anything wrong. What I think is happening here is he slipped up a few times in his preaching and it got blown way out proportion. We are not perfect, and if God did not want this man doing what he was doing would he be there doing it? God who created everything is to weak to remove Benny Hinn from what he is doing? To pass your own judgement you are saying this.

Benny Hinn is producing a mighty fruit. People just don't go to his crusades and cry because they feel like it. Then we have the healing that he through Christ does. And he has said that on several occasions when I watched him. In fact when someone says think you Benny for healing me, he is quick to correct them on who healed them(Jesus). The next time you watch his crusade, look at the people there. Are they getting a dose of the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit will not reside in a place where God is not. And if Benny Hinn was not doing God's will, Would God be there? There are some things you cannot fake. You cannot fake leading people in the sinners prayer to salvation. I watched and listen to what he said when people came forward. I could not find anything wrong with the prayer. People were saved. People got healed. And it was like he said on one of his programs. You are healed by your faith. Your faith was that Jesus would heal you through me. And by showing up at the crusade, you are demonstrating that faith in Jesus to do this. So he does.

Then we have Oral Roberts. I bet a lot of you don't know the story on how he got started in his healing ministry. His story also explains why his healing services seemed kinda strange. I'll tell the story so you better understand.

 Oral Roberts was a deacon for a church. They scheduled a tent revival for a whole week. The day before it was to begin, the pastor got very ill. He did not have anyone to replace him. So he asked Oral to do it. Being not well versed in God's word he was scared he would flub things up. His preacher told him that he had faith in him and that all he had to do was pick a story out of the Bible that he knew about and preach on it. He told him that he should be better by the second day and he would not have to worry about doing it for more than one day. So he prepared himself as best he could. During the sermon, the Holy Spirit came upon him and he began to go into the crowd of people. In the first row, unknown to him, was people from the deaf and dumb hospital. He walked right up to them and said as he touched them: you are healed and you will all hear the word of God. Also unknown to him at that time, they were healed. The doctors could not believe it. The word got out and the local news came to the next day revival.

The main pastor was still sick. But heard what had happened. People from all over that town were showing up and getting healed. Oral himself did not know what to think about what was happening. He just continued what he was doing on the first day just in awe of what was happening. He was untrained in the word of God, but had enough faith. And because he was not polluted, by the opinions of what man thinks, God word means, or says, God used him. This is why his healing services often seemed strange. There was not much preaching because he did not have the knowledge. He soon learned he needed it. Because he did not have this, people soon started talking. People who look for what's wrong and not what's right. Soon all the gossip started. And gossip only comes from one person, Satan. Satan found the weakness of this person and used it against him. And when Oral flubbed up that time we all know about, the damage that was already there plus what he did was enough to bring him down. But he is still faithful to his God. He built his university because he believes that everyone should have the chance to get the education that he did not have.

Now does this sound like a man that deserves the treatment he got from most Christians? We judged him own our on opinions and not God's. And because we are not perfect, we cannot make perfect judgements. Only God knows what is in the hearts of men. Oral Roberts made a mistake, but because of our judgements, gossip and unforgiving spirit. He will have to pay for his mistake for the rest of his life. Is it fair when God forgives us totally and completely? Remember the lords prayer, Forgive me of my trespasses as I forgive those who trespass against me. Be careful what you say about a fellow Christian. It may come back to bite you on judgement day.