The Danger and Detection of False Prophets

Q: What does the Bible say about false prophets?

The Bible warns us about false prophets who appear as sheep but are actually ravenous wolves (Matthew 7:15). The Scripture issues a stern warning regarding false prophets in Matthew 7:15, where Jesus instructs us to 'Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.' This identification of false prophets is crucial for believers as they often blend in with true believers, using the same language and appearing to preach the same gospel. However, their teachings lead away from the truth of God's grace, putting emphasis on human effort or alternative paths to salvation.

Q: How do we know a doctrine is true?

We can discern the truth of a doctrine by comparing it against the Word of God (1 John 4:1). To ascertain if a doctrine is true, we must test the spirits according to 1 John 4:1, which states, 'Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God.' This approach requires believers to be vigilant and discerning, listening attentively to what is preached, ensuring it aligns with the truth of Scripture. The true message of the gospel should always center on Christ, His grace, and His finished work. Any doctrine that omits Christ or adds human prerequisites for salvation must be considered suspect.

Q: Why is the detection of false prophets important for Christians?

Detecting false prophets protects the Church from false teachings that undermine the gospel (Matthew 7:16). The detection of false prophets is vital for the health of the Church and the souls of believers. Jesus teaches that, 'you shall know them by their fruits' (Matthew 7:16), emphasizing that their teachings and messages reveal their true nature. False prophets endanger the flock by promoting ideologies that can lead believers away from the truth of the gospel, emphasizing works or alternative paths to salvation instead of Christ's grace. Recognizing and avoiding such teachings is essential for preserving the integrity of the faith and ensuring that believers remain rooted in the truth.

Q: What does it mean to live by faith according to the Bible?

Living by faith means trusting in Christ alone for salvation and righteousness (Galatians 3:11). The Bible teaches that living by faith is foundational to a believer's life, as it signifies complete reliance on Jesus Christ for salvation and righteousness. Galatians 3:11 states, 'But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.' This approach counters any notion that human works or adherence to the law can contribute to one's standing before God. Instead, we are called to trust in Christ's finished work alone, allowing our lives to reflect this relationship through obedience borne out of love rather than obligation.

Before we begin the message, we'll go to God in prayer again. I want to remember those who are struggling in the flesh, in the mind, in the body. Remember to pray for your brethren that are sick. Remember Rick in your prayers. Others who are struggling with spiritual matters. It doesn't have to be a physical sickness, but I'll tell you this. The struggle in this flesh can bring a man to physical illness. It can. And pray for God's hand upon those that are suffering with this mortal frame.

I ask for your prayers tonight. I desire to preach the gospel. and clarity and truth. I long for this to be effectual to you, to be helpful and comforting, but I know that the Spirit of God, again, must do these things. Pray for those that are lost in our families. Remember them. There's life, there's hope. There's life, there's hope. That's good news. Thought of that text a minute ago. We all had our conversation in time past in the lust of the flesh. Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath.

And these two words, but God. The hope of my soul rests on those two words, but God, who is rich in mercy. For His great love wherewith He loved us, even while we were dead in our sins. And yet He's quickened us together with Christ. By grace, you're saved.

So, we know that God's mercy and grace are not constrained by the wickedness of man. Isn't that wonderful? That I don't care how wicked a man is, I don't care how far down he goes. It doesn't matter if he spirals to the very pits of hell in this life. If God desires to show mercy, that man will be saved. That man, the spirit of God will come to that man and he will regenerate him without his permission. Isn't that what he did for you? He didn't ask you, did he? He didn't ask me. He just reached down and did it. That's God. That's what God does. And this is what we rejoice in. I was thinking about a message in Psalm. It says, praise ye the Lord. And I thought of that. What does that mean to praise him?

And everybody has different opinions what that is. Jumping up and down and hollering and screaming and celebrating and crying. And they call that praise. It's not what it is. It is part of having joy in your heart, surely. It has something to do with celebration, but it means to shine a light on. That's what it means.

We praise God, what are we doing? We're shining a light on Him. We are like a big spotlight. We want you to see Christ. And that's what we do to praise the Lord. We testify of His Son. We preach and declare His Son. So tonight I desire to praise Him. I wanna praise him, I wanna read his word, and I wanna declare to you what he said.

I just don't care what men say. I don't have a, I don't, I really don't. I used to have a lot of concern about what men thought. Maybe the Lord just don't give me any more, I can, maybe my mind's capacity can't handle it anymore, I don't know. I didn't, it just don't, it just don't mean nothing. What they say just don't matter. It only matters what God says.

And so I pray that God would help us tonight to praise Him and ask God's mercy upon the lost. And I pray for comfort. I pray God would give us comfort, peace in our minds and hearts concerning the sureness of Christ. On Christ the solid rock I stand. I don't have any place else to stand, and I don't want to stand anywhere else. Do you? Is there any place else you want to stand? When I launch into worlds unseen, oh, may I then be found in Him. Not having my righteousness, my own but the righteousness of Christ is what Paul said. I want to be found in him.

And we ought to thank God for all the things that we've asked for and he's given us. We should take a note of all of the things that we've asked and God has given us and then we should be thankful. We should be thankful for what we have. and not murmur, and well, we don't. God help us, because that just, that takes the power of God, and you found that to be true? It takes the power of God to do that? To be thankful? It does. I'm thankful He's given us His Spirit.

Let's go to Him in prayer. Gracious Father in Heaven, we seek this night to praise Thee, to magnify Thy Name, to worship You through the preaching of Your Gospel, through the preaching of Your Word, Christ might be magnified, Christ might be honored, lifted up as the only way by which sinners may be accepted of thee. Give us grace to declare his perfect righteousness, his perfect obedience, his perfect sacrifice. perfection of His resurrection and ascension to the throne of glory, where He now sits ruling all things, where we bow before Him as our King, our Savior, our Redeemer, our High Priest, our Friend. We pray that You would send forth the Spirit into this place, testifying of the truth of Your Word. that you might silence all that oppose it.

Father, that you would help us this night. Give us strength, wisdom, understanding, and affection toward thee. We are dependent upon you. We lift up those that are sick, those who are suffering and struggling. We know, Father, that you alone can help, and we pray that you will. that you'd be gracious, that you'd touch them, touch their bodies, touch their minds, touch their hearts. Pray, Father, for the lost in our family, among our friends, that you would come and touch their minds and hearts, that they should believe on Jesus Christ alone. Forgive us our sins. Help us in this service, we pray. We ask these things in the name of Jesus, and for his sake we pray. Amen.

All right, take your Bibles, turn back with me to Matthew chapter 7. Matthew chapter 7. I'm entitled to this message, The Danger and Detection of False Prophets. The danger. and the detection of false prophets. Read in Matthew chapter 7 and my text will be found in verse 15. Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravening wolves.

Now the Lord before this He sets forth in plain words the gospel of Jesus Christ, of himself. He sets forth the gospel. In verse 13 he says this, Enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that go in thereat. Because straight is the gate. and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Here our Lord declares the simple truth of the Gospel. There is only one way to God.

It is a straight gate. And that gate is Jesus Christ. He is the gate. How do we know that? Jesus declares in John, I am the door. If any man come in, he shall find a pasture. But if you go around another way, what? You're a thief and a robber. There is only one way in. And He said, I'm the door. Here He says, I'm the gate. In another place Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father Listen to these, but by me.

Very narrow, isn't it? It's a very straight gate. In religion, there are many ways to God. Just based on your situation, or based on your circumstance, or based on where you grew up, or your family, or your works, or your will, or something in you. Our Lord says straight is the gate. There's only one gate. Those that lead to destruction, the gate is wide. It could be anything. He said many people go in that way. But He said this, narrow is the way.

And I want you to understand, He's not talking about the law. He's not talking about the law. He said you don't enter in by Christ the gate and then walk the tightrope of the law. Anybody that says that is ignorant of the scripture. They take their mind and their doctrine and they try to force it into this. No forcing it in here. The scriptures are clear.

The narrow way is faith. That's a narrow way. It's very narrow. Why? Because it's singular, isn't it? How do we live? Once we've entered into the gate, how do we live? by faith no less than four times as that said in scripture the just shall live by faith now how does it just live how in the world are we gonna live in this world by law or by faith now Paul said the law is not a faith so you can't live by law and call it faith and so it is that Christ is the way he's the gate and we live by faith And so that's the gospel. He's preached the gospel. Now after he preaches to them the gospel himself, what does he do? He gives a stern warning concerning people who will not preach what he just preached. Beware of false prophets. He warns them.

Those who would come into the fold among the sheep to cause disunity and try to bring ruin upon the church, they are called false prophets, false preachers, false witnesses. And false prophets, false preachers, and false witnesses are any who oppose the gospel of God's grace. That's anybody and it doesn't matter who he is. Anyone who opposes what Jesus just said is a false prophet. Now these types of men are not new.

False prophets have been around forever, ever since sin entered into this world. And as there were false prophets even now, my friends, I hate to say it, but it is true. There are in this day false prophets, false preachers. Now, where do we find false preachers or false prophets?

Now, Peter said this, they're among you. They're among you. This is what he said in 2 Peter chapter 2 and verse 1. He said, false teachers, among you who privately, secretly bring in damnable heresies. He says they're among you. In other words, they're not out there. They're not out there. But what are we warned about?

That they would creep in. that they would creep in. They might not creep into this building, but they may creep into your home. They may creep into your television or your radio, and they creep into the internet for you. They'll creep in anywhere they can. They privately come in. They don't come in with horns and pitchforks. You don't see them coming. That's the danger of it. You don't see them coming.

And they bring damnable heresies. You know, I've told you many times what the root word of heresy is, right? Opinion. They'll bring in all their opinions. When you see somebody coming in and bringing in their own opinion, you need to walk, you need to get away from them. If they bring, I don't want to give you my opinion. I never do. I never do.

So tonight, my message is, by the Spirit of God, I want you to see five things concerning this, four things I think concerning this teaching. First of all, the danger of false prophets. That's what I want to see first. The danger of false prophets. The disguise or the deception of the false prophets. Then I want to see the detection. How do we detect a false prophet?

And fourthly, the destruction. And all these things are here in this text. First of all, the danger. Jesus says, beware. Beware. How many times have we been so sure of ourselves that I would never be doomed? Not me. I know this backwards and forwards. Reminds me of what the Lord said of Peter. He said, this night you shall deny me three times. He said, not me. Not me.

But the Lord is not talking to the church, to the people on the outside, when he says, beware, he's talking to us. He's speaking to us who are believers in the fold, who have entered the straight gate, are now by faith walking in that narrow way. He warns us, beware. Beware of false prophets.

Now, do you think that those who are followers of false teachers and false gospels, they set out to be deceived? You think that's their intention? Man, I think I want to be deceived. I think so. I'm going to go listen to this guy because I want to be deceived. Nobody wants to be deceived. Nobody sets out for that. That's not how it happens.

Rather, these men come in and they, by their smooth speech and pleasant and comfortable message, lull men to sleep. They say, peace, peace, all is well, don't worry. God loves everyone, desires everyone to be saved. To the world, that's just a pleasant message, isn't it? Well, don't worry. It's all right. Everything's all right. When nothing's all right.

When all is not well. These men are dangerous. They're hazardous. because they are men who oppose the way of God's salvation. These are men that speak against God because they do not know God nor His Word. They're dangerous. Look at Jeremiah chapter 14, look what God says about these men. Jeremiah chapter 14, look at verse 14 there. Then the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies, listen, in my name. They're speaking like they're speaking for me. Here's the problem.

I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them. They prophesy unto you false visions and divinations and a thing of nothing and the deceit. of their heart. Believer, hear the word of God that warns us against those who are not sent. He tells us of the danger of those that speak of their own visions, their own thoughts, their own opinions.

They speak based on feelings. This is the big part of this generation, is that it's all based on feelings. I like feelings. Good ones. I like good feelings, just like everybody else. And so people base their gospel on how they feel. If it makes them feel good, it must be true. If it makes them feel bad, then it definitely can't be true.

God says false prophets pray on this. They pray on men's thoughts and feelings and affection. God says if a man comes to you based on his own dreams, his own visions, instead of the Word of God, he's a false prophet. He's a false prophet. And we're surrounded by him today.

Remember Elijah? Elijah was in the same situation, wasn't he? Elijah, there was one prophet. And you got that? In that day, we only know that there was one. And he stood up against 400 prophets of Baal. 400 prophets of Baal. You know, God's men are always outnumbered. It's always been that way. There have always been more false teachers than there are true.

So if you're a believer in Christ, let them not have a voice. Let them not have a voice. If we find a false preacher, then let us mark them out and separate ourselves from them. They're not sin of God. God said, I didn't send them. They're using my name, but I didn't send them. In Matthew 24 and verse 24, the Lord says, For there shall arise false Christ's and false prophets. What do you think false prophets are preaching? Well, they're not preaching Buddha. I mean, we can see them coming a mile away. They're preaching in the name of Christ. What makes it a false?

It's not the Christ of Scripture. If I preach to you another Christ, isn't this what Paul said to the church of Galatia? He said, if I or an angel from heaven preach to you another gospel, then that which we preach, let them go to hell. That's what Paul says. Why, Jesus said there's going to be false Christs preached.

There's going to be false prophets. And listen what they're going to be able to do. And they shall show great signs and wonders. If a man perform a miracle, does that make him a true prophet of God? Our Lord said no. Matter of fact, false Christ and false prophets shall be able to perform miracles. And so great are the miracles, listen to what Jesus, that if it were possible, they should deceive the very elect.

Why is it that the elect will not be deceived? Because God keeps him. That's it. You that believe. We beware false prophets and we stay away from them. Guess who's doing that? It's not me. We are kept by the power of God. We're able to see these things.

And so it doesn't matter what kind of things they perform, how moral they are. It doesn't matter. If they even seem to follow the letter of the law or how smooth their voice is, it doesn't matter how many they have following them either. Isn't that an argument? Isn't that the argument of false religion? Well, we've got so many. I don't care.

If you don't preach the word of God, then I got nothing for you. I got nothing to do with you. If he does not preach the truth, what I just preached concerning Christ, Jesus said, I am the straight gate. He's the straight gate. And faith is the narrow way. He meant not preaching that. He's a false prophet.

Now, the second part is the disguise. False prophets, we see the danger of them. We see the danger of them. But now let us see the disguise. He says in our text, go back to your text, He said, Beware of false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but are inwardly ravening wolves. Those false prophets, how are they going to come? They're going to come as wolves in sheep's clothing.

Now, this is taken from the Old Testament prophets who used to wear a certain garb. He used to wear a certain clothing, rough clothing. And this is how prophets would be, just like you would see a high priest. The high priest was dressed in a certain garb. When God sent a prophet, he was always dressed in rough apparel. Remember, that's how John the Baptist came. He came in camel skins.

But in Zechariah 13, our Lord says, it shall come to pass in the day that the prophet shall be ashamed every one of his visions, when he hath prophesied, neither shall they wear rough garment to deceive. True prophets were in rough garment, but guess what? So were false prophets. So were false prophets. Even so, false prophets today.

Listen, if a counterfeiter were to make money and color it pink, he wouldn't be a very good counterfeiter, would he? He'd be a horrible counterfeiter. He'd come out and it'd look like Monopoly money. Well, you would know that's counterfeit. But counterfeiters do not come out that way.

They seek to try to make it as close to the original as they possibly can. In order to what? Deceive. And that's what these men do. These false prophets are a danger because they're subtle. They're subtle. Let's see, over... Let's see, it's in Jude. Jude, verse 4.

He said, There are certain men crept in unaware. Like I told you, beware of false prophets because they creep in unawares. Who before of all were ordained to condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of God into wantonness, lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

And they come in, they creep in subtly, these men, they come into the church not denying They used a basic language of Scripture, in other words. They're going to use every word you use. They're going to blend in. They're going to use words like grace, redemption, justification, sanctification, righteousness. They'll proclaim the name of Jesus. They'll profess their faith in Him. These men, they come in unawares, they come in unnoticed, they look the same, they act the same, they speak the same, they talk of the blood and righteousness of Christ, the suffering and the grace of God.

You know, the Lord tells in another place a parable of the weed and the tares. In that parable, a good man went out and sowed good seed, And the enemy came in at night and sold tares. And they asked, what should we do? Should we pull up the tares? He said, no, let them grow up together. And in the harvest, then they'll be separated.

You know, if you see tares and wheat as they grow up together, there's really basically, you couldn't tell the difference. The only difference is in the end. When the wheat bears fruit and the tares do not. That's the only way you'll know. And so what do they do? They grow up together. They look alike. There's no difference in their color, their structure, their growth. The only difference is this. The tare is barren and the wheat produces fruit. But all the while they're growing up, there's no difference.

Jesus warns us that these men will not be detectable by outward actions. You're not going to be able to notice them by their character. This is how men perceive this text, is that when he says, you shall know them by their fruits, immediately they start saying, well, you're going to know them if they're moral, if they're obeying the law, if they're giving their tithes, if they're doing these things. Listen, false prophets do the same. Why? They come in disguise.

You're not going to be able to tell them based on their outward appearances. They're not going to be detectable this way. Look at the Pharisees. I'll use that illustration, right? The Pharisees. Now, we look down at the Pharisees. We do. They were evil men. We know that by Scripture. But we have the benefit of looking back with 2020 vision as the scriptures are written already. But in that day, they did not see the Pharisees as evil men. Matter of fact, there was a saying, if two men, only two men were to go to heaven, one would be a Pharisee and the other would be a Sadducee. In other words, nobody could detect that they were the evil ones. Nobody knew they were the villain. Nobody knew.

Jesus said, these men are like painted tubes. On the outside, indeed beautiful. But on the inside, full of dead men's bones. Yet see, into the hearts of man, God sees in the hearts of man. And no matter what their bodies are doing, God sees what's really taking place. And we must confess we don't. We don't see. You know, I'm I say that somebody were to come into our building and say he believes on Christ. I want to believe. I want to believe. I really do.

But if he's a false prophet, a false teacher, a false professor, how would I know? Not by looking at his works. There's only one way that we may then detect. And that's my third point. We see the danger of them. We see the disguise of them. They come in. They're using the same language, the same words. How then can we detect a false prophet? That's my third point. Look what Jesus tells you. So I like it. I like it. I think it's wonderful that he can just, he tells me. He doesn't leave it to me to guess. So we don't have to even put, we don't put our opinion in here. Again, we're not putting it in there. Look what he says in verse 16.

He said this, you shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns and figs of thistles? It's here Jesus tells us how the prophet is discovered by their fruits. As we have seen, it's not outward works that he's talking about. It is rather the fruit of their lips, the fruit of their message that we may know them. It's by the fruit of their message. In our day, we must see that in order to know a false prophet from the true, we have to pay attention to what he is preaching.

John said this. Look at what John said. Look at 1 John 4 real quick. Look what John said about this. 1 John 4. He said in verse 1, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they are of God. Now why do we try the spirits? Why is it necessary?

I remember when I was preaching here, it must have been a couple years back, a couple came in and they were sitting right over there and They had a scowl on their face when I started preaching. Now, I don't think it was anger. I think they were intensely paying attention to what I was saying. And I don't blame them. If someone new comes into this building, they need to really pay attention to what I'm saying. They need to try this. They need to test this. Not the litmus test of how they feel or what they think or what their mama taught them. What does the word of God say? There's the test. And as I was preaching, their faces became relaxed. And they were joyous at what they heard. I was so happy that they loved the gospel. They were so, when I got done, I think the message was, it is finished. And it was just a relief to them.

But every man that comes in here ought to try this. You ought to try me. You ought to listen to every word I say. You better be careful. Try the spirits, whether they be of God. Why? Because many false prophets are going out in the world. You need to know that. And I want you to know this.

As you try the spirits, As you hear a man or you listen to a man, false prophets in this day, I'd say a majority of them are not saying anything wrong. They're not saying anything wrong. You turn on the radio, look on the internet, You see a man preaching and you can't find any fault with what he's saying. He said, you know, he's preaching, well, you should have a good marriage.

Well, who can find fault with that? Is anything wrong with that? Shouldn't you have a good marriage? Isn't that a wonderful thing to have? It's a good thing to have. Nothing wrong with that. He preaches on how to be a good businessman, how you be successful in your business. Anything wrong with that? Isn't it good for a man to be successful in his business? be ambitious in his business, to be a good steward in his business. Yeah, that's good. That's nothing wrong with that. A man says, hey, you should abstain from fornication, uncleanness. Anything wrong with that? Who finds fault with any of that?

I remember when I was a young, young, young man, young man, younger, way younger, I was listening to many, I was in pest control, I drove at night, and I listened to the radio a lot, and there was a lot of preachers come on the radio, I listened to a lot of them. And I'd get done with their messages, and I would always feel empty at the end. There was something, it was not anything wrong with what they said, but it was just an emptiness about it. And I came to my pastor, and I said, you know, Brother David, I don't understand what the problem is. Not that they're not saying anything wrong, And he said, Fred, it's not what they're saying, it's what they're omitting.

How do you know a false prophet? Because he omits Christ from the message. If Christ is not the center and the sum of a man's message and ministry, run. Run. This is the fruit that our Lord is talking about, preaching Christ. If the way of salvation is the straight gate, if Christ is the only way, and the narrow way by which a man walks is faith in Christ, if that is omitted, what good is all that other stuff?

It's worthless. Say you have a good marriage, you're a successful businessman, you've never committed adultery, and yet you die on your sins. What good is that? There's no good in it. Do not believe these charlatans, friends. The Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 2, He said this, I determine not to know anything among you except what?

Jesus Christ being crucified. Our purpose as preachers is to declare Jesus Christ. As I said to you, praise ye the Lord. The word praise means to shine a light on. That's what we do. We shine a light on him. We praise him. We honor him. Why? He's the only way to God. There is no other way to God.

Jesus here uses the analogy, the allegory of fruit. And he said, do you gather grapes of thorns and figs of thistles? Is that where you find grapes among thorns? You're picking a grape out of a thorn bush. It's not a grape. Even so, every good tree bringeth forth good fruit. But a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Can you get good fruit from a corrupt tree? Can you get a grape from a thorn? No. No, these are impossibilities. Because it cannot produce it. Even so, from a false prophet, you can't get good doctrine. I don't care how much you care. I don't care how sincere you are.

I knew a man that he professed to believe in gospel, and I believe he did. I think he loved the gospel of Jesus Christ, but he was in a church with his family for all of his life. He loved these people. He grew up with these people. And his whole intent was, if I stay there, then I can preach the gospel to them. In other words, he was saying, I can get good fruit out of a corrupt tree. No. Make the tree good, and the fruit will be good. Yet, can you make a tree good? Can you make a man good? Can you change his heart?

No, that's not our business. Our business is to beware false prophets, to run from them. Not to try to get them to change their doctrine. Oh man, this is a waste of time. Trying to get a man to change his doctrine. Listen, if you and I could change a man's doctrine, somebody else come along and change it again. What does he need? He needs a new tree. He don't need the key. Ain't gonna get good fruit from that tree. He needs a new heart. That's only something God can give. Can't give him a new heart.

So what should you expect from false prophets? Corrupt doctrine. Friends, I've told you this many times. There are only two religions. Don't be deceived. Don't be so uptight about denominational differences. There is a very simple way, litmus test for this. It's either salvation by grace or it is salvation by works. Now, if a person combined these, he's on the works side. That's what Paul said. He said, if it is of grace, it is no more of work. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it's of work, it's not of grace. Otherwise, work doesn't mean work. You can't mix these two. There's only one.

Now listen, false prophets on the outside are easy to see. You can see a Buddhist, a Islamist. You see a Hindu. You see those guys coming from thousands of miles away. Our Lord's not telling us beware of Hindus. You know, they're just not even close. We can see that. What is he telling us? He's telling us to beware those that profess to know the truth, that confess that salvation is by the blood and righteousness of Christ. And yet, how do we know that they're wrong?

Because they add their works to it. That's simple. That's how you see it. That's their fruit. Either salvation is of those completely the work of God, or it is the work of man. If you talk to a Catholic, and you could, you talk to them, and they'll say they believe salvation is by grace. Ask them. You can ask the Pope. Do you believe salvation is by grace? He'll say, yeah. What does he mean by grace? He means that grace that's married, which means he doesn't believe in grace. How do I know he's a false prophet? You know him by his fruit, by his message.

They believe that salvation is by Jesus Christ, plus the church, plus man's work, plus the intercession of the saints, plus the intercession of the priests, plus the mass, plus the infant baptism, plus, plus, plus, plus. They got a whole bunch of pluses. Armenians believe that salvation is by grace. Ask them. They'll tell you.

I believe salvation is by grace. I believe in the blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ to save me. But man must exercise their free will in order to make it effectual, to make it powerful. Jesus Christ plus. And I say that there For us who know the gospel, that's an easy one to see, but I think that we have so many family members in that religion, so many friends, that we get sentimental about it. We try to gear ourselves to have some hope that they're alright.

They're not alright! An evil tree can only bring forth evil fruit. It cannot produce good fruit. And Arminian religion is an evil fruit. It's very deceptive. Use the same languages, different meanings. But I want to tell you of even something else that's more close to home, even more subtle than this, Reformed theology. Beware Reformed theology.

And what do I mean by that? Well, Pastor, aren't we Calvinist? Yeah. Don't we believe in election and demands depravity, unlimited atonement, irresistible? Don't we believe those things too? The same as Reformed theology? Well, yes. Why? Not because it's Reformed theology, but because it's the gospel. We believe the word of God.

And I'll tell you this, there are a lot of Reformed writers that I love to read, and they're very good. So I'm not blanketing everyone who puts that name on themselves, I'm not blanketing this. But I'll tell you this, these men I love to read are not inspired by the Spirit of God. When I read Luther, I don't read inspiration, I just read Luther. And Luther had a lot of baggage. He just, I mean, these men, you understand what they were, they were trying to reform the papist church. Well, they should have just lit a match to it and tried to burn it. They should have just burned it up.

Why? Because then they brought all of their baggage with them. Am I blaming these men? No. If we were in their same condition, I imagine that we bring baggage of our own at times. But they started putting these things in catechisms and creeds. And what did they leave in there? They left the baggage. And what do men take, rather than the gospel, is this? They take the garbage. Anybody in the Lutheran Church, they have totally annihilated every good thing Luther ever preached. And what did they grab onto? Grabbed onto the garbage. And so men who call themselves reformed, they have taken these men and instead of enjoying the gospel that they preach, rather they have set them above as a canon of scripture. They use their creeds.

Why do we not do, I think someone asked me this one time, why don't we, you know, hold confessions of faith? Because confessions of faith have errors in them. Why would I want to uphold a confession of faith that is riddled with errors? I'd rather just hold to what God said. Use the simplicity of the gospel.

I confess that this false teachers are not all who claim to be reformed or false teachers. I'm not saying that at all. But I'll tell you this, any one of those men that add the law to Christ are false teachers. Anyone who adds the law to Christ, whether it's their justification, sanctification, or redemption, they are false teachers. They're preaching a false gospel.

How do you know that? Because that's what the Word of God says. Look at Galatians 3. Look at Galatians 3. Galatians chapter 3, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you.

This only would I learn of you. This is what I'd say to anybody living under reformed doctrine. Listen to this. This is what I would learn of you. Received you the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? How did you receive it? By the Spirit. If anyone is really genuine, by the Spirit. So, are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, that you're made perfect by the flesh? That's exactly what Reformed religion does. It confesses salvation is by grace, and yet it takes a man and puts him back under the law. Now, these are not my words. These are their words. These are their confessions of faith.

And what did Paul say about the law? He said this, that the law is not of faith. He says in verse 11, that no man is justified by the law on the side of God is evident for the just shall live by faith and the law is not of faith. So any religion that takes you back to the law, listen, false, false. Paul says to these Galatians, he says, you know, if you continue this way, your faith is bad. All your pretense of salvation by grace is meaningless if you go back under the law.

Listen, in one instance. I heard of a man saying to someone else, you need to tithe. You need to really start tithing. And my first thought was, what do you do with the other 612 laws. What do you do with them? Friends, if a man is under the law, Paul says he's under the curse. I didn't say that, did I? Is that an opinion? Did I just give you an opinion? You see that in Galatians 3 and verse 10.

He says, For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse of the law. It's written. That settles it. It's written, curses everyone that continued not in all things in the book of the law to do them, not to just acknowledge them. That's what reform theology does. They acknowledge the law, say we need to try to live by it. No, no, no, no. You don't get to acknowledge the law and say I'm following the law and not live under all the law. It's written, curses everyone that continued not in all things written in the book of the law to do them.

We've got many other scriptures concerning this, but I think that's sufficient. And so we know this, that those who preach Christ plus another gospel, that's how you detect them. By their words, by their message, by their fruit. And the fourth thing is this, the destruction of false prophets. Look at verse 19 in your text. Close with this,

19. Just every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them. Be warned that all who teach Christ plus their will, all who teach Christ plus your works, all who teach Christ plus your obedience to the law. Listen to me.

They will all be hewn down and cast into eternal damnation. I don't care how smooth they are. I don't care how moral they are. I don't care how much they've done for society and the poor and the needy. They could do all of these things. Christ said they'll be cut down and cast out. Everyone that does not bring forth good fruit, does not preach the truth concerning Christ and His salvation.

Therefore we say this, behold the Lamb of God. We preach that God purposed salvation for His elect from eternity out of an act of sovereign love. He put us in union with Jesus Christ and planned our salvation long before the earth was ever formed. We preach that Jesus Christ came as God sent him, and by his own obedience, he obtained righteousness for the elect. Perfect. Absolute Paul calls it the righteousness of God by his faith, by his obedience.

We preach that Jesus Christ on the cross died for the sins of the elect, not partially, but completely, wholly, absolutely was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we, the elect, might be made righteous in him. And the Spirit of God, we preach this, that faith in Christ comes by the power of the Holy Spirit and not the will of man, not the merit of man. God, by grace, comes to the sinner, and He gives him life, and He gives him faith, and he believes, and that same Spirit will keep him until he receives all that God promised, so that Jesus Christ is justified in His words when He said, of all that the Father has given me, I should lose nothing.

Now anyone who preaches against those things is a false prophet. Why? It's the Word of God. It's the Word of God. These are not opinions. This is the fruit that God sends when God sends a man to preach. This is the fruit that comes out. And you're gonna know a preacher by that. And anyone that doesn't preach that, Paul said, let them go to hell. Let them go to hell. Had this thing here from, if I can find it, I lost it, I think. Here it is. This is Augustus' top lady, wrote this.

He said, every religion except one puts you doing something in order to recommend yourself to God. Every religion but one. What's that one? The true religion. He says, only the religion of Christ, which is not sold out to us on certain conditions to be fulfilled in ourselves, but is given to us in Christ before the world. began.

It was long ago remarked by a good man that it is the business of all false religion to patch up righteousness. Isn't that what churches do? Aren't they just patching up the old man? They're just taking this old tent and they're just trying to duct tape it. Duct tape righteousness.

But it is the business of the glorious gospel to bring us near, by the hand of the Spirit, a righteousness, listen, ready wrought, a robe of perfection ready made, wherein God's people, to all purposes of justification and happiness, stand perfect, without fault, before the throne of God. A righteousness ready. And then what is it? All is ready.

Isn't that the message? I'm not here to patch up your righteousness. I'm here to show you that Christ is your righteousness. I don't need no patching. Christ is your redemption. I don't need no help. Christ is your wisdom, your righteousness, your sanctification, your redemption. He's all your salvation.

That's the good fruit of everyone who is called to God, and that's what they preach. And they don't preach anything else. Why? Everything else is wood, hay, and stone. These are the precious stones built on the foundation of God, Jesus Christ, and crucified.

May God help us, then, to know, beware of false prophets. Know that they come in in sheep's, wolves in sheep's clothing. Know that, how to detect them by their message. And know this, they're soon to be destroyed. Don't worry about them. Don't worry about them. Don't fear them. They'll be cut down.

I pray God will bless this to you. Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer. Our gracious Father in heaven, we thank you for your tender mercies, your kindness, your grace, all your grace, to save such sinners as we are by nature. That you would reach down and touch our corrupt hearts and give us a new heart, whereby we love to hear your word. to hear of Christ, our Savior, His finished work. Give us grace, Father, not to be deceived or duped by the religion of this world and the movements of men, but firmly grasp the gospel of Jesus Christ. We ask you to do this for your glory and the good of your people. In Jesus' name, amen.

The Danger and Detection of False Prophets

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about false prophets?

How do we know a doctrine is true?

Why is the detection of false prophets important for Christians?

What does it mean to live by faith according to the Bible?

Sermon Transcript

About Fred Evans

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The Danger and Detection of False Prophets

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about false prophets?

How do we know a doctrine is true?

Why is the detection of false prophets important for Christians?

What does it mean to live by faith according to the Bible?

Sermon Transcript

About Fred Evans

Comments

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