Beware of False Prophets Matthew 7:15-23
[15] Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. [16] Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? [17] Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. [18] A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. [19] Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. [20] Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. [21] Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. [22] Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? [23] And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
In the words just before the text, Jesus summarized His great Sermon on the Mount by outlining the two paths that people walk on their journey through life. One path is the broad path with a gate wide enough to accommodate billions of people, without anyone having to stand in line. This path is attractive because it offers the entertainments, and lusts, and pleasures of the flesh without accountability to God. This attitude of these people is summarized in the words of the rich man in the parable, “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, [and] be merry. Luke 12:19. This path leads to destruction.
The narrow path is the path of faith. The gate is narrow, and no one stands in line here, either, because the majority of people prefer the wide gate. Penitent sinners, whose hope of salvation lies with Jesus Christ, walk this path. You and I walk this path, not because we choose it, but because the Holy Spirit has crested faith in our hearts to follow Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Notice that Jesus did not say that He was one way among many ways. He said, “I am the way.” He did not say that He was one truth among all the wisdom of the world. He said, “I am the Truth.” He did not say that He was just one of many sources of life. He said , “I am the life.” Christ alone leads us on the narrow road, and blesses our lives with all the gifts of His spirit, “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith.” Galatians 5:22. This path leads to heaven.
There are many dangers, however, that tempt the child of God to abandon the narrow way to heaven in favor of the wide path to destruction. Christ, our Good Shepherd, mentions one of those dangers when He warns, “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing.” There is perhaps no enemy as dangerous as a false prophet is. False doctrine and false teaching did untold damage already to God’s Old Testament people. “Then the LORD said unto me,” writes Jeremiah, “The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.” Jeremiah 14:14. Or listen to Ezekiel, “And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies:…ye shall know that I [am] the Lord GOD.” Ezekiel 13:9.
These false prophets were not worldly leaders, and the world was full of them, who brazenly denied our Savior. They were members of the Jewish assembly who claimed to know better than the prophets did. They lied to the people by telling them that faith in the promised Messiah was too narrow. They told them they needed works to get to heaven, and they backed it up with the claim that they had have seen visions, that God had spoken to them directly. The outward act that they could not perform was everything; the condition of the heart did not matter. The result was a troubled laity, people who knew they could not do what their spiritual leaders demanded, but they had nowhere to turn for help. They were, literally, sheep without a shepherd. “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the LORD.” Jeremiah 23:1 The lies of the false prophets of Israel worked staggering havoc among the people and destroyed the Gospel-message of salvation.
Is it any different today? Men who claim to have seen a vision like Mohammed, or Joseph Smith don’t easily deceive us. A pope, who claims to be God speaking, isn’t a great temptation. False teachers, that Jesus warns us about, come in sheep’s clothing. They are men and women right within a congregation, people with Bibles in their hands and the name of Christ on their lips. They argue that the “old ways” no longer work, that we need to make the Bible relevant to a new generation. The pure message of the Bible is no longer “the” power of God unto salvation, but a power, they say, that needs the help of gimmicks and programs and committees. Behind their religious façade is a desire to draw people unto themselves and not unto God. They want recognition and fame.
In order to mollify the world and to gain popularity in a feminist society, they deny the clear word of Scripture. “Let your women keep silence in the churches; for it is not permitted unto them to speak,” 1 Corinthians 14:34, says the Bible. They, however, demand that their hearers allow women suffrage in the congregation and women pastors in the pulpit. To satisfy the homosexual community, they deny the clear word of Scripture. “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly,” Romans 1:27, says the Bible. They, however, demand that their congregations accept those unrepentant souls that “come out of the closet.” Such abuse of Scripture becomes increasingly dangerous because these very false prophets mutilate the word of God with outright lies in the name of Christ. They justify homosexual behavior by saying Christ wants us to love one another. They justify women pastors by telling us that God is no respecter of persons, that men and women are both equal before God when it comes to governance. With their lies, they create large congregations and beautiful buildings to the glory of man and not to the glory of God.
How can we tell who is a false prophet and who isn’t? Twice in this brief text, Jesus repeats the words, “By their fruit ye shall know them.” What is important here is the fruit. Is the fruit good, or is it evil? The appearance of the fruit is not important. Jesus uses the picture of an orchard to make that point. If you’re eating tasty and nourishing apples, it’s because they came from a good apple tree. One simply cannot get good fruit from a bad tree. Now the fruit of a prophet is what he preaches. If it is the pure word of God, it is good fruit, good to eat because it nourishes our faith and strengthens us on the way to eternity. If, however, God’s word is perverted, corrupted, or watered down with human opinion, it is poor fruit. Instead promoting spiritual health, it gradually introduces the poison of false doctrine into our spiritual diet until we are no longer able to judge what is true and what isn’t.
Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets.” Judge these people and avoid them. The false prophet, in reply, says, “You can’t judge me,” and he quotes the words of Christ, “Judge not and ye shall not be judged.” Luke 6:37. Such superficial use of Scripture is outright deceit. Indeed, with these words, God tells us that the final judgment remains with Him; however, when it comes to false teachers, we need to make a judgment. God’s word demands it. St. Paul writes, “Mark [false teachers] and avoid them,” Romans 16:17, lest, as he wrote to the Ephesians,”ye be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.” Ephesians 4:14
By nature, all of us have itching ears that want to hear only what we want to hear from the pulpit. Should God’s word strike home, we become resentful! How easy to listen to the false prophet who tells the congregation what good people they are, instead of the truth of Scripture that we are natural born sinners in daily need of repentance.
Dear Christian friends, “We have Bibles.” The Bible is the plumb line by which we measure the truth of each man’s message. To live in a nation where, for the present at least, we are free to read our Bible and study it and worship without hindrance is a blessing of God, a blessing we dare never neglect, lest we slip away to follow a false prophet on the way to destruction. False teachers might prosper in this world, but their eternal fate is sealed. “Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down,” says Jesus, “and cast into the fire.” May the Holy Spirit move us to cling to the precious word of God so that when we come to the end of our narrow path, we may hear the gracious invitation, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. “ Matthew 25:34.