It's all in the details.

When I read this passage today I had an interesting thought….and learned an interesting lesson. 

In this passage Jesus is testifying as to who He is.  John the Baptist's disciples are asking Jesus if He is the One?  This is what Jesus said.

Matthew 11:4-6(NKJV)

Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 

The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 

And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

Now when I read that my first thought was "yeah, and the Beast will do all of those things in an effort to deceive people too". 

I just finished reading Revelation a couple of weeks ago and I distinctly remember reading that in the end time the Beast will heal people and work "miracles" that will deceive people. 

My point in thinking this was that it didn't seem to me that this was a very strong testimony as to who Jesus was.  It just seemed to me that He could have been clearer.  If the bad guy is going to be doing these things too, then how does that prove that Jesus is who He says He is?  Do you get what I mean here?

Then I went back and read it again. 

Matthew 11:4-6(NKJV)

Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and tell John the things which you hear and see: 

The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. 

And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

One of the things that the Holy Spirit gives us is discernment.  Here is where discernment comes in.  I highlighted the one tiny detail that makes all of the difference.  The Beast won't be preaching the gospel to the poor or anyone else for that matter!

What a great lesson.  Actually a couple of lessons.  First, pay attention to the details.  Secondly, a very easy and quick litmus test for anyone claiming to be a prophet or representative of God is this.  Do they  testify to and preach the Gospel?  If they do not, then Scripture tells us that they are not from God. 

That is handy to know because remember, Scripture also tells us that we will be held accountable if we allow ourselves to be led astray.  It is our responsibility to be able to recognize the difference since Scripture gives us a way to do so. 

Just another example of why it is so important to be in the Word on a regular basis!