Matthew 7:15–23
- As we look at today’s Gospel text we will
- Understand the warning that Christ is giving
- Understand what is at stake
- And understanding these we will know that
- We Recognise False Prophets and False Teaching by Being in God’s Word
A Warning
Most of us, if not all, have had the displeasure of being the victim of attempted phone scams. Some of us may have even lost money and with it our trust in others.
You know the sort of thing:
A message or call alerting you to fraudulent use of your bank card.
A call telling you that your computer has a virus and that they’ll help you fix it by downloading some software.
A message from HMRC saying there’s an issue with a tax refund or an unpaid tax bill.
Or the famous “You’ve won the Nigerian lottery!”
The really sad thing is that these scammers largely prey on old and vulnerable people, those who are usually the most trusting and dependent in our society, and those with the most to lose.
And all of these scams have one thing in common, they appear to be acting in your best interest while the fact is, they’re trying to take your money and, in some cases, destroy your life. Our text today is a warning from our Saviour about spiritual scammers who are after our souls. He tells us to “Watch Out for false prophets!”
We Need to Understand the Warning
False prophets are found throughout the history of the Bible. While Moses was receiving God’s Law on Mt Sinai, establishing His covenant with His people, Aaron made a golden calf. Aaron then told the Israelites, “This is the god who brought you up out of Egypt.” He was giving a cow credit for the amazing miracles and salvation God that had worked for them.
Elijah had to confront the 300+ prophets of Baal who were deceiving God’s people. When asked, whom will you serve the Lord or Baal, they were unable to answer! They knew they had been deceiving the people but couldn’t bring themselves to publicly admit it.
During Jesus’ ministry he had to deal with Sadducees who said there was no resurrection and Pharisees who had taught you had to follow the letter of strict and complex laws to please God.
Paul warned about being swayed and influenced by another gospel that wasn’t a gospel.
Throughout God’s word there are many warnings about scammers. Listen to just some of the warnings we hear:
Mark 13:22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect.
Matthew 24:11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.
2 Corinthians 11:13-15 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.
And in our text today Jesus includes warnings against those that appear to perform miracles in his name. Matthew 22-23:
On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Jesus’ warning is not about other religions, but rather, how false prophets infiltrate the Christian community with teachings contrary God’s holy word. He knows this will happen inside the Christian church, in the Christian community and classrooms. Some organisations even try to pass themselves off as a Christian group but are not. As we look at the churches and organisations around us, or remember those that we’ve been a part of in the past, we can see that this warning strikes very close to home.
Some false prophets have been deceived by other false teachers. Some are just wicked themselves, serving only their own belly as Paul writes to the Philippians:
For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly.
We Need to Understand What is at Stake
Do you truly understand what happens when you start listening to false teaching or following a false prophet? Jesus says in Matthew 17-18:
So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.
Jesus is telling you that by swallowing false teaching you will be consuming the bad fruit from a diseased tree! And there are, sadly, many examples of those who have been deceived by false prophets and false teachers and have eaten the bad fruit from those diseased trees.
There are those who have paid thousands of pounds to ‘healers’ who have said they will cure them. When they don’t get better they are told that they are the problem because they didn’t have enough faith.
There are those that are told that they need to be ‘perfect’ to be ‘worthy’ before God can love them.
There are told that the Bible is an old, out of date book so shouldn’t be trusted.
The result for the deceived is the loss of joy of being a Christian, the loss of peace, comfort, and can even be the loss of the knowledge of forgiveness because they live with guilt, shame and no hope. Ultimately this leads to the loss of eternal life in heaven.
This is the most important thing to get right. Your salvation, your eternal life, is at stake.
And what about the false prophets who peddle these untruths? Their end, as tools of the devil, is their own destruction. Tragically, though, they also take other people with them to the same end.
In our text Jesus’ warnings are very clear that the judgment of God will be on those who pervert or twist his word and lead people to hell.
Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. He says in verse 19, and in verse 23
And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
The Jesus that these false prophets and teachers claim they are glorifying will reject them as though he never knew them. I don’t know about you, but these words chill me to the bone. Can you imagine standing before Christ, the Lamb of God, on Judgement Day, you look up at him and he says “I never knew you!”
How Do We Recognise False Prophets and False Teaching?
Not only does Christ give a warning about false prophets and false teaching, but our Lord also expects us to be able to recognise them and reject them.
As the apostle John tells us in his first letter: 1 John 4:1
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world”
This chapter in Matthew that our text for today comes from, chapter 7, starts off with Jesus commanding:
“Judge not, that you be not judged.”
We looked at these words, and the verses that followed them, a couple of weeks ago. We saw that Jesus was preaching about the dangers of judging others, of being judgmental and condemning others, judging someone because they have a speck of sawdust in their eye while we have a huge log, a plank of wood, in our own. That is Jesus addressing your self-righteousness, and the pitfall of believing yourself to be better than others.
In our text here, Jesus commands that you have the right to judge, that you should judge, not people, but what they say and teach about Christ. Whatever is set before you, you need to judge whether to keep it and treasure it, or to reject it. This is about proper judgement of life-saving doctrine.
When we hear a preacher or read a book or listen to a speaker, are we to be able to say whether it is fake news or the good news of the gospel?
Well, how are you able to tell the difference between fake, counterfeit money and real money? The best way is to take a closer look at real money. Study it. When you knew what real banknotes look like you’ll be better equipped to recognise the fake ones.
How true that is also when looking at Christian doctrine!
This is why we need to spend so much time in the Bible. We need to know what God has said to us, so we can recognize truth and error. We need to be in God’s Word.
As the prophet Jeremiah tells us concerning false prophets in our Old Testament reading from earlier:
“For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord to see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened?” Jeremiah 23:18
When we know exactly what the Gospel of Jesus is, having studied it closely, we can easily recognise false teaching and false prophets.
The pages of Scripture unfold the great truths of the mystery of who the true God is, one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
It reveals that all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, that nothing we could or can do will save us.
It tells us of God’s wonderful and perfect plan for our salvation and restoration, and that He did it all for us out of love.
The plan that saw its culmination in Jesus who came into the world and lived the perfect life, perfect death and powerful resurrection. That:
God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
We hear his promise, “your sins are forgiven”. And we see that salvation is by grace alone, by faith alone by scripture alone. As Paul tells us in Ephesians 2:8–9
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Compare this with a passage from another (false) Bible which is said to have been given by an angel: 2 Nephi 25:23: “For we labour diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”
“After all we can do!” Do you hear the discordant note struck in that last phrase. It robs the believer in Christ of the blessed assurance that Christ has done it all for us, that there is nothing we can do to be saved or earn our salvation.
That is discernment, that is correct judgement.
So know the truth of what Jesus has done for you. Our Saviour knows what our salvation cost him. Our Saviour also knows how much he loves each one of us.
His concern is that no one would deceive and rob us of the joy of the forgiveness he earned on the cross, or rob us of the hope for our resurrection because of his empty tomb or take away the peace and assurance that we have in our salvation throughout our lives.
So listen to the Good Shepherd, hear his voice through his word, listen to his message, enjoy his peace, his forgiveness and his promise of the gift of eternal life.
Amen.