Word of Salvation – Vol.47 No.33 – September 2002

 

Recognising False Prophets

 

Sermon by Rev J Haverland on Matthew 7:15-23

Scripture Readings: 1John 1:5-2:6; Jeremiah 23:13-32

 

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This sermon is about how false prophets and disciples can be recognised by their failure to produce the fruit of obedience.  And the purpose of the sermon is to urge you to examine false prophets and your own life for the fruit of obedience.

People have an amazing ability to deceive themselves.  We have all seen this in people.  If someone has set himself on doing something, then he can convince himself that he is doing the right thing.  He can justify his actions.

All of us can do this.  We all have a great ability to rationalise our behaviour, to excuse ourselves and even to deceive ourselves.  If you want to, you can talk yourself into almost anything.  A pastor can convince himself that he is a true servant of God when he is a false shepherd.  A person can convince herself that she is a Christian when she is not a genuine disciple of Christ.

This is what Jesus is warning against here.  We must look out for false prophets who are themselves deceived.  But we should also make sure we have not fooled ourselves.  We must be sure that we are true disciples of Christ.  So today, we are going to consider how we can recognise false prophets.  We will look at:

1.  their deceptive appearance;
2.  their true character;
3.  their empty claims;
4.  their crucial failure and
5.  their final judgment.

And as we look at these things, then we want to apply this to ourselves as well.

Verses 13-14 of Chapter 7 of Matthew's gospel are the beginning of the conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount.  Here Jesus highlights the main issues; He drives the lessons home, and He applies all He has said to His hearers.  He does that by emphasising that there are only two ways to travel.  The broad road that leads to hell, or the narrow road that leads to life.

But Jesus knows that there will be false prophets who will try to blur this clarity.  They will say, “There are many roads to God.  You can go in through any entrance.  We need to be tolerant and broad-minded.  We should not be too strict or demanding.”  Jesus warns against such false prophets.

First, then, let's notice:

1.  THEIR DECEPTIVE APPEARANCE

"They come to you in sheep's clothing" (vs 15).  This was the dress of the prophets.  All the prophets wore a mantle or cloak that was made from the fleece of sheep.  They had this distinctive dress.

But not all who dressed like prophets were true prophets.  Many of them gave the outward appearance of being legitimate.  They seemed to say the right things.  They were believable, likeable and good-natured.  They used the right language and seemed to do the right things.  But Jesus describes them as “pseudo-prophets”.  That is the literal translation of the Greek word.  They appeared to be prophets, but they were not.

Jesus was probably thinking of groups like the Scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees.  They appeared to be very religious, but they were false.  In other places in the gospels Jesus warned that there would be many false prophets and Christs.  The Apostle Paul also warned against them (cf: Acts 20:29-31).

This is what happened as time went on.  In the next few centuries you had groups like the Gnostics and the Arians.  All through history there have been a procession of people who have tried to lead people away from the truth and who have done great harm to the church.

They are still with us today.  Maybe in even greater number than ever because of today's pluralism.  We need to be on our guard with so many ideas coming at us through books and magazines and the internet, email and websites.  Anyone with any odd idea has a huge opportunity to promote their views.  We need to be aware of this through television as well, and also through Christian programming.

Jesus says, “Watch out for false prophets."  You could also read that as, “Beware...".  Many Christians today are easily taken in – they are gullible, naive.  They don't seem to realise that a pastor and leader and preacher can be wrong – off the track.  Don't be like that.  Watch out.  Beware.  Keep a lookout.

Secondly, you need to discern

2.  THEIR TRUE CHARACTER

"Inwardly they are ferocious wolves."  They come dressed in sheep's clothing but that disguises what they are really like.  They are like wolves.  They are dangerous and can do great harm.  They can destroy the well-being of Christians and the church.

Wolves are motivated by self-interest.  They are looking after themselves.  They aren't interested in the sheep – they only want to satisfy their own hunger.  This applies to false shepherds as well.  You can recognise them if you look closely at their motives and how these work out in their lives.  They are not so much interested in the people of God as in themselves.

That will come out in different ways.  They might be greedy for money.  Look at some of the tele-evangelists and the religious shows on television and see how much is orientated around money.  See how many appeals there are to support that ministry.

They might be motivated by pride.  Here is a danger for every minister of the gospel.  Here is a temptation for every pastor and teacher.  But the false prophets have allowed this to get a hold of them.  They want the praise of men.  They want to show people how clever they are, how up-to-date, how knowledgeable.  They are looking for fame and honour.

They might be pushing their own agenda.  They have their own ideas about how the church should run and how it should look and what it should do.  Their teaching is not firmly Bible-based.  It might sound biblical and right and true, but it reflects their own ideas and programmes.

You need to look past the initial impression, past the outward appearance, and look more closely.  See what is really going on.  Exercise discernment so you can recognise their true character.  Be on your guard.

We will pass over verses 16-20 for a moment and look at verses 21-23 to consider:

3.  THEIR EMPTY CLAIMS

We need to exercise great discernment in this area because these false teachers and leaders seem so right – they seem so pious and sincere.  And they may even have convinced themselves of their own sincerity and truth.

Jesus warns against this in one of the most solemn and sobering warnings to be found anywhere in the Bible.  He first states the warning: “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven" (vs.21).  Then He goes on to explain it and illustrate it in verses 22-23.

These people address Jesus as Lord.  In fact, they repeat this: "Lord, Lord."  They seem sincere in their faith and fervent in expressing it and zealous in speaking to the Lord.

They also seem orthodox.  “Jesus is Lord," was one of the earliest of the confessions of the church.  We should profess our faith with these words.  The New Testament commands us to do so.  You are to “confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord'” (Rom.10:9-10).  In addressing Jesus, they profess their faith.  But Jesus makes it clear there is something missing in this profession.

This warns us that a person can give the impression of being a Christian without being one.  A person can say the right words but not put them into practice.  A person can pray lovely prayers and utter pious phrases and claim allegiance to Jesus, without actually having a change of heart.  For some people then, the words, “Lord, Lord” will be an empty claim.  So, too, will be their claim to prophecy.  "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name?" (vs.22)

In the early New Testament time, God was still giving revelation through prophecy because the Bible was not yet complete.  So there were people prophesying.  But not everyone who claimed to prophesy was actually speaking a word from God – as Jeremiah 23 makes very clear.  Some people are prophesying out of their own imagination.

Let's also remember that God can prophesy through a pagan sorcerer like Balaam, and He can even speak a true word through Balaam's donkey.

Today, many claim to be giving prophecies but they are merely spouting their own ideas.  In the same way it is possible to teach and preach the Bible without a genuine change of heart.  It is possible for a preacher to be unconverted.  These people may be very sincere, but they may be sincerely and utterly deluded.  Their claim to prophesy will be false.

So, too, will their claim to power.  Some will say: "Did we not drive out demons and perform many miracles in your name?”  (vs.22)  In His reply to them, Jesus does not deny their claim.  Satan is also powerful and he can do great miracles.  God may allow the so-called miracles and cures of pagan witch-doctors and New Age gurus to work!  There are many indications in the Bible that Satan and pagan people can exercise miraculous powers (2Cor.11:14; Mat.24:24; Rev.13:13-14; 2Thess.2:9-10).

Jesus does not deny their claim.  What He says is that it is insufficient.  It isn't enough to have power and do miracles.  Casting out demons and doing great miracles is no test of true faith.  Being able to do those things does not make you a Christian.  These things do not demonstrate a change of heart.

We need to make this point today to those who rely primarily on some great experience or experiences as the evidence of their faith.  Some people remember how they were moved emotionally in some way, how they had this dream or that vision or that wonderful worship experience.  They think these things prove they are believers.  Not so!

All of us need to be careful here.  What is the evidence for your faith?

Is it that you said the right words?
Is it that you professed your faith in 1978 or 1982 or 1996?
Is it that you can witness for Jesus?
Is it that you have had a great and moving experience of God?
Is it that you are busy and active in the church, or that you have a position of responsibility or leadership?

None of these things are genuine proof of salvation.  Many will claim all these things and Jesus will say to them: “I never knew you.”

So what's missing?  What did they leave out?

Let's consider, fourthly,

4.  THEIR CRUCIAL FAILURE

One crucial failure is a lack of obedience.  Jesus explains this in verse 21: To enter the kingdom of Heaven you not only need to say "Lord, Lord", but you must also do the will of God.  You must be obedient.  This is the true test of Christian discipleship.  This is the acid test of genuine Christian experience.  Do you live it out in your life?  Pious talk without obedience means nothing.  If you say you love God but you do not love your brother, then you are a liar and the truth is not in you.

But these false prophets also failed to show genuine fruit.  Jesus said this about them in verse 16: “By their fruit you will recognise them."  Jesus expands and illustrates this principle in verses 16-19, and then repeats it in verse 20: “Thus by their fruit you will recognise them.”  You can recognise a false prophet by looking at his life.  This is the real test.  Does he practice what he preaches?

This takes discernment.  You need to look closely.  Verse 16 says, “Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?"  There was a thornbush that produced little berries that from a distance might look like grapes.  And there was a thistle that produced a flower that from a quick glance looked like a fig.  When you looked closer you could see what it really was.

If you keep looking, the truth will come out.  It may take time, but eventually you will see who or what they are.  This is the point of verses 17-18.  “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.”  This means that a true pastor and teacher and believer will prove their faith in the fruits of faith in their life.  A false teacher and believer will not produce those fruits of the Spirit.

Finally this bring us to consider,

5.  THEIR FINAL JUDGMENT

In verse 19 Jesus warns that bad trees will be cut down and thrown into the fire.  That is a picture of the final judgment.  This is the terrible destiny of those who claim to be disciples of Christ but who do not prove that in their lives.

In verse 23 Jesus describes what He will say to such people on that Day of Judgment – “I never knew you.  Away from me you evildoers."

These are perhaps the most solemn words in the Bible.  Here are people who claimed to know Jesus, but Jesus does not know them.  They used the name of Jesus over and over, but Jesus does not know them by name.

What makes this so tragic is that these people are deluded.  They have talked themselves into thinking and believing they are Christians when they are not.  They have fooled themselves.  This shows how close people can get to Christ without really knowing Him.

This, then, is a searching test for discerning false prophets: Do they live out what they teach?

But here is a searching test for each one of us:

Do you live out what you profess?
Do you show the fruit of the Spirit in your life?
Are you doing the will of your father in Heaven?

You need to ask those questions of yourself.  You need to examine your own life and heart.  You need to make sure you aren't kidding yourself.  None of us will be perfect.  Every believer will struggle with sin until his dying day.  Every one of us needs the forgiveness of God each day.  If we claim we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

So, these verses are not asking us to be perfect.  They are asking us: Do you profess Jesus as Lord, and are you striving – with the help of the Holy Spirit – to live that out in a life of obedience?

Amen.