Now if you would, open your Bibles
with me to Jeremiah chapter 23. We're going to begin at verse 9 of
Jeremiah 23. The title of the message tonight
is taken from verse 29 where the Lord through the prophet
Jeremiah poses this question and this is not a question that's
asked for information, it's a question that's asked to make a point,
a vital point, a strong point, where he says, is not my word,
God's word, the word of God in Christ, the gospel, is not my
word like as a fire, the fire of the word of God, saith the
Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces,
the rock, the hammer of the word of God. So the title of this
message is The Fire and the hammer. The fire and the hammer. But
let's go back to verse 9. Let me just read a few verses
as we start out here. Listen to the words of the prophet
Jeremiah, verse 9. Mine heart within me, he says,
is broken, a broken heart, he says, because of the prophets. All my bones shake. This is a
deep, deep sorrow, isn't it? I'm like a drunken man. Like
a man whom wine hath overcome. Almost can't think and can't
walk. He says, because of the Lord
and because of the words of His holiness. You understand what
he's saying there? He says, I can't get away from
God's Word. And because I can't get away
from God's Word, my heart's broken because of the prophets. Now
what prophets is he talking about? Well, look at verse 10. For the
land is full of adulterers. And I'm sure like any land where
sinful men exist, there was physical adultery. I'm sure there was.
And that's to be condemned. It's sin. There's nothing good
about it. But my sense here, if you look
at the context, is that what Jeremiah is talking about is
spiritual adultery. God's people adulterating themselves
to false gods. The land is full of adulterers,
he says. And for because of the swearing,
that's cursing you might see in your concordance. What he
is talking about is taking oaths in the name of God and not keeping
them or taking oaths in the name of a false god. It has to do
with idolatry. When he says swearing, he is
not talking about people cussing all over the place. He is talking
about people in religion. And it would be like a person
who has an assurance of salvation in their mind that is not based
on a proper scriptural ground. He says the pleasant places of
the wilderness are dried up. Now that was a literal consequence
of their sin there. The state of that land being
dried up and unfruitful was just a symptom of their greater spiritual
problems. Spiritually dead in trespasses
and sins. And their course is evil. Their
violence is evil. And their force is not right.
Paul told Timothy that those who would come in the last days,
that they would have a form of godliness but deny the power
thereof. In other words, outwardly they
appear righteous, they say the right words, they look religious,
but there's no power because there's no Christ, there's no
truth, there's no gospel, there's no spirit, there's no heart.
And that's what he's saying there when he says their force is not
right, their power. Whatever power they seem to have,
it's not right. It's not right. Lord, Lord, haven't
we preached in your name? Haven't we cast out demons, done
many wonderful works? Whatever power they seem to have,
he says it's not right. And he says in verse 11, for
both prophet and priest are profane. The whole thing. Many, many false
prophets. Many false priests. And you know
some of those priests were among Jeremiah's family members. The
priest of Anathoth. And he says, Yea, in my house
have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord. That's in the
temple. That's in the temple. Now turn over to Matthew chapter
7 that I read. as our opening. Now I want you to know that one
of the most difficult and one of the most unpleasant, one of
the most, how would you say it, the most negative I guess you'd
say, Things that a true preacher of God must do is to expose false
prophets and false believers. Yet it's a necessary thing. Now
we don't build our ministry. We're not to build our ministry
just on preaching the negative aspects and pointing out everything
that's wrong with everybody else. That's not what we do. We preach
Christ and Him crucified. But don't let any preacher tell
you that it's an unnecessary thing for God's preachers, true
preachers, to warn and identify, to warn the people of God and
identify for them the false preachers, false religionists, false prophets
of our day. In Judah and Jerusalem during
The last days of that nation, before their destruction by the
Babylonian army, there were multitudes of false prophets, multitudes
of false priests, but very, very, very few true preachers of the
gospel. And I'm afraid that it's the
same way in our day. Now, I know that there are people
who do not like to hear me say that. Well, I've got news for
you. I don't like to hear me say it
either. But it's the truth. That's why Jeremiah, he started
out, he said, My heart within me is broken. Any preacher who
tells you that he delights to do that, to expose it, that he
takes joy and it's easy, I'm going to tell you something.
He doesn't know the grace of God. You know what I mean by
that? By the grace of God, I am what I am. The only reason that
I stand before you tonight preaching the truth is God's sovereign
grace and mercy. And that's it. I can remember
it so well sitting back there right up in front of where Paul
Kuhn is. Just shaking my head, wagging
my tongue, with one thought on my mind and
that's to prove this gospel wrong. And I know that the reason I'm
up here tonight preaching to you is not because of any goodness
or any power or any will in me. I know that by the grace of God. And I'll tell you another thing,
any preacher who tells you that it's easy or he delights in it,
He has no compassion for sinners. I know we pray at times for the
judgment of God upon the enemies of the cross, but my friend,
we do it with a tear in our heart. And I'll tell you one more thing
about that. I want you to listen to me very carefully. Any preacher
who tells you he delights in that, or it comes easy, I just
about guarantee in every case they lie to themselves about
their families. Oh, I know they're not sitting
under the truth you sit under, but they're okay. That's right. They're just lying to themselves.
But see, Jeremiah said this. He said, the reason that I feel
this way is because of God's word of holiness. I could lie
to myself about religion in our country. I could lie to myself.
Now, none of us would lie to ourselves about the political
situation. I mean, look at just what happened
today in the Supreme Court. They overturned the Defense of
Family Act. And now it's all right for the
federal government will recognize homosexual marriage. That's an
abomination. We know that. But some of the
very ones who agree with us on that issue will not agree with
us on how God saves sinners. And that's the issue. That's
the point. Now I can lie to myself about
it, and you can lie to yourself about it, but I'll tell you one
thing you can't do. You can't get away from God's words of
holiness. It says what it says. That's
what I tell people. We can theologize it, philosophize
it, we can water it down, we can cry peace to everybody and
go out slapping everybody on the back and crying holy, holy,
holy. But you cannot get away from what God's word says. And one day, if you don't face
it today, you'll have to face it at the judgment. God's words
of holiness. That's what Jeremiah is saying
here. Look at Matthew 7. Now, understand that what I'm
reading to you in Matthew 7 is right after the portion of
Scripture that people use to tell me not to do what I'm doing
right now. Tell Jeremiah not to do what
he did. And that is, he says, judge not that you be not judged.
Well, we're not supposed to judge anybody. That's not what that
says. Now, we're not the judge. God
is. And God has a word. The judge
has spoken, you see. You understand what I'm saying?
It's not setting up here judging everybody in a self-righteous
way. That's what he's condemning. Self-righteous judgment. But
the judge of all the earth has spoken. Haven't he? And you can't
get away from his word. And here's what he says in verse
15. Beware of false prophets. Now how are you going to be,
we'd say it this way, be wary of false prophets, be careful,
be on your guard. Now how are we going to be wary
or on our guard against false prophets unless we can recognize
them? Who they are. He says, which
come to you in sheep's clothing. That's false prophets in disguise. Now there are all kinds of false
prophets, aren't there? There's false prophets that pretty
much don't fool anybody except maybe a few. And then there are false prophets
who fool millions. Here he's talking about those
who come in disguise, but inwardly he says they're ravening wolves.
And he says you shall know them by their fruits. Will you hold
on to that thought? Look over at Matthew chapter 24. Matthew 24, look at verse 11.
Here the Lord is speaking of the last days. He says in the
last days, verse 11 of Matthew 24, many false prophets shall
rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax or grow cold. That means their love
for the truth. But he that shall endure unto
the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all
nations. And then shall the end come. Now you know the issue
here. The issue here is the gospel.
And then look over at verse 22 of Matthew 24. He says, And except
those days be shortened, there should be no flesh be saved.
What he's talking about shortened, it means that God has an appointed
time and that's it. He says, but for the elect's
sake, those days shall be shortened. God's appointed the time, it's
coming, it's going to be. Then if any man shall say unto
you, lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall
rise false Christ and false prophets, and listen, shall show great
signs and wonders. Remember what Jeremiah said over
here. He said, their power, their force is not right. These false
prophets will show great signs and wonders in so much that if
it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Now thank God it is not possible
for God's elect to be deceived unto perdition. It's not, and
you know why that. It's because of the sovereign
grace of God. That's right, isn't it? We could talk about false prophets
in the scripture. There's so many passages of scripture. Paul had to deal with them in
Galatia. He said, if we or an angel from heaven come preaching
any other gospel than that which we've preached, let them be anathema.
Any other gospel. What he was talking about there
is the works gospel, Many try to sneak into or merge into the
gospel of God's grace in Christ. Paul wrote in Romans chapter
11 that grace and works will not mix. And here comes a fellow
and he says, well now salvation is by grace, but, and then there
they go. And get started. And in some stage of salvation,
in some way, to some degree, at some time, they'll make salvation
conditioned on you or on me. When it's all over but the shout
and all the pretty words are put away, it'll come down not
totally 100% based upon what Christ has done for His people
and His obedience unto death, His blood and righteousness,
But it will come down to what the sinner does for God. And that's where it is. Look
back at Jeremiah 23. Now Jeremiah grieved over this.
And as I told you, some of his family, he said the priest. That's
where he come from, Anathoth. There was a priest class there. And look at verse 12. He says,
Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery rays in
the dark. Now their way is the way of Cain. God's way is the
way of Christ. I'm the way, the truth, and the
life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Their way is
the way of unrighteousness because if you put salvation conditioned
on the sinner, then you've got to base it on unrighteousness.
Something that doesn't measure up. God's way is based on righteousness. The Lord our righteousness. Jehovah
said canoe That's his righteousness the merits of his obedience unto
death charged imputed accounted to his people That's the gospel
Why would anybody want to attack that I'll tell you why Because
they don't think highly of it. They don't think highly of him Their way is a way of works by
men God's way is His own work. Salvations of the Lord. So He
says in verse 12, Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery
ways in the darkness. God's way is a way of light.
Their way is the way of darkness. They shall be driven on and fall
therein. There is a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof is destruction. For I will bring
evil, that's disaster upon them, that's even the year of their
visitation, saith the Lord. That's when God sweeps through
in His judgment. That's the year of visitation.
That's a visit I don't want. And look at verse 13. He says,
And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria. Now Samaria
was the capital of Israel, the northern kingdom. So what he's saying here is this,
listen to it. He said, they prophesied in Baal and caused my people
Israel to err. Well what he's saying, he's referring
to Israel which has already been destroyed, which has already
been taken captive, it doesn't even exist anymore. And what
he's showing through Jeremiah here to the people of Judah and
Jerusalem is you're no different. It's almost like what the Lord
taught when He spoke of the destruction that come upon people. And he
made this statement as to what we should learn from that destruction,
and that's simply this, except you repent, you shall likewise
perish. That's the message. You're going
to perish just like Israel, just like Samaria. Jerusalem is no
better. Physical Jerusalem is no better
than idolatrous Samaria. It's all idolatry. And I always
tell myself now, I'm preaching to myself, Oh Lord, if thou shouldest
mark iniquities, who would stand? Don't give me what I deserve. Don't give me what I've earned.
I must have Christ. There's no other way for me.
There's no other way for you. That's right. To whom shall we go? Brother
Jean-Claude preached it. Christ has the words of eternity.
He is eternal life. Look at verse 14, he said, I've
seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing. That
word horrible, you might have in your concordance filthiness.
You remember Matthew 7 now when he said, depart from me ye that
work iniquity. It's the same idea here. I've
seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a filthiness. They
commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen also the hands
of evil doers. They encourage evil. Now, there are men and women
who encourage evil in the way of open immorality. That's true. Probably some of that was going
on here. In our country, that's the way
it is, isn't it? That's what the federal government
did today. That's what the Supreme Court
did today. when they remove that ban. They are encouraging evil. They are saying it's okay. Go
with it. Am I right? But my friend, any
preacher who preaches salvation based on anything other than
the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God
man, that's exactly in God's sight what he is doing. He is
encouraging evil. Do you believe that? Well, if
you don't, you have to get away from God's Word. Because that's
exactly what He was saying to those false preachers in Matthew
7. Iniquity. What you're pleading as your
ground of salvation does not measure up. You say, preacher,
well, what do we plead that measures? Plead Christ. He measures up. He is the Lord our righteousness.
His blood washes away all our sin. Why would you need anything
else? You don't. He says that none
doth return from his wickedness. In other words, they strengthen
the hands of evil doers that none doth return from his wickedness.
They won't repent. They don't see any need of repentance.
Why should you repent over something that you are proud of? or something
that you have trust in. Look at Saul of Tarsus. I was
a Hebrew of Hebrews. A Pharisee of the Pharisees.
Circumcised the eighth day. At one time, if somebody would
have come to Saul and said, Saul, now you need to repent of that.
Why, he'd arrested him. Put him in jail. Brought him
up before the Sanhedrin. Probably had him killed. But
then he saw the light of the glory of God in Christ on the
Damascus road, and then it all changed. His world was turned
upside down. And now that which he highly
esteemed at one time, now he repents. It's dumb, he said,
that I may win Christ. The only thing that's worth anything,
the only one who's worth anything in the salvation of a sinner,
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen, Jehovah
Sid Canu. Look here in verse 14, he says,
they are all of them unto me as Sodom and the inhabitants
thereof as Gomorrah. Do you think every one of them
were homosexuals? I don't believe so. I'm sure there's probably
that going on too. It's gone on in every generation. That's right. I know we think
ours is the worst and maybe it is. I don't know. But I tell
you what, sin has always been the watchword and the identification
of man without God, man without Christ. Well, what's he saying to the
people of Jerusalem and Judah? He says, you are no closer to
salvation and righteousness than Sodom and Gomorrah. You don't
have any trouble looking at Sodom and Gomorrah and saying those
folks deserve hell. You don't have any trouble doing
that. Well, you're no closer to righteousness. You're no closer
to heaven than they are. I love the providence and wisdom
of God in setting forth the words of scripture. Because when the
Lord showed me myself and my sin and showed me Christ, one
of the passages of scripture that he led me to that really
impressed me was John chapter 3 and John chapter 4. And what
I mean by that is this way, in John chapter 3, Christ confronts
a highly respected, moral, religious, lost man named Nicodemus. A member
of the Sanhedrin. And he says, you must be born
again or you cannot see the kingdom of heaven, you cannot enter it.
You're lost, Nicodemus. What did Nicodemus need? He needed
salvation by grace. That's what I need. That's what
you need. That's what the most highly respected preacher in
Ashland needs. Salvation by grace. Isn't that
right? Most people claim grace and they don't even know what
grace is. They think they do. Nicodemus needed a righteousness
he could not produce. But one whom the man who stood
before him speaking, the only one who could produce it, the
God-man, And then in John 4, who does Christ meet? He meets
an adulterous, wretched, despised, Samaritan woman. You know what
he tells her? Basically, in different terms,
the same thing. You need salvation by grace,
by mercy. You need a righteousness you
cannot produce. Isn't that something how he brings
a highly respected, moral, dedicated religionist on the same ground
as a wretched, adulterous Samaritan woman? And the only way of salvation
for either one of them, Christ and Him crucified and risen.
That's amazing, isn't it? That's amazing grace. All have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. Look at verse 15
of Jeremiah 23. He says, Therefore thus saith
the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets, Behold, I will
feed them with wormwood, that's bitter destruction, bitter affliction,
and make them drink the water of gall, bitterness. For from
the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness, that's hypocrisy,
gone forth into the land. A hypocrite is anybody who seeks
to come before God without Christ. Mark it down. He may be just
as sincere as He can be, but without Christ, it's all self-righteousness. Verse 16, Thus saith the Lord
of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy
unto you. They make you vain, self-righteous,
proud. They speak a vision of their
own heart. They're not preaching the Word of God. This is what
is in man naturally. This is what man thinks naturally.
It's in a vision of their own heart and not out of the mouth
of the Lord. Verse 17, They say still unto
them that despise me, the Lord hath said, you shall have peace.
And they say unto everyone that walketh after the imagination
of his own heart. You might have the word stubbornness
in your concordance. That's what imagination is. Stubbornness
of his own heart. No evil shall come upon you.
Peace, peace when there is no peace. There's Satan's message.
Thou shalt not surely die. Thou shalt not surely be destroyed. That's what they're preaching.
That's the issue, see. That's Satan's message. Verse
18, For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath
perceived and heard his word? Who hath marked his word, and
heard it? What Jeremiah is saying is, here's
the answer to the whole issue. Here's the answer to the whole
problem. Listen to God. Don't listen to your own heart.
Don't listen to your neighbors and your friends. Listen to God.
It's God's Word. Who hath stood in the counsel
of the Lord? That word counsel there is secret.
It's a mystery. What does that mean? It's got
to be revealed. Man's not going to come up with this on his own.
He can't figure this one out. He can't find enough clues to
find an answer. It's got to come straight from
the Lord, period. It must be revealed. And then verse 19. Behold, a
whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous
whirlwind. It shall fall grievously upon
the head of the wicked. Here's the wrath of God. The
anger of the Lord shall not return until he have executed, until
he have performed the thoughts of his heart. It's God's judgments
against sin. in the latter days you shall
consider it perfectly. What I believe he's saying there
is that whenever all this comes about then they're going to consider
it perfectly in the sense of really sitting down saying what's
going on and it's going to be too late. Now there are some
commentators who take that last phrase in the latter days you
shall consider it perfectly and they say it's a prophecy of the
last days when Christ comes and there's the conversion of many
Jews and that may be so. Because that happened, didn't
it? Pentecost. And they weren't all
Jews, but they were mostly Jews. 3,000 were converted. They considered
it perfect. That's what God does when he
brings a sinner to be convinced of sin and the power of the Holy
Spirit. You consider these things perfectly in a godly way. In
a complete way. And what do you come out knowing?
Knowing that if God were to judge me based on my best, I would
be doomed for eternal damnation. My only hope is Christ. So that could be. Look at verse
21. I've not sent these prophets. God said he didn't send, yet
they ran. Just because a fellow is running to preach doesn't
mean God sent him. I've not spoken to them, yet
they prophesied. Just because a fellow is preaching
doesn't mean God spoke to them. Verse 22, but if they had stood
in my counsel and had caused my people to hear my words, then
they should have turned them from their evil way and from
the evil of their doings. If they preached the truth, they
would have told the people to repent. Turn from your evil ways. Turn to God. Turn to the God
of all grace. Turn to Christ. Look to Christ.
I know that's simple. Too simple for most. But that's
the truth, isn't it? Verse 23, he says, am I God at
hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Well, what's
he talking about? Well, look at verse 24. Can any hide himself
in secret places that I shall not see him? Saith the Lord,
do not I fill heaven and earth? Saith the Lord. You can't do
these things in secret, God is saying. You can't hide from God.
Everything is open and above board with Him with whom we have
to do. Verse 25, he says, I have, you
remember Adam and Eve tried to hide from God. Adam, wherefore
art thou? Look at where you're at, Adam.
Look at the mess you're in now. Verse 25, I've heard what the
prophets said that prophesy lies in my name. Now notice they're
prophesying lies, but in the name of God. That's the mark
of a false prophet. Saying I have dreamed, I have
dreamed, I have dreams. They're preaching their dreams.
Verse 26, how long shall this be in the heart of the prophets
that prophesy lies? Yea, they are prophets of the
deceit of their own heart. Dreams may keep people's attention,
but my friend, they'll do your soul no good. Verse 27, which
think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams. See,
they want your attention on themselves. Did you hear what that fellow
said? Did you hear that dream? I'll never forget that. I've
heard people say this. They'll say, well, now you're
preaching, but now if you'll give an illustration, people
will remember the illustration. Is that what you want to remember? I don't want to remember the
illustration. I want to remember the Word of God. Do you think I'm being too
tough there? Illustrations are fine if they
shed light on the Word of God, my friend. But listen, stories
will not save your soul. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. There are some great storytellers,
and I like to listen to them myself, but I don't go to them
to seek spiritual advice or the way of salvation. Because my
people to forget my name by their dreams which they tell every
man to his neighbor. And they can't stop it. You know,
they got to tell everybody. As their fathers have forgotten
my name for Baal. That's just as much idolatry
as worshiping Baal. Verse 28. The prophet that hath
a dream, let him tell a dream. He that hath my word, let him
speak my word faithfully. What is chaff to the wheat, saith
the Lord? I've never really seen chaff,
but I can tell you right now just from what the Word of God
says about it, I don't want to eat it. But that wheat that makes
the bread, I like that. What is a man's dream compared
to the Word of God? Does man by nature think that
he can improve upon the Holy Spirit? Yes, he does. Oh, people will forget that.
Tell them something they can take home with them. Now, come
on now. Now, think about that. Think
about what that is saying. Oh, Lord, impress my heart with
your word. And then he says in verse 20,
It is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer
that breaketh a rock in pieces. Their dreams are nothing, they're
empty, they're vain. But the word of God is powerful,
sharper than any two-edged sword. The book of Hebrews tells us.
Dividing asunder to the very soul and the marrow. The gospel
is the power of God. The gospel is the dynamite of
God. Unto salvation to everyone that
believe it. That's the gospel in the hands
of the Holy Spirit. The gospel. Is there anything
better to impress upon our minds than the gospel? And I know,
listen, let me tell you something. I know that all of us, we have
so much trouble with our own memories, don't we? I've heard
so many of you say, I wish I could remember more. And I say the
same thing. And I'll tell you what, you remember
Christ, don't you? Who He is, what He did, why He
did it, where He is now. It takes the word of God to expose
the false. That's what he's telling us here.
The word of God is like a fire. It burns away the dross of lies
and self-righteousness. The word of God is also a fire
that enlightens and warms and melts the hard heart. It's like
a hammer, it breaks the rock in pieces. That rock, that false
rock that men stand on, it will break it up. It will remove that
foundation and it will leave them with no foundation but Christ
Jesus and Him crucified. The rock Christ Jesus. The Word
of God is like a hammer that breaks the hard heart. Brings
it to contrition. That's what Scripture says. That's
repentance. That's godly sorrow that drives a sinner to Christ
by the power of the Holy Spirit. This Gospel message, this Word
of God sets the standard. Look back at verses 5 and 6 in
chapter 23. There it is right there. Do you
know right there, and we could go to several Scriptures on this,
but this right here is enough. Right here sets the standard
for gospel truth and gospel preaching. That's right. God's preachers
preach Christ the Lord our righteousness. The Lord that He'll raise unto
David a righteous branch. That's God and man, a king, the
sovereign God. Not this one that's being preached
today, who's in the hands of man to do with what they will.
And He'll prosper. He's not going to fail. He's
going to reign and prosper. He's a surety. His atonement
is real. And He'll execute judgment and
justice in the earth. His death is real. Based on our
sins imputed to Him, charged to Him. He was made sin. That's
not fake. That's real. That means it was
imputed, charged to Him. He became responsible for our
debt and He paid that debt in full. That's righteousness. And
that's real. And in his days Judas shall be
saved and Israel shall dwell safely. That's God's elect. Given
to Christ before the foundation of the world. He said, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. And this is his name whereby
he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. How is he our
righteousness? Three ways. Number one, by divine
imputation. We're clothed in Christ. That's
the hammer that breaks the power of sin to condemn us. There is
therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Secondly,
by divine revelation. That's the hammer that breaks
the power of sin to deceive us. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believeth. And thirdly, by divine
impartation. Well, how is that? That's when
the Holy Spirit imparts knowledge of who Christ is and what He
accomplished. That's the hammer that breaks
the power of sin to keep a sinner from coming to Christ. Have you
come to Christ? Well, what kept you from it before? Sin, self-righteousness, pride,
ignorance, darkness, unbelief, rebelliousness. There's a hammer
that will break all that up. It's the Word of God in the hands
of the Holy Spirit. And when He imparts spiritual
life and gives you a knowledge of Christ and Him crucified,
and you see that Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth, that's when the fire and the hammer
has done its work. To bring a sinner to Christ.
In other words, He doesn't bring you to believe that He puts some
kind of a substance in you called righteousness. He gives you knowledge
of who your righteousness is, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
what that is. That I may be found in Him. There's
God's word of wrath. God is against all who point
sinners to anyone but Christ. God's word of salvation. God's
word of conviction. And God's word of comfort. Now
turn back to Matthew 7 and I'll close with this. I want to show
you one thing here. Somebody asked me one time, well
how can you know false prophets? False preachers. Well let me give you three ways
right here. Number one, by the content of their message. What
are they preaching? He says here in Matthew 7, enter
ye in at the straight gate. Wide is the gate, broad is the
way that leads to destruction. Many there be that go in there
Straight is the gate, narrow is the way, which leadeth unto
life. Few there be... Now what is the straight gate?
What is the narrow way? That's the way of God's free
and sovereign grace in Christ alone. That's why it's called
a straight gate. Look at the word straight there.
How's it spelled? S-T-R-A-I-T. That's a narrow,
narrow passage. And this passage is so narrow
that any sinner who wants to come through it can come through
it. But you can't bring anything with you. Don't bring your works,
don't bring your dreams, your visions, your experiences. Your
righteousness, leave it back there. It can't come through.
There's one way, and that's the way of Christ. Now the content
of their message. If they preach any other message
but the straight gate and the narrow way, they're a false prophet. If they preach salvation by any
other way, But by the blood of Christ alone and the righteousness
of Christ alone, by the power of God's grace alone, being born
again by the Holy Spirit alone, salvations of the Lord, they're
a false prophet. The content of their message.
They preach another, Paul in 2 Corinthians 9 said they preach
another Jesus, another gospel by another spirit. But cannot a False prophets say
the right things at times? Yes, Paul dealt with that in
2 Corinthians 11. He talked about in verses 13-15
of 2 Corinthians 11 how they can transform. Transform into ministers of righteousness. Now I've heard a lot of messages
on that passage and most people say, well they preach man's righteousness.
Because you see, they don't have to transform to do that. That's
what they do naturally. They speak a vision of their
own heart, you see. Man doesn't have to transform
to preach man's works and man's righteousness. That's what he
knows naturally. But when he transforms, he can say the right
things. How many of you have ever heard
preachers say, he said everything right up until a point, maybe
to the end. Or maybe he said everything right,
but he didn't say the one thing that he needed to say. They said
everything, and that transformation there is a temporary thing. In
other words, they won't stay with it. So here's the second
way you tell. Number one, the content of his
message. What is he preaching? Does he preach Christ? This Christ
of this book, Jehovah Sid Canu. Number two is the consistency
of his message. Not only does he preach the truth,
but does he stay with it? I've heard some good messages
from false prophets. But you listen to them, pretty
soon they'll divert back where their heart really is. To the
law, to works. Are they consistently, is this
their heart, is this their message day in day out? When they stand
before people, do they preach Christ and salvation by God's
grace and love? The consistency of it. Not transformancy,
not transform. And then here's the third thing.
the consequence of their message. Now look here, Matthew 7, verse
15, he says, Beware of false prophets which come to you in
sheep's clothing, but inwardly their revenue, you shall know
them by their fruits. I tell you what, I've heard a
lot of messages on that. What are their fruits? And people go all over the map
on that thing. Do men gather grapes of thorns
or figs of thistles? Even so, every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Listen to verse 18 here. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit. Now what does that say? A good
tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Whatever the fruit is,
evil fruit is, a good tree cannot bring it back. Now there are
some people who say, well that's talking about their lives. Are
they moral people or are they just go out here and use grace
as an excuse for sin? Well, let me tell you something.
Whatever this is, a believer, a good tree, that's a tree planted
by the Lord, trees of righteousness, sinners saved by grace. He's
talking about true preachers there. They can't do it. They
can't bring forth the evil fruit. And then he says, a corrupt tree,
Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Now whatever
that corrupt tree, there's no good fruit coming from it. Back
in the, what was it, the 80s? What was that PTL club out in
North Carolina? And that, what's that preacher's
name? Jim Baker. You know, when it was discovered
that he was going out with a secretary and committing adultery, everybody
said, well see there, he's a false prophet. Let me tell you something,
he was a false prophet before that. Now you know how I know
that? The content of his message. What
did he preach? But now here's King David, a
true prophet of Israel. The sweet psalmist of Israel.
And he goes out and commits adultery. Now is he a false prophet? Was
what he did evil fruit? What he did was evil. It was
sin, but it's not what he's talking about here in Matthew 7, because
a good tree can't do that. Well, what's he talking about?
Well, look at the context. He's talking about here's a false
preacher preaching a false gospel, leading sinners to the broad
way that leads to destruction. That's a corrupt tree, and there
can be no good fruit from that corrupt tree, from that false
message of salvation by the works of man, nobody is going to be
saved under that message. And then here is a true preacher
of God, preaching the narrow way, preaching Christ. And what
is he saying there? The good fruit is sinners saved
by the grace of God. And when it says that a good
tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, that is not saying that
a man cannot be lost and stay lost under preaching of the true
gospel, but the good tree didn't produce that. The gospel didn't
produce that. That's just what he was already.
That's what he was naturally. And then what caps it off for
me is that verses 21 through 23. Here's the evil fruit. Right
there is an example. Lord, haven't we prophesied in
your name? Haven't we done many wonderful
works? That's the corrupt fruit right there. Men pleading their
works as their righteousness and not pleading Christ. That's
what it's talking about. You see Christ is the Lord our
righteousness. And I'll tell you something.
He's the only one that we have. And I'll tell you another thing.
That doesn't discourage or disappoint a sinner saved by grace. That
gives Him cause to rejoice and praise and worship. Isn't that
right? Amen to that. Alright.