I remember the first time I visited a car dealership. I was in high school and I needed reliable transportation for work. After walking through the car lot several times I spotted a silver 1997 Pontiac Grand Am. It seemed like the perfect car. It had a flawless paint job, new tires, low miles, power seats and windows, a roomy interior, a V6 engine, and the price was just right. As I peered into the window an extremely friendly, well-dressed, and quite zealous salesman came out and praised the car as one of the best deals on the lot. The more he talked the more convinced I became of my need to buy the car on that day!
Deciding to play it safe, I asked the salesman if I could take a test drive. He agreed. As we traveled down a country highway, I put the pedal to the metal! The car didn't respond so favorably. The engine sputtered, the vehicle lurched forward, and at just fifty-five miles per hour the entire chassis of the car rattled as if we were driving down a rocky road. Seeking an explanation I asked the salesman, "Is this normal? Is something wrong?" The salesman didn't miss a beat. He impatiently snapped at me, "Son, are you here for a joy ride or to buy a car?"
Not thinking anything about it, I told the salesman that I would send my parents back later that evening to look at the car. Maybe it was the best deal on the lot. That night my parents dropped by the dealership after work. My mom is a professional claims adjuster for a national insurance company. One of her areas of expertise relates to insurance fraud and automobiles. With her wealth of information and in-depth training, she can smell a lemon and a lemon salesman a mile away.
By the time my mom finished looking the car over, the salesman had changed his tune. She discovered that the vehicle had been wrecked several times. The truth was that it had a bent frame and its engine had been badly damaged. All of the car's defects had been disguised with a fresh coat of paint, a new set of tires, and a nice stereo system. My parents confronted the salesman with the deception. The dealer got a little hot around the collar and no, I didn't get the car!
But I did learn a valuable lesson. I learned not to be so naïve. Deception can lurk anywhere. Sometimes we are able to catch the deception before it takes us. Sometimes we are fortunate in that the deceiver inadvertently gives himself away before any serious damage is done. At other times we aren't so lucky and the deception goes undetected for years, and the deceiver is allowed to wreak enormous havoc on our lives.
This morning I come to warn you about a form of deception that gets little press these days. In Matthew 7:15 (NIV) Jesus tells us to "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." Right away we learn several truths about false prophets.
False prophets are real.
The Greek word for false in the New Testament is pronounced pseudo. Pseudo is a word that is quite common in our English language. It is typically used to describe things that are bogus, counterfeit, fake, or in some way false. In its strongest sense, the word pseudo describes something that is a blatant lie. Throughout the Bible we discover that there are pseudo teachers, pseudo apostles, pseudo teachings, pseudo prophets, and even pseudo Christs. In other words, there are individuals who presume to speak on behalf of God, but who are in reality speaking lies and mistruths. And these false prophets exist even today.
Now why is this important? In our culture we do not readily distinguish between truth and error, especially when it comes to religious matters. We are taught to appreciate the diversity of opinions concerning God's existence. We are taught that one of the most sinister incarnations of evil is showing intolerance toward other belief systems and going so far as to declare them false. We are taught that it is a mark of spiritual maturity to avoid narrow-minded, bigoted code words like false teacher, false teaching, and false prophet.
But here, Jesus is stating the contrary. He openly declares that there are false prophets, false teachers, even false teachings. He is teaching that there are true and false ideas about God. He is teaching that not all religious claims carry the same authority or weight. He even takes liberty to warn us to watch out for false prophets, thus implying that they pose some kind of threat to our spiritual lives.
False prophets are deceptive.
Notice what Jesus says, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing." The greatest danger with these false prophets is that we often don't see them coming. They can literally be anyone; male, female, young, old, educated, or uneducated. They can be someone we trust and greatly admire in the Lord or they can be a stranger. They can be a teacher, preacher, elder, deacon, or even a dedicated church worker. They can be a popular author, Christian artist, a preacher on the radio, a Christian talk show host, or even a respected Christian community leader.
Their danger lies in the fact that they can easily blend right into the flock as sheep. They do not announce or advertise themselves as false prophets or teachers or wolves. They don't wear signs on their backs or draw attention to themselves. On the contrary, they have a way of saying and doing all the right things at the right time. They speak with religious overtones, they win acceptance, and they tactfully cultivate a following through carefully choreographed acts. They comb their wool just like the rest of us and then they make their move.
For several years a Russian general traveled through central Illinois with an entourage. He visited up at the college, he visited my home church, and he spoke everywhere. With his thick Russian accent and his well practiced interpreter, his very believable story was that he was collecting money to purchase Bibles for Russia. He knew how to hit all the right buttons. He spoke of the personal hardships that he had endured for the sake of the gospel. He lived in extreme poverty, he lived in a small house with over a dozen family members, he had exhausted his wealth to buy Bibles, and God had spoken to him and called him to raise money for Bibles for Russia.
The fact that he spoke at so many churches only helped his cause. Everyone assumed that the next church up the road had checked out his credentials. Well as it went, the Bloomington Pantagraph ran an article about his fraudulent activities late last year. He had been arrested for shoplifting and the police discovered that he was a fraud.
There are so many things that can cause us to let down our guard. We walk into a Christian bookstore, and we assume that all the books throughout the store are doctrinally correct. We forget that most of the books come from secular publishers whose primary goal is to make money, not to preserve the truth. We hear a powerful sermon on Christian radio, and we assume it must be doctrinally correct or else why would they be playing it? We see a new book by a popular author we love, so we snatch it up and absorb every word we read. We never pay attention to the author's credentials and the fact that he has written dozens of erroneous books that have been rejected by Christian scholarship.
A few summers ago I was teaching a group of grade-schoolers out at the church camp. As I read out of Genesis and explained the story of creation, I noticed a bunch of commotion down at the end of the table. A girl was whispering to her friends, "He's wrong, look, look here." Come to find out, she was reading the footnotes in her study Bible, and the footnotes didn't jive with what I was teaching. I had my hands full trying to explain to her that her footnotes were not part of the scriptures. She spent the rest of class looking at me suspiciously. She wasn't buying it.
The danger of false prophets is that their work appears in the most unsuspecting of places. These are places where we let our wool down and then forget that wolves exist.
False prophets are destructive.
Jesus says, "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."
In Acts 20:29-31 (NIV) Paul warns the Ephesian elders in much the same way. "I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from among your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears."
These false prophets kept the apostle Paul up at night. They were a terrible threat. A brief survey of scripture quickly reveals why they are so destructive. In the book of Jeremiah the false prophets fill the people with empty hopes. They made spiritual promises that could never materialize. For example, in Jeremiah 23:16 (NIV) God accuses them by saying, "They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of Lord." In that same chapter we find them pronouncing God's peace on those who despise God and they go so far as to deny the reality of God's coming judgment. In effect, the false prophets were able to lull the people asleep in their sins. The people assumed they had secured God's blessing when in fact, his curse was on them.
If you turn to 1 Timothy there is a whole litany of warnings written against false prophets. In 1 Timothy 1:4, we find them promoting controversies and divisions instead of God's work. In 1 Timothy 4:7, we discover their tendency to talk about things that they don't understand. In 1 Timothy 6:3 we find them teaching things that contradict God's word and his character. In 2 Timothy 2:18 we find them destroying the faith of good Christians by teaching that the resurrection had already taken place. In 2 Timothy 2:17 their teaching is likened to gangrene, an infection that rapidly spreads throughout the body and destroys it.
These false prophets are terribly destructive. We find them twisting the truth of God's word to justify the evil in their lives. They treat God's word like a smorgasbord, picking and choosing only those words of God that are palatable and easy. They are terribly selfish, ambitiously seeking money, sex, and power, and selfish gain. They will achieve their ends at any cost. They will even destroy God's people! And as hard as it is to imagine, on the surface they look as innocent as sheep. Jesus says, "Watch out!" They are real, they are deceptive, and they are destructive.
How to recognize false prophets.
Now in Matthew 7:16-20 (NIV) Jesus gives us a clue about how to recognize them. "By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."
A prophet can be discovered by the kind of fruit that he produces for God's glory. Does his life magnify God? Does his life magnify God's character? Are the fruits of God's Spirit evident in his life? Does he exude love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control? Does he show character in his private, spontaneous, off-the-cuff moments? Are his words and humor and comments consistent with a mind focused on Christ? Do his financial priorities, his use of time, and his possessions reflect a life devoted in service to a gracious and holy God? Does his teaching and ministry promote God's work, or promote controversy and division? Does the gospel he preaches change lives, leading people to faith, repentance, confession, and baptism? Does the truth he proclaims result in God's glory and the advancement of his kingdom or is it serving a selfish interest or desire? Does the truth he proclaims produce balanced Christians who possess the fruit of the Holy Spirit?
Jesus says, "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit."
In Matthew 7:21-23 (NIV) Jesus tells us what not to look at. "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. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!' "
We should take note of the following facts. The test of a true, sincere confession of Jesus Christ as Lord is not in saying the correct words. The test of a true, sincere confession of Jesus Christ as Lord is not the repetition of some sacred mantra or creed, "Lord, Lord." The test of a true, sincere confession of Jesus Christ as Lord is not the intensity or forcefulness in which someone professes her faith. The test of a true, sincere concession of Jesus Christ as Lord is not measured by the public, visible ministry of an individual.
The test of a true, sincere confession of Jesus Christ as Lord is always obedience. It's whether or not Jesus is in the driver's seat in one's life. It's whether or not we are doing the will of God the Father in heaven. The test of a true, sincere confession of Jesus Christ is whether or not an individual knows God.
In light of what we have discovered today, I would like to suggest some application.
Beware!
Remember that Jesus says, "Watch out." We need to keep in mind that false teachers and false prophets can be anyone. We should never let our guards down; not here at church, not in a Christian bookstore, not while listening to Christian radio, never. Be especially mindful of the study notes in your Bible, of tracts, bulk mailings, television and radio programs. Don't let these things replace scripture.
Know your teachers.
Find out who your teachers are, look into their backgrounds, find out what events shaped their lives, and find out what Christians in other circles say about them. Who stands in the pulpit every Sunday? Who stands behind the lectern in your Sunday school class? Who is teaching your child in Sunday school? Who is that voice on Christian radio? Who is the author of that book? Who is that Christian artist who sings about biblical truths?
So what if a person has a big degree, or has written twenty books, or teaches at a Bible College, or works for a Christian publisher?
Get educated.
The best way to protect yourself and your family against false teachers is to get educated. Recently I was reading an article about how banks train their tellers to spot fake money. The truth is that it may be misleading to suggest banks even have a training program. They don't show their tellers fraudulent $100, $50, $20, $10, and $5 bills and explain their nuances and tell them to be on guard for them. Instead they give their tellers the authentic one hundred percent, genuinely federally certified bills, and through the daily handling of those bills, they gain the natural ability to discern the real from the fraudulent.
The best way to discern truth from error is to regularly handle God's word. To some people Bible school and small groups are optional. To some people bringing one's Bible to worship for study is optional. To some people regularly attending worship to feed on God's word is optional. But this isn't true for those who are able to discern truth from error. For them, these things are indispensable and they are basic requirements that guard their eternal security.
Test the fruit.
I have already discussed the importance of testing the fruit of your teacher's life. When Paul told Timothy how to pick elders in the church, he told him to watch out for men who led exemplary lives. 1 Timothy 3:2-7 (NIV) tells us, "Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectful, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap."
When Paul instructed Timothy how to conduct his ministry he told him in 1 Timothy 4:16 (NIV), "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."
Notice the importance that is placed on testing the fruit of those who instruct you in the Lord. Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions of your teachers and leaders. Don't be afraid to explore their doctrine and to pay attention to their lives. But do keep in mind that God is not finished with us yet!
At the end of the service today you will be handed a piece of candy. Its sweetness will be a reminder to you of the kind of taste that should be left in your mouth as you and your family receive ministry at Lakeside. Its sweetness will be a reminder to you of the kind of taste that God wants your life to leave in the mouths of those you encounter. Take seriously Christ's command to, "Watch out for false prophets."
Every week you should come to know Jesus Christ at a deeper and more personal level. Every week your life should increasingly be transformed, ever be it so slightly, into the image and likeness of Christ. Every week God's Spirit should produce his sweet fruit in your life. And may you do so under the sound teaching and instruction you receive from God's word as you continue to discern truth from error in all areas of your life.