June 16, 2013 Practicing Discernment 2 Shrewd Innocence Matthew 10: 16-20

Scripture: ¹⁶ "Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. ¹⁷ But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. ¹⁸ You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. ¹⁹ When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. ²⁰ For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."

Sermon:

- Chapter 10 in Matthew marks a change in the ministry of Jesus because this chapter begins with Jesus naming apostles meaning 'sent ones.' Jesus himself chose the 12 and he himself sends them out to carry out his mission.

- Jesus is sending them. They are not wandering around like lost sheep. They are sent, and according to Matthew, this sending by Jesus wasn't a one-time thing. It was an ongoing constant, continual thing.

- Before now, they had been with Jesus; they listened to his teaching; they watched him cast out demons, heal illness and cleanse leprosy, and preach the good news of the kingdom; and they assisted Jesus…

- But now Jesus sent out his disciples, saying, "Look, I, I apostle you, I am sending you like sheep into the middle of wolves."

- Last week, we looked at how Jesus said that false teachers and false prophets are like wolves in sheep's clothing, but this week, we are looking at how Jesus is sending the sheep out among the wolves.

- So Jesus tells them, "Because you are like sheep", the most notoriously the defenceless animal (Keener, Matthew, 321), "you must be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves."

- Genesis describes the serpent as craftier than all the other animals, and Jesus commanded the 12 to be shrewd like the serpent.

- What does it mean to be shrewd like a serpent?

- It means that we cannot be in the habit of going about our days with our minds on autopilot.

- It means being thoughtful, intentional, and alert toward the people around us.

- It means that we cannot speak or act carelessly or thoughtlessly, but be careful to consider all possible circumstances and consequences.

- It means the Christian will not use his/her faith to provoke people like a child poking at a hornet's nest with a stick.

- To put it in a few words, the shrewd person always considers consequences.

- Jesus told his disciples to be as shrewd as serpents, but the serpent in Genesis was a menace to others and that's why Jesus also told his disciples to be as harmless as doves.

- The serpent used his shrewd mind to deceive and cause harm.

- What does it mean to be harmless like a dove?

- It means that one is open to others.

- It means that one is honest with others.

- It means that one has pure motives in their relationships with others.

- It means that one is innocent.

- It means that one is simple, easy and uncomplicated rather than difficult or hard to get along with.

- It means that one sees others through the eyes of love.

- How do we know that?

- You may recall that at the baptism of Jesus, Luke described the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus bodily as a dove.

- The physical presence of the Holy Spirit as a dove at Jesus' baptism represents the love of God, specifically the love of God for his only Son.

- God affirmed his love for Christ by physically sending the Holy Spirit to be with him at his baptism in the form of a dove.

- To be harmless like a dove is to love others like God loves.

- In short, the harmless person always considers others first.

- To be shrewd, without being harmless is to cause harm.

- To be harmless, without being shrewd is to be helpless.

- For Christians who wish to practice discernment, they must be willing to become both shrewd and harmless.

- Why? Take a moment to consider the rest of what Jesus said to his sent ones, the apostles.

- ¹⁷ But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. ¹⁸ You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. ¹⁹ When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. ²⁰ For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."

- We must be both shrewd and harmless so that we do not do anything to unnecessarily bring persecution upon ourselves because, sooner or later, persecution will come and it is earned.

- As it was for the apostles, so shall it be for the church for we also are sent by God to continue the mission of Jesus, announcing the kingdom of God and doing kingdom deeds.

- Something about that idea scares me, if Christians are not experiencing persecution, then they haven't earned it.

- But as scary is that is, when the time comes, just as the apostles trusted Jesus so also we can trust Jesus for the Spirit of God will give us the words to say in defense of the gospel.

- The rejection of Jesus and his message is as common today as it was 2000 years ago.

- Always people will oppose the message of good news about Jesus, but some will believe.

- That is why we must become both shrewd and harmless. If we are to be shrewd, then we must consider the consequences, and if we are to be harmless, then we must consider others first.

- First Peter 3:15b-16 best summarizes what we've been talking about this morning: "Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. ¹⁶ However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear, so that when you are accused, those who denounce your Christian life will be put to shame." (1 Peter 3:15b-16, HCSB)

- All Christians are sent to share and live out the gospel of Jesus with shrewd innocence.

- How should this workout in our day-to-day lives?

- If the Christian is to be alert and aware and able to consider consequences, then shrewd innocence begins in the mind.

- From reading Paul's letter to the Romans we see that we are not to be conformed to the pattern of this world any longer, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

- A renewed mind requires new habits and new disciplines to strengthen the mind and encourage the growth of commonsense thinking, which honors God because God is a God of order, not chaos.

- A renewed mind is a mind which understands that God is also a God of love and therefore we must learn to act and speak from a place of love.

- I think one of the most significant things that we can do individually is to limit the amount of time that we spend watching movies and TV shows or playing video games.

- People who watch moderate to heavy amounts of television (only one to four hours per day) display classic signs of behavioral addiction.

- If you plan your life around the TV schedule or someone in your life does, that is a warning sign.

- If you are inactive and have poor diet because of screen time, that is also a warning sign.

- Instead of having real experiences, we trade them for virtual experiences and virtual experiences require almost no thought, no activity, no relationships.

- The screen can easily become an idol in our lives and we have to choose to replace it with other things: physical activity, board games, relationships, conversations, audio books, audio dramas, exercise, hobbies, etc.

- Now, I used the TV or the screen as an example because it is the key contender against God in the battle for the ownership of our minds.

- In order to have renewed minds, we must learn to think God's thoughts after him. How can we do that if we are training our minds to be screen/TV dependant? The short answer is, we can’t.

- All Christians are sent to share and live out the gospel of Jesus with shrewd innocence.

- And no matter how you slice it, there's only one way to do that: discipline ourselves to read the Bible, understand the Bible, meditate upon God's word, and allow the Scriptures to impact our prayer life and apply them to our daily lives.

- That's really the only way to cultivate shrewd innocence in our lives.

- All Christians are sent to share and live out the gospel of Jesus with shrewd innocence.

                                                                                      

June 9, 2013 Practicing Discernment 1 Spotting False Prophets Matthew 7:15-23

SCRIPTURE:

 ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.'  

‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 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 deeds of power in your name?” Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.” (Mt. 7:15 -23, NRSV).

SERMON:                                                                      

- We are returning this morning to the Invitations of Jesus and the invitation that we're going to look at in this next short series is Jesus' invitation to practice discernment.

- This morning, we're going to be looking at how to spot false prophets or false teachers. Next Sunday, we will look at being wise as serpents and the week after Dr. Bob Knowles is with us, we will look at how to spot false teaching.

- I want to start with a couple of questions.

- Did you know that as followers of Jesus, all of us are responsible for spotting false prophets or false teachers?

- Did you also know that all of us are called to be faithful fruit inspectors?

- That's what Jesus was saying in this passage. In order for the church to spot false prophets or false teachers, we all have to be faithful fruit inspectors.

- Faithful fruit inspectors know: Bogus Christianity never produces good fruit.

- Right before the Scriptures that we read from Jesus' sermon, Jesus talked about the wide way that leads to destruction, and the narrow way that leads to life.

- That piece leads right into his talking about false prophets because Jesus is the great prophet and Messiah who teaches his disciples the way that leads to life (Evans, 173).

- Jesus warned his disciples that false prophets will come and try to lead them down the wide way that leads to destruction.

- Obviously, we don't want to go down that way.

- So, how do we spot false prophets?

- I. The first thing we need to notice about how to spot false prophets is that they are not easy to spot which is why we need to practice discernment.

- They are not easy to spot because they come in sheep's clothing just like Jesus said.

- They come in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

- False prophets pretend to be one thing on the outside, but are actually something completely different on the inside. Just like the hypocrites, they are pretenders.

- The real intent, the actual plan of false prophets is to tear apart and devour God's flock and the Scriptures testify that this is the way false prophets have always been.

- ^1-2 Someday a prophet may come along who is able to perform miracles or tell what will happen in the future. Then the prophet may say, “Let’s start worshiping some new gods—some gods that we know nothing about.” ³ If the prophet says this, don’t listen! The Lord your God will be watching to find out whether or not you love him with all your heart and soul. (Deut. 13:1-3, CEV)

- God spoke through Jeremiah: "The Lord answered:

They claim to speak for me, but they’re lying! I didn’t even speak to them, much less choose them to be my prophets. Their messages come from worthless dreams, useless fortunetelling, and their own imaginations." (Jer.14:14, CEV)

- They are not easily spotted at first because they are pretenders.

- II. The second thing we need to notice about how to spot false teachers, Jesus makes clear: You will know them by their fruits.

- According to the Scriptures, fruit is more than deeds.

- When the New Testament talks about fruit in a person's life it is referring to that person's whole life, everything about who that person is.

- Fruit is the inner character of a person outwardly expressed.

- As Paul makes it clear in Galatians 5, the fruit of the Spirit is... love.  And how is love expressed or observed in the life of the person?

- We can see love, the fruit of the Spirit, in the life of a person through...joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

- We can see the fruit of Christian character in the life of a person in their personal commitment to showing their love: by standing up for justice, through acts of mercy to others, and by walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8).

- As Paul wrote to the church of Colossae, "Put on then as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, ...and above all these, put on love." (Col. 3:12,14a, ESV)

- Jesus went on to say: "Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit."

- A person's true character will show in how one lives and treats others.

- How do we spot false prophets? We discern character.

- Does this mean that we be overly critical of others or of our leaders?

- No, but it does mean that all of us must be vigilant. First, in guarding our hearts, then by humbly observing, testing and searching the Scriptures to see if what we are taught is true.

- It is only the Scriptures, after all, that Christians claim as God's authoritative Word for the church, God's gathered people.

- A teacher's word is only as authoritative as the Word on which it stands and a compromised character points to compromising God's Word.

- We must be vigilant and keep watch, especially upon our own teaching because, as Jesus said, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

- God has reserved a fiery judgment for false teachers-prophets.

- III. The third thing we need to notice about how to spot false prophets is this:

- Words and deeds of power do not automatically make someone a prophet of God, especially when that person is motivated by personal gain.

- As Jesus said, ‘Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord”, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 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 deeds of power in your name?” Then I will declare to them, “I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.”

-  What would we see in such people?

- a) They mainly strive for recognition, to appear great.

- While claiming to work in Jesus name, their words and deeds of power are for self-glorification and attention rather than the glory of God. They do not do the will of God the Father. They do their own will.

- b) They normally embrace sexual immorality.

- Whether hidden in their private lives or openly lived, false teachers tend to have large appetites for morally bankrupt behaviour.

- c) They are habitually controlled by financial gain. As the apostle Paul reminds us, the love of money is the root of various evils (1 Tim. 6:10).

- We must recall that while striving for recognition, immorality, and being controlled by financial gain are sins of which any of us could be guilty; but these sins tend to dominate the inner lives of false prophets/teachers. 

- It is their normal state of being as suggested by the words mainly, normally, and habitually. It is, for the most part, who they are.

- God does not desire men and women who display words and deeds of power; rather God desires women and men of powerful character through Jesus Christ.

- A changed character results in a changed life filled with words and deeds of love.

- How can we spot false prophets? As Jesus said, you will know them by their fruits.

- Faithful fruit inspectors know: Bogus Christianity never produces good fruit.

- Well, how does this impact our lives?

- We can use what we've learned to evaluate what we are reading, listening to, and watching in the supposed Christian media.

- We can test the prophets/teachers. What is their track record? Do they mainly strive for recognition? Do they normally embrace sexual immorality? Are they habitually controlled by financial gain?

- How do we know? We can find out if they are financially accountable?

- If the ministry belongs to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (see logo  ) you can be quite certain that ministry is not habitually controlled by financial gain.

- The ministry's financial records are inspected by the ECFA.

- Reluctance by a ministry to join the ECFA may indicate a problem, I say may because not all good teaching is evangelical contrary to popular belief, and mostly parachurch ministries belong to the ECFA.

- What about sexual immorality and striving for recognition?

- If they are public figures and they have track records of immorality, then that's relatively simple to dig up because the news media circle around these leaders like vultures.

- If their personal track record is one in which they mainly strive for recognition, that's a little harder.

- The onus is us to become aware of whom we are allowing to instruct and guide us in our faith, we have to evaluate their motives by asking ourselves questions and testing their teaching against Scripture, i.e., we need to know our Bibles.

- What about a little closer to home?

- How do you know if your pastor is financially accountable?

- I have a wife, deacons, and treasurer who monitor that.

- How do you know if I'm not out for recognition? Well, ask the deacons, listen to my preaching, talk to my wife. Like you, sometimes I fail and get selfish, but Jesus is my reason for being here.

- Ho do you know I'm not sexually immoral? Easy, I love my wife. I have no desire to break my marriage vows. And even if I did you'd have to get in line behind Toni to deliver the hard knocks.

- If you're a teacher, you can evaluate yourself this way too.

- Faithful fruit inspectors know: Bogus Christianity never produces good fruit.