French filmmaker Pierre Rehov, while working on a documentary about Palestinian suicide killers, was intrigued by a common description surviving victims gave of their attackers: “Suicide bombers are all smiling one second before they blow themselves up.” If you’ve seen recent interviews with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran, you might have noticed his frequent smile.
We were with my parents at my old church in Chattanooga this past weekend. I love going back home. Older people, who were probably the same age I am now when I was growing up, rush to me and share how much they’ve been praying for my health. They pat me on the back, squeeze my cheeks, and hug me. One precious lady in her eighties complimented me as being “unbelievable.” She then looked at my wife, Susan, and said, “And you’re undependable too!” She caught her mistake and apologized profusely.
I’ve always smiled a lot. Some think that a person who can smile while going through a trial is worthy of praise, but I’m not too unbelievable. I have peace, but the French filmmaker discovered that many religious martyrs have peace before they take their own life and the lives of others. They believe they are about to receive a great eternal reward. Some describe the expression on the face of Osama Bin Laden as peaceful. A person’s strong belief can bring a type of peace, but that does not mean he is right in what he believes.
Jesus says to look far beyond the exterior. He warns of false prophets dressed up as peaceful sheep. So how do you tell? Can someone who often talks about God really be a wolf? “By their fruit you will recognize them,” Jesus said. Can you tell good fruit from bad? Can you get beyond the words and discern whether something is true or false? The apostles spent much time warning of false teaching in the last days. Now, as when Jesus walked the earth, people must be able to determine what is from God and what is not. Jesus was constantly asking, “Do you recognize the Father? Forget what my accusers are saying about Me, do you hear God’s message in my teaching? Some say I am from the devil, but do you see the good fruit of my life? A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.”
If you’re like me, you might be thinking, “Man, I’m not too smart sometimes. What if I mistake a thief for a genius… or worse?” Jesus knew His followers would need help after He ascended to the right hand of God. “If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.” (John 14:15-17) The great blessing for the believer from Pentecost until the Second Coming is the Holy Spirit. We cannot make it without Him.
“The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (I Corinthians 2:10-14)
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” (John 16:12-15)
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:11-13)