By This I Know That You Are a Man of God

Actions speak louder than words. Do what I do; do not do what I say. If I tell you, I am a born-again Christian, but my actions deny the very essence of my faith, I am a hypocrite, and the Holy Spirit is not abiding in me. Look at what YAHSHUA called the Pharisees of His day. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders! You blind guides, you are like tombs that have been white-washed, which look beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything impure; blind fools! These are just a few definitions extracted from Matthew chapter 23 where we find a host of definitions our Lord uttered against the Pharisees. This religious sect is alive and well in our churches today. Hypocrisy is evident in the life style one chooses to have. Some are performing miracles in the name of the prosperity gospel; they prophesize falsely to acquire fame. The gospel they preach is not the gospel from the Bible. However, time will confirm who they are. Woe are they, for condemnation has been pronounced by our Lord, YAHSHUA. “I never knew you; depart from Me.” He told the crowd, “Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? And then I will say to them openly, I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who act wickedly” (Matt. 7:22-23). YAHSHUA gives us a picture of someone active in the church. Their activities are those of prophesying, performing miracles, casting out demons. These are well received as from God. They performed these, but did not have a relationship with God. Their lives were instruments for their own gain. They own mansions, airplanes, fancy and expensive cars in the name of miracles, but their insides are filled with hypocrisies and love of money. A god they love more than the true God they presumably serve.

YAHSHUA entered the synagogue in Nazareth, where He had been brought up, as was His custom on the Sabbath day and He stood up to read…He opened the scroll and read Isaiah 61:1-2). He stood as the One Who had come to fulfill the Law and the prophets. He stood as a messenger of the word of God. He said to the people, Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled while you are present and hearing. But the people wondered about Him, saying, Is not this Joseph’s Son? That’s all they thought of Him. For this reason, they rejected His message in disbelief. YAHSHUA then responded, saying, “I say to you, no prophet is acceptable and welcome in his [own] town. But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were closed up for three years and six months, so that there came a great famine over all the land; and yet Elijah was not sent to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the country of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow” (Luke 4: 16-26). Here, we have the reason why Elijah was not sent to a widow in Israel. It was because of their unbelief. Naturally, they would have not believed him. Miracles happen when faith is present. God’s plan to save Elijah, rewarded the widow from Sidon, because she believed Elijah to be a man of God, sent to her by God. Before Elijah performed the miracle of bringing her son to life, she did everything Elijah told her to do, even giving him her last substance. That was faith in action, for she did not know for sure, but believed the words of Elijah, “Fear not, go and do as you said. But make me a little cake of first and bring it to me, and after ward prepare some for yourself and your son, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: The jar of meal shall not waste away or the bottle of oil fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth. She did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days” (I Kings 17:13-15). Her first step of faith opened heaven to bless her as Elijah, the man of God was blessed. In the death and resurrection of her son, she saw the glory of God shinning through His servant, Elijah, who faithfully served Him. It was no small thing to her when Elijah brought her son to life. As a widow, she needed her son to provide for her and was depended on him for everything else. He was to her strength and security for her future. The Lord God honored her faith and blessed her for it. YAHSHUA mentioned her to the crowd, who lacked faith in Him. He stood in the synagogue of Nazareth as the Son of God in all the miracles He performed before the eyes of all people. Yet, He was not believed to be the Messiah that was to come by His own, especially those of His town called Nazareth. In contrast, the prophet Elijah performed only one miracle, and that was sufficient for that widow to believe him to be a man of God: “By this I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” This was her confession (I Kings 17:24).