Would you turn back to Matthew
chapter 7? Now, this is the command of the Lord. He says in verse
13, enter ye in at the straight gate. For wide is the gate and
broad is the way that leads to destruction. and many there be
which go in thereat, because straight is the gate, and narrow
is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find
it." And the first thing he says after that is, beware of false
prophets. Now, do not dismiss this as,
well, I'm already sound and I don't need to worry about being deceived
by a false prophet. My flesh and your flesh, our
fallen human nature, will have an attraction to something that
a false prophet says or something that he does. Our Lord is speaking
to believers when he says, beware of false prophets. Now there
is such a thing as a true prophet. A God called preacher is what
I'm talking about. A preacher that God has commissioned
and sent to preach the gospel. If you're a Christian, God crossed
your path with a preacher that he sent you. God spoke to you
through that man. First Corinthians 121 says it
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. In Romans 10, 13, we read, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then
shall they call on him in whom they've not believed? And how
shall they believe on him in whom they've not heard? And how
shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? I think of what Philip said to
the eunuch, do you understand what you're reading? And he said,
how can I? Except some man should guide
me. Nobody ever picked up the Bible
and figured it out. Did you know that? No one has
ever just picked up the scriptures and I've got this figured out.
Scriptures actually says in Titus one, three, God has manifested
his word through preaching. which is committed to my trust.
Preaching is the ordained means of God for the calling out of
the elect. And we really can't recognize
a false prophet if we don't know what a true preacher is. Now,
as soon as the Lord gives his command, enter in at the straight
gate, he gives us this beware, beware. of false prophets. Now, this is a prominent theme
in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Remember, the
false prophets of the Old Testament would cry, peace, peace, when
there is no peace. And the false prophets of the
New Testament do the same. They always make the gate, the
straight gate wider, and they always make the narrow way broader. False prophets hang out at the
gate. The Lord said many false prophets
shall arise and deceive many. Look with me for a moment in
Acts chapter 20. Hold your finger there in Matthew 7. I want you
to look at this passage of scripture where Paul is giving a summary
of how he had been with the Ephesians. He says in verse 28, Take heed
therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the
Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which
he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that
after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not
sparing the flock, also of your own selves, shall men arise speaking
perverse things to draw away disciples after them. Therefore,
watch and remember that by the space of three years, I cease
not to warn everyone night and day with tears." Every day, Paul
said, I gave warning of this. John said, beloved, believe not
every spirit But try the spirits, whether they be of God, for many
false prophets are gone out into the world. But there were false prophets,
said Peter, among the people, even as there shall be false
teachers among you, who privilege shall bring in damnable heresies. Paul said, we're not of as many
which corrupt the word of God. That's what most people do. But
as a sincerity, as of God in the sight of God, speak we in
Christ. He spoke of those who in cunning
craftiness, they lie in wait to deceive. Jude said, there
are certain men crept in unawares who were before of old ordained. to this condemnation. You know
I like that. These false prophets, they were before of old, ordained
by God to this condemnation, ungodly men who turned the grace
of God into lasciviousness. Actually, every book of the New
Testament, with the exception of the book of Philemon, gives
a direct warning regarding false prophets. Beware of false prophets. Now, if this is not something
that frightens us, it should. And our attitude is wrong somewhere
if this is not something that gives us, I don't want to be
deceived by a false prophet. Now, this thing of being a false
prophet, they're hard to detect. They look like sheep. They come
in sheep's clothing. and they come using words that
sheep use. Look with me in Romans chapter
16 for a moment. You know, the only way you can
detect the false is by being very familiar and having a clear
grasp and understanding and love for the true. That's the way
you're gonna see the false, by understanding the true. I remember
when I was a bank teller, when we went through that process
of being trained, and we had to be on the lookout for Counterfeit
money. And you know how they trained
us to be able to recognize counterfeit money? To be completely familiar
with what a real dollar bill looked like. We knew the fibers,
we knew the ink color. Knowing the true, we could see
the false. Now look here in Romans chapter
16. Paul says, verse 17, Mark them out, which caused divisions
and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned
and avoid them. For they that are such serve
not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly and by good words,
words like grace and faith and blood and Christ and sanctification. and justification and righteousness. They have all kinds of good words,
biblical words, but they give a different meaning to them. Same words, but a different meaning. And fair speeches. You know,
that means plausible arguments, things that actually seem to
make sense. You hear it and you say, well,
maybe there's something to what that fellow is saying. By good
words and fair speeches, they deceive the hearts of the simple. Now, these false prophets are
generally very nice men. And I believe that most of them
are well intentioned. So they think and have no idea
that they're false prophets. Remember when our Lord goes on
to warn in this same chapter, many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not preached in Have we not prophesied in
your name? In your name, have we not cast
out demons? And in your name, have we not
done many wonderful works? These men thought they were serving
the Lord. And then they're going to hear
him say, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. I never knew you. Look in second Corinthians chapter
11. Verse 13. For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ. They come in sheep's clothing.
And it's no marvel. For Satan himself is transformed
into an angel of light. Therefore, it's no great thing
if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness,
whose end shall be according to their works. You know, righteousness
is one of their favorite words. They don't come up and say, hello,
I'm a false prophet. Believe me, you'll be damned. Nothing
like that. They use words like righteousness. They'll talk about imputed righteousness.
They'll talk about imparted righteousness. They'll talk about human righteousness.
They use that word. One of the reasons they're so
hard to spot is that what identifies them generally is not what they
say, but what they don't say. Now, let me repeat that. I want
you to hear that. Generally, a false prophet is identified
not so much by what he says, but by what he leaves out. For
instance, you hear a man preach and he preaches free will and
works, you know he's a false prophet. I mean, that's not even
debatable. He lets you know by what he says.
But the dangerous man is the man who uses all these good words
but leaves out that which is essential. The biggest example
of it is Balaam. Balaam, you read Balaam, read
Numbers chapter 22 through 24, and he's considered the arch-false
prophet in the New Testament. Remember the Lord warned the
church of those who held the doctrine of Balaam? Peter warned
us of doctrine of Balaam. He's the arch-false prophet,
and you read everything he says in Numbers 22 through 24, and
you won't find one thing that you disagree with. As a matter
of fact, it sounded good. I mean, the stuff he said was good. but
it's what he didn't say. Remember what the Lord said in
Matthew chapter 23, 23, he says to the Pharisees, he says, you
pay tithe of the different things, but you've omitted, you've omitted,
you've left out, you've failed to say the weightier matters
of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought you to
have done, as far as the tithing, but not left the other undone.
They omitted that which was crucial. Look in 1 John chapter 4. Beloved, believe not every spirit,
verse 1, But try, put to test the spirits, whether they are
of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
Hereby know ye the Spirit of God, every spirit that confesseth. that Jesus Christ has come in
the flesh is of God. Now, he must confess. This is
a public preaching. This is what he says. Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh. Now, in his confession, what
he confesses, he confesses that Jesus Christ was before he came.
He's the eternal God. He came in the flesh. God was
manifested in the flesh. And bless God, he did what he
came to do. He came to save his people from their sins, and that's
exactly what he did in every sense of the word. Now, I'm to
confess that, but look what it says in verse 3. And every spirit
that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh.
Now this is what he doesn't say. Not what he says, but what he
doesn't say. What he fails to confess. Every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And
this is that spirit of antichrist, where if you've heard that it
should come, and even now already is it in the world and it's in
the world right now. Now, although they look like
sheep, that's not what they are. They're ravening wolves. And the Lord says, beware of
false prophets. And here's the reason that this
warning is so important. If I follow a false prophet,
I'll have the end of the false prophet. I'll go with him where
he is going and he's going to hell and I'll follow him there. That's why he said beware of
false prophets. Turn with me to Jeremiah chapter
23. No one is saved under the preaching
of a false prophet. Jeremiah 23, let me show you
this in the scripture. How shall they preach except
they be sent? And look in verse 25. I have heard what the prophet said,
the prophesy lies in my name saying, I've dreamed, I've dreamed. Verse 26, Jeremiah 23. How long
shall this be in the heart of the prophets? The prophesy lies.
Yea, they're prophets of the deceit of their own heart, which
think to cause my people to forget my name. By their dreams, which
they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten
my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream,
let him tell a dream. And he that hath my word. Let
him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat,
saith the Lord? Is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord,
and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore,
behold, I'm against the prophets, saith the Lord, that steal my
words, every one from his neighbor. Behold, I'm against the prophets,
saith the Lord, that use their tongues and say, he saith, Behold,
I'm against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord,
and do tell them and cause my people to err by their lies and
by their likeness. Yet I sent them not, nor commanded
them, therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith
the Lord. No spiritual good comes out of
the preaching of a false prophet. And the Lord says, you shall
know them, doesn't he? He says, you shall know them
by their fruits. And if I'm deceived by a false
prophet, the problem's with me. I want you to think about what
I just said. If I'm deceived by a false prophet, the problem's
with me. It's my fault. Let me show you
that in the scripture, look in John chapter 7. I want you to
see all these scriptures regarding this. Verse 16, Jesus answered them
and said, my doctrine is not mine, But his that sent me, if
any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether
it be of God or whether I speak of myself. He that speaketh of
himself seeketh his own glory, but he that seeketh his glory
that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in
him. Now did you catch that? If any
man will do his will. If there's someone who truly
from that, I want to do his will, whatever that is. Lord, show
me your will. Show me your will in salvation.
Show, I want to do your will. That person will not be deceived. Lord promises that. If any man
will do his will, he'll know the doctrine, whether it be of
God. or whether it be a man. And if
I fail to deceive, or if I fail to discern, it's because of an
unwillingness on my part to do His will. You see, this doesn't
mean you have to be real smart and intelligent and so on to
be able to figure it out. No, all you've got to do is want
to do His will, and you'll know the doctrine. He won't let you
be deceived. But when there's an unwillingness
to walk with Him, to do His will, you'll be deceived. you'll lose
your discernment. You'll be unable to hear. Now, the Lord says, you shall
know them. And what a promise. You shall
know them. Now, why does God allow false
prophets? Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter
13. Deuteronomy 13, you know, the
only reason they're false prophets is because the Lord allows them.
Remember that passage of scripture where Paul said, um, there must
also be heresies among you. It's in first Corinthians. There
must also be heresies among you that they which are approved
might be made manifest. I look here in Deuteronomy chapter
13, if there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams,
and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come
to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after
other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them.
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet or that
dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God proveth you. To know whether you love the
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Now the
Lord allows that man to come to test you to see if you will
love the Lord God or whether you'll go after that false prophet. Now the Lord says back to our
text in Matthew chapter 7. Beware of false prophets which
come to you. They will come. Beware of false
prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing. But inwardly,
they're ravening wolves. And that's where the word extortion
comes from. They're trying to get something
from you. And then the Lord gives this promise. You shall know
them by their fruits. Notice the word fruits is in
the plural. He doesn't just say, you'll know
them by the fruit, but you'll know them by their fruits. Do
men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? No, you don't
go to the thorn bush to harvest grapes, nor do you go to a thistle
bush to get figs. Verse 17, even so every good
tree brings forth good fruit. But a corrupt tree bringeth forth
evil fruit. Every good tree brings forth
the good fruit of the gospel, and every corrupt tree brings
forth evil fruit not fit to eat. Verse 18, a good tree cannot,
lacks the ability to bring forth evil fruit. If God has called
a man to preach the gospel, he's got to preach the gospel. He
can't preach anything else. He can't. The Lord won't let
him. He's a good tree. He's a tree of the Lord's planning.
He must preach the gospel. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring
forth good fruit. It's impossible. Every tree that
bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the
fire. That's the end of the false prophet.
And then he repeats himself. Wherefore by their fruits, you
shall know them. And that's a promise by their
fruits. You shall know them. Now that means three things. For fruits is in the plural first
by their doctrine. you'll know them. By what they
say, you'll know them. And secondly, and this is just
as important, by their lives, you shall know them. By their
personal conduct, you shall know them. And thirdly, by their converts,
by the people they preach to, You shall know them. You shall
know them by their fruits. Now, what all does that mean? Well, what does a true preacher
preach? He preaches the word, doesn't
he? Timothy, preach the word. Whatever the word declares, preach
it. That's what a true preacher preaches.
He preaches the Word. And a false preacher preaches
something else. A true preacher preaches God
as he describes himself in his Word. He preaches man as he's
described in the Word. And they preach that salvation
is of the Lord. Now, listen to me. Salvation. Here's a mark of a true preacher.
Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation's of the Lord, of the
Father, in eternal election. Salvation's of the Lord, the
Son, in successful redemption. He saved everybody he died for.
Salvation's of the Lord, the Spirit, in irresistible, invincible
regeneration, where he gives life. And somebody that doesn't
preach that is a false prophet. Salvation is of the Lord. Now, we preach what we call the
doctrine of grace. And believe me, you can preach
the five points and not even come close to preaching the gospel.
You certainly can. You can preach Calvinism and
miss Christ altogether. But one thing you can't do, you
can't preach the gospel and not preach the doctrine of grace. It is impossible. And someone
that does not preach total depravity, unconditional election, limited
atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints,
they do not preach the gospel. Now you can preach those doctrines
and never preach the gospel. I've heard people do it many
times, but you can't preach the gospel and not preach sovereign
grace. True prophet preaches all the
counsel of God. He doesn't leave anything out.
Now, what if Somebody called me and said, I'm going over to
so-and-so's house at 2 o'clock. I'm going to be there at 2 o'clock,
and I'm going to pull out a gun, and I'm going to shoot him dead.
And I call that person and warn them. Somebody's coming over
to your house at 2 o'clock. What if I failed to tell they're
coming to shoot you dead? What I said was true. It was true. Somebody is coming
to your house at 2 o'clock. But I left out that which you
really needed to hear, didn't I? A true prophet. always preaches all the counsel
of God. God's sovereignty, man's responsibility,
grace, good works. I love Ephesians 2, 8 through
10. By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. He preaches that, for we are
his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which
God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. A true
preacher preaches the whole counsel of God, and a true preacher has
God's glory as his motive. What he says gives God all the
glory, and if it gives any glory to man, it's the message of a
false prophet. You shall know them by their
doctrine. You shall know them by what they
actually say, what they confess. You shall know them by their
lives, by their conduct, by their character. Now I've said this
several times since we started this preacher's class. I've been
thinking a lot about this and I believe it so much. If I'm
going to hear somebody, if I'm going to hear somebody preach,
there's three things that are necessary for me to hear that
person preach. Number one, if I'm going to hear him preach,
he's got to have the message of God. He's got to have the
gospel. He's got to be a true God sent
preacher that has the message of the gospel. Number two, he's
got to live what he believes. And if he doesn't live what he
believes, I don't care what he says. I don't care how sound
he may think he is. I'm not interested in hearing
him. And thirdly, he's got to have my best interest at heart.
I can't just be part of his program. He's got to actually have my
best interests at heart. He's got to want me. His great
desire for me is that I might know the Lord. Now, that's what
I have to have in hearing that man. You shall know them by their
lives. Now, any preacher, and don't
I know this, is still a sinner. And Paul felt this so acutely.
He called himself, therefore, the end of his life, the very
chief of sinners. And he wouldn't just say, I mean,
he was saying that inspired by the Holy Spirit. He wasn't just
saying it because he knew it's the right thing to say. He really felt
it. He felt himself to be the chief of sinners. But a true
preacher lives what he believes. He will be a humble man, any
true preacher. He'll be a humble man. He'll
be one who is described as poor in spirit. He's somebody who
mourns before God over his sin. He's meek before God, and he
hungers and thirsts after righteousness. And he's a merciful man. And
he's pure in heart. He's got that new heart that
all of God's people possess. And he's a peacemaker. He's not
in this thing just to fight and be contentious. He's a peacemaker. And he's someone who is persecuted
for righteousness sake. He makes a huge issue over the
righteousness of Jesus Christ. And he's persecuted for righteousness
sake. And this true preacher will bear
the fruit of the Spirit like every believer will. He loves
God. He loves the people of God. And
he loves men. He wants them to come to a saving
knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's somebody who rejoices. He's got joy in his heart. Oh,
the joy of the forgiveness of sins. The joy of being justified
by the grace of God. The joy of knowing that God is
on the throne, the first cause behind everything. He has peace. The peace of God that passes
understanding. The peace of knowing that all
God requires of him. He has in Christ Jesus, and he
doesn't need anything else. And he's long-suffering. He's
patient. Always? No, but he's still, he's
patient. Just like any other believer
is, he's got the fruit of the Spirit. He's gentle. He's got goodness
or graciousness, faith, meekness, temperance. You'll know them
by the fruit of their character. He really loves God. And he really
loves men. Will he do wrong? Most certainly.
Will he make mistakes? Yes, he will. And anybody that
knows me knows I do that. He's a man, but he's still what
the scripture calls a man of God. That's what I want to be,
a man of God. truly a man of God. And that's what every true preacher
is. You'll know them by their fruits,
and you'll know them by the fruit of the people that hear them. Now, if you want to know what
I believe, don't ask me. Ask the people who hear me. That's
what the Lord said. When they came up to the Lord and they
asked of his doctrine, he said, why are you asking me? Ask them
that heard me. They'll tell you what. If you
want to know what I believe, ask somebody who hears me. Because
the only people who can really tell you what I believe, it's
not me. I mean, if you call a preacher and say, what do you believe?
Well, he'll tell you what you want to hear. Ask the people who listen to
him. That's how you find out. You'll know them by the people
that listen to them. And it also means this, there
will be people that God has saved through their preaching, and
they bear the fruit of that salvation in their lives. And you can see
it. You can see it by the people they preach to. They're people
who really do love the Lord Jesus Christ and follow him. Now the
Lord said, beware. Beware of false prophets And
this ought to cause us to beware. Remember, you have right now
in you, and I have right now in me, an old nature that the
false prophet appeals to. So beware. But let me leave you
with this blessed assurance. Turn with me to Matthew 24. Verse 24, for there shall arise false Christs
and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders
in so much that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. But here's the glorious part. It's not possible. It's not possible. Does that mean I'm still not
to beware of false prophets? No, not at all. I'm to beware
of false prophets, but still it is not possible for one of
his elect to be deceived. But beware. May God give us a
discerning ear with such an understanding of the true that we readily see
the false. Let's pray.