Friday after the Second Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on June 23, 2023 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 7:15-23 (NKJV)
7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
Devotion
On the Last Day the false prophets will beg entrance into the kingdom of heaven because they “prophesied… cast out demons… and [did] many wonders” in Jesus’ name. But they will be rejected because these works were not according to the will of the Father. Notice they do not say, “Lord, Lord, we preached the Gospel in Your name; we administered the sacraments in Your name.”
The will of the Father is that we believe everything the Lord Jesus Christ has taught, and that we practice every commandment which He has given. In other words, these are the Gospel and the sacraments. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession gives this general definition of “sacraments”: “rites which have the command of God and to which the promise of grace has been added” (Apology, article 13). Such a definition acknowledges what our Lord has commanded us to do, but especially those institutions which He gave to the Apostles—namely, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and Absolution. These are the marks of the true Church and of a true minister.
To prophesy and to cast out demons are not wicked works themselves, but if they are not part of the faithful work of Christ’s ministry in the Church, focused on His Gospel and sacraments, they do not include that promise of grace. Therefore, they are inferior to the sacraments in every sense. Anyone who boasts of such unfaithful works is a false prophet.
Prayer: O Lord, Who never failest to help and govern those whom Thou dost bring up in Thy steadfast fear and love: Make us to have a perpetual fear and love of Thy holy Name; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
