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.