Welcome to this Daily PBJ Devotional. Read Matthew 7. Do not judge, or you will be judged. For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged. And with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck in your brother's eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, let me take the speck out of your eye, while there is still a beam in your own eye? You hypocrite. First, take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Do not give dogs what is holy. Do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. Ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. He who seeks, finds. And to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him? In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you, for this is the essence of the law and the prophets. Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate, and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it. Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. By their fruit, you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes 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. So then, by their fruit, you will recognize them. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father 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 perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness. Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house. Yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine, and does not act on them, is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was its collapse. When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at his teaching. Because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. This is God's Word. In verse 13, here in Matthew 7, Jesus urged his listeners to enter through the narrow gate. That phrase compared the life and destiny of everyone to two very different roads, leading to two very different destinations. One gate is wide, and the road beyond it is broad, and there are a lot of people on that road. However, Jesus said, it leads to destruction in verse 13. The alternative gate is small, and the road it leads to is narrow, but it leads to life, according to verse 14. But Jesus said, only a few find it, also in verse 14. Eternal life is hard to find, and comparatively speaking, very few people find it. That's the obvious teaching of Matthew 7, 13, and 14. But verses 15 through 23 go into more detail. They tell us the implications of the fact that very few people find the road to eternal life. Jesus called out two implications of the narrow road to eternal life in verses 15 through 23. First, believers should beware of false prophets. That's verses 15 through 19. And second, believers should beware of false professions of faith. That's in verses 21 through 23. Let's focus on the first of those implications. Namely, that in finding the narrow road, believers should beware of false prophets. Again, that's verses 15 through 19. We think of prophets as people who receive revelation from God to either predict the future or rebuke people who are in sin. And those are both valid descriptions of what prophets in the Bible did. But prophets, generally speaking, were teachers and appliers of God's Word. They brought messages from God, either from direct revelation or from scripture. 2 Peter 2.16 equates false prophets with false teachers. And I think that's what Jesus has in mind here in Matthew 7.15. The command, then, is for believers in Christ, who are on that narrow road to eternal life, to be cautious about anyone who claims to have a message from God. Being cautious goes against the instincts of many of us. We're so accustomed to unbelief and hostility to our faith in the world that we happily receive anyone and everyone who claims to have faith in Christ and who claims to come in the name of Christ. But Jesus told us to watch out. False teachers look like true believers, Jesus said. They come to you in sheep's clothing, according to verse 15b. But despite how they look, they're in disguise because they want to eat you alive like wolves. Jesus said inwardly they are ferocious wolves in verse 15c. So we should be very cautious about every new professing believer we meet. We shouldn't immediately accept or reject them. Rather, we should look at the product of their lives. Jesus said, by their fruit you will recognize them. That's in verse 16a and verse 20. And this changes the image from sheep and wolves to good and bad trees. Bad trees don't produce good fruit, according to verse 16b and verse 17b. And good trees produce good fruit, not bad fruit, according to verse 17a and verse 18. Do professing believers that we meet demonstrate a life that is obedient to Jesus Christ? Are they obedient to his words, as verses 24 through 27 describe? Do they hunger for His righteousness, as chapter 5, verse 6 says, and for His truth, as chapter 5, verses 17 through 20 say? Do they strive to treat people right, as chapter 5, verses 21 and 22 and chapter 7, verse 12 says? And do they do everything they can to repair the broken relationships they have when they do treat people wrong? That's chapter 5, verses 21 through 26. Do these people we meet, who claim to know Christ, do they judge themselves before they try to help others, as chapter 7 verses 1 through 6 say? Do they go to God to ask for what they need, as chapter 7 verses 7 through 12 says? Or do they only apply human effort to what they want? And so on. Do you see Christian growth, Christian desires, and Christian instincts in the life of people who purport to be Christian leaders and Christian teachers? That's the question. If not, beware. Ultimately, you should expect God to expose and remove every false teacher. Verses 19 and 20 say, Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by your fruit you will recognize them. But the point of this teaching by Jesus is to get you to be more suspicious and more discerning about the supposed Christian influencers in your life. The Christian life is a narrow road found only by a few. Again, that's verses 13 and 14. So there are more false teachers who come in Christ's name than genuine believers who are also bringing God's truth. Because we have a media that can broadcast the person's ministry to millions, it is harder than ever to get a close look at how someone lives. The less you can see about a person's life, the more skeptical you should be about that person's teaching. So who are the major influencers in your Christian life? Do you know anything about how they actually live as a Christian? If you found this devotional helpful, go to my website, dailypbj.com slash subscribe, to get a free email subscription. This will help you be in God's Word every day and I'll help you apply God's Word every day through a daily email you'll receive from me. And this is completely free and you can unsubscribe at any time, so there's no risk. Again, go to dailypbj.com slash subscribe. And help me with financial support if you're able to, and you feel that the Lord would want you to, go to dailypbj.com slash support. And please share this with someone else. And I'll see you next time. May God bless you. Hope you have a great day today.