Discerning The Motive Behind The Actions

 

 

In Matthew 7:15-23 Jesus warned us saying:

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.

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

 

Among the ministry, the most dangerous men among us are the licensed preachers that have your ear to accomplish the enemy’s work through you. They may speak in tongues, preach Acts 2:38, teach there is only one God. So far so good, except that within they are ravening wolves. They sew discord, spread rumors, divide the Body of Christ, tear down those who are doing good, and spew caustic words of venom, bitterness, anger, and iniquity. By their fruits they are recognizable. Brethren, flee from these religious men. Try the spirits whether or not they are of God, but never let someone like that deceive you. If you are guilty of such I admonish you to find an altar of repentance.

 

The Spirit of God will manifest itself whenever it is allowed to have dominion in one’s life. It is easy to discern.

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

 

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

KJV

 

Follow after God and not after an imposter.

 

 

Matthew 12:10-15

10 And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him.

 

11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out?

 

12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days.

 

13 Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it forth; and it was restored whole, like as the other.

 

14 Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.

 

15 But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;

KJV

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew 22:15-18

15 Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk.

 

16 And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men.

 

17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?

 

18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?

KJV

 

Matthew 26:3-5

3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,

 

4 And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him.

 

5 But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.

KJV

 

Motive. As a noun it means : something (as a need or desire) that causes a person to act

Examples of MOTIVE

1. Their motive in running away was to avoid being punished.
2. I think he’s guilty of the crime. He had the motive, the means, and the opportunity.
3. She denied that her offer to help was based on selfish motives.

Synonym Discussion of MOTIVE

motive, impulse, incentive, inducement, spur, goad mean a stimulus to action. motive implies an emotion or desire operating on the will and causing it to act . impulse suggests a driving power arising from personal temperament or constitution . incentive applies to an external influence (as an expected reward) inciting to action . inducement suggests a motive prompted by the deliberate enticements or allurements of another . spur applies to a motive that stimulates the faculties or increases energy or ardor . goad suggests a motive that keeps one going against one’s will or desire .

 

 

5 times the King James Bible says that false accusers came against Paul.

One of those instances is found in:

 

Acts 25:7

7 And when he (Paul) was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.

KJV

 

The fact that Paul was innocent, or blameless, never stopped the accusations from coming.

 

It was Jesus that said in:

 

Matthew 5:11-12

11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

 

12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

KJV

 

1 Corinthians 12:10 mentions one of the gifts of the Spirit as being the “discerning of spirits”

 

Believe me, the discerning of spirits is so needed in the church:

 

• To help you and me identify and discern the real spirit and motive involved in situations

 

Acts 16:16-18

16 And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:

 

17 The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.

 

18 And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.

KJV

 

There is a real devil . . . just as there is a real God.

God defends you. He is for you.

The devil accuses you. He is against you.

We know the accuser’s end.

 

Revelation 12:10-11

The accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

 

We know how to overcome him.

 

11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;

KJV

 

But all to often, and repetitively, many fail to discern the works of the accuser in the midst of God’s people

 

Satan always accuses:

 

• To hinder or thwart God’s will from being done
• With lying accusation

 

We need discernment to operate in the church of the living God

 

1 John 4:1

4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

KJV

 

Daniel

 

There was a great and God-fearing man in the Bible named Daniel. The king had placed him over all of the presidents and princes of his kingdom.

 

The king knew Daniel was a God fearing man.

 

But the others were jealous of him.

They sought to destroy him.

But there was no fault to be found in him.

 

Daniel 6:3-5

3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

 

4 Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.

 

5 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

KJV

 

So they concocted a plan.

They presented it to the king.

They came to him with words of flattery.

And convinced him to make a royal decree

No man shall make a request to any other God but only of you Oh great king

For 30 days

And if someone breaks this rule he shall be thrown in the lion’s den

 

And the king did not discern their true spirit

And he signed the decree

 

So when Daniel went as always to pray to God

These evil rulers told the king

The same king who loved Daniel . . . but could not go against his royal decree

 

Had the king discerned their motive . . . he could have stopped the problem before it happened

 

But God intervened anyway . . .

The lions did not eat Daniel for God shut their mouths

But all of Daniel’s accusers were thrown in to the lion’s den and they were destroyed

 

Mordecai

 

Do you remember the story of Mordecai and Queen Esther?

 

• Haman was a powerful man in the kingdom
• And he hated a Jew named Mordecai
• Simply because Mordecai discerned his spirit
• And Mordecai would not bow before him whenever he passed him by
• So he plotted to kill Mordecai
• And also all of the Jews
• So Haman deceived the king into signing a decree to kill all the Jews throughout all of the kingdom on a certain day
• He told the king they are a threat to you
• But Haman did not know that Queen Esther, the king’s wife, was a Jew
• He did not know she was Mordecai’s niece

 

What the enemy tried to use to destroy Mordecai and the Jews with

God turned around and used to destroy the enemies of the Jews

 

YOU NEED TO REALLY DISCERN THE MOTIVE . . . especially anytime the accuser is working to come against or divide God’s people

 

Judas

 

There is a story of a woman who used a very expensive perfume to wash the feet of Jesus with

Some say it was worth a year’s wages

 

One of those present that day was Judas Iscariot

Now we all know the end of Judas Iscariot

He sold out and betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver

And it cost him his soul

 

But he was a thief in his heart before he actually betrayed Jesus

Now when the apostle John wrote the Book of John it was after Calvary . . . and by then he and everyone knew what Judas had done

By then they all knew he was a thief

 

But prior to his betrayal of Jesus none of the other apostles had discerned his spirit

They didn’t discern even in the upper room when Jesus said, “One of you shall betray me”

Instead they asked Jesus . . . “Who is it?”

 

So listen to the deceit in the words of Judas when this woman ministered to Jesus with a very precious and costly sacrifice

 

John 12:3-6

3 Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.

 

4 Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, which should betray him,

 

5 Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor?

 

6 This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

KJV

 

The Church needs to discern the motive behind the actions

Or the enemy will deceive you again and again and again

 

Eve

 

Eve stood there gazing at this beautiful and mysterious tree in the midst of the garden

And this most beautiful serpent spoke to her

Eat the fruit

“I can’t” she said. God told me not to.

The serpent said . . . “Oh let me tell you because I know, God doesn’t want you to eat that only because it will make you as wise as Him and you will be just like Him.

Go ahead. It is good to eat.

 

Eve failed to discern Satan’s motive

Satan wanted to destroy Adam and Eve and all of mankind

He wanted to come against the plan of God for man

 

And she did not discern what was really at stake that day

 

You see folks . . . some mistakes are hard to rectify

Once you fail to discern what the enemy is trying to do through his words and actions

You need to know his motive

 

Abner

 

There was a man in the Bible named Abner

He was a cousin to King Saul

David trusted him.

Many thought him to be David’s enemy, but David discerned him to be trustworthy

Once in battle Abner fled the overwhelming odds against him

He was pursued relentlessly by Asahel

Asahel was Joab;s brother

Joab was a man of war and he was also David’s captain

Abner begged Asahel not to pursue him

Because Abner wanted no feud with Joab

But Asahel caught up to him

And in self defense Abner killed him

 

There came a day that Joab met with Abner

Abner come over here and talk to me

You can trust me

And Abner failed to discern Joab’s true spirit and intent

And when he came close Abner killed him

 

In Conclusion

 

Trojan Horse

The Trojan Horse is a tale from the Trojan War about the stratagem that allowed the Greeks finally to enter the city of Troy and end the conflict. After a fruitless 10-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse, and hid a select force of men inside. The Greeks pretended to sail away, and the Trojans pulled the horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night the Greek force crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army, which had sailed back under cover of night. The Greeks entered and destroyed the city of Troy, decisively ending the war.

Metaphorically a “Trojan Horse” has come to mean any trick or stratagem that causes a target to invite a foe into a securely protected bastion or space. It is also associated with “malware” computer programs presented as useful or harmless to induce the user to install and run them.

 

 

The Church needs discernment

For the enemy still builds Trojan horses

But it is powerless unless you pull it into your city

But once inside . . . it opens the gates for the enemy to have his way with you

 

 

Discerning the Motive Behind the Actions

 

Matthew 7:15-23

Galatians 5:22-23

Matt 12:10-15

Matt 22:15-18

Matt 26:3-5

Acts 25:7

Matt 5:11-12

Acts 16:16-18

Rev 12:10-11

1 John 4:1

Dan 6:3-5