Let us read today in Matthew
chapter 7. Several Sunday mornings I've
been bringing messages from the Lord's message called the Sermon
on the Mount. And this day I would like for
us to look at a few verses here in chapter 7. Beginning with
verse 15, Matthew chapter 7, verse 15. Beware of false prophets, which
come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves. You shall know them by their
fruits. 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. A good tree cannot bring forth
evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down
and cast into the fire. Wherefore, by their fruits you
shall know them. I've entitled my message this
morning, A Warning for All Times. A Warning for All Times. The passage begins with the word
beware. Beware, which usually introduces
a warning. Sometimes you may see on a gate
of a fence, beware of dog. I'm sure you've seen that, Brother
Fred, many times. Beware of dog. Or maybe on a
door, a closet door, beware of high voltage. Or maybe close
to a body of water, beware of undercurrent. Beware. A word of warning for all times
the Lord Jesus Christ gave, beware of false prophets. It's interesting
to me that the Lord sounded this warning immediately after speaking
of the two ways. If you look in verses 13 and
14, he said, 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 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. What a sobering thought. What a sobering thought for all
of us here today. In every situation that we are
in, at work, at school, at home, at play, yes, even at church,
every person, we're either in one way or the other. There are
only two ways. As I thought about this, I thought
about it in the airport sometimes. They have those conveyor belts
in the terminals that will help you to get from one place to
the other without exerting a lot of exercise, you know. And you're
on one conveyor belt going this way, and there's another one
across the aisle that's going the other way. And isn't that
so? Of all of life, what a sobering
thought that all men, every one of us here today, We're either in one way or the
other. They're not three ways. I know
at one time the so-called church of the Lord Jesus Christ tried
to introduce and has introduced a third way, a third place. Some people are not quite good
enough to go to heaven, but they're not quite bad enough to go to
hell. So we will come up with this place called Purgatory,
and you may enter there and stay there a while until you're purged
somehow by something people here upon the earth will do for you,
or the church will do for you, the priest will do for you, to
get you out of Purgatory and get you on the way to the right
place, the heavenly place. You and I, my friends, we live
in a day when I'm convinced that it appears most people believe
that the vast majority, if not everyone, the vast majority of
mankind are in the one way that leads unto life everlasting. That's the day we live in. Those
are the people we associate with. Those are our friends, our neighbors,
our coworkers. The vast majority of everyone
that we meet are convinced that everyone is in the right way. And yet, listen, the Lord Jesus
Christ here in our text said, few, Few there be that find it. Isn't that what your Bible says?
Look in verse 14. Because straight is the gate,
and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. No wonder our Lord immediately
sounds this warning, beware. Beware of false prophets. Those three examples I gave,
beware of dog, a bad dog, or beware of high voltage, or beware
of an undercurrent, they all deal with the body. Harm to the
body. Yes, but false prophets deal
with not only the body, but the soul. The soul that will continue
to exists throughout eternity. Beware of false prophets. And our Lord tells us two things
about them here. Number one, they come to us in
sheep's clothing. They come in sheep's clothing.
And number two, they may be known. They may be known. by their fruits. This is what he said. Beware
false prophets which come to you in sheep's clothing, but
inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their
fruits. I have two parts to the message
this morning. First of all, let me emphasize
that this warning is not just given once. It's not just given
once in the word of God. And when I thought about that
and put that down in my notes, I remember something that happened
many years ago. When I was a young man, there
was another young preacher and he was speaking to an older pastor. And he They were discussing something
and this younger man made this statement. He said, well, it
only says that one time in the word of God. And the older pastor very wisely
said, brother, how many times does God have to say something
for it to be true? How many times does God have
to say something for it to be true? If this was the only place
where this warning was sounded, that would be sufficient. But
I find that this warning is throughout both the Old Testament, when
God gave instructions to the nation of Israel, warning them
that he would prove them, that God himself would prove them
by false prophets. And in the New Testament, we
read of warnings by the apostles. Keep your place here, but look
with me, if you will, in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Before I read these scriptures
here in 2 Corinthians 11, let me read to us first what the
Apostle Peter says in his second epistle concerning false prophets. He
said, but there were false prophets among the people. He's speaking
about the nation of Israel when he says that. But there were
false prophets among the people Even as, even as there shall
be false teachers among you, who privilege shall bring in
damnable heresies. That's 2 Peter 3.1. And then
the apostle John in his first epistle said, beloved, believe
not every spirit. And by spirit he here is speaking
of prophets, Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits,
whether they are of God, for because many false prophets are
gone out into the world. Many. Now look here in 2 Corinthians
11. Let's begin in verse 13. For such are false apostles,
deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles
of Christ. And no marvel, no wonder that
these men pretend to be apostles of Christ. No marvel, because
you see, Satan himself, for Satan himself, Most people think that
Satan's down here at the beer joint and he's down here at the
bar and all these places of degradation and sin, and no doubt he is,
but my friends, Satan's in the pulpits. He's transformed himself into
an angel, a messenger of light. A false prophet comes in sheep's
clothing. He doesn't come dressed up in
a red suit with horns and a tail and a pitchfork. He's probably
the one who imagined that scene in the beginning. Oh, no. Oh, no. No great wonder. that he's transformed
into an angel of light, therefore it is no great thing if his ministers,
ministers of Satan, also be transformed into ministers of righteousness,
whose end shall be according to their works. I want you to
notice that ministers of righteousness, that's what I am. That's what Brother Lance is.
That's what every God-called preacher is. He's a minister
of righteousness. But whose righteousness? Whose righteousness? These men
are ministers of righteousness, but it's not the righteousness
of Christ. It's not His imputed righteousness
unto all them that believe. But they're ministers of righteousness,
that is, of works that we do. Our righteousnesses by our so-called
obedience and doing the will of God. They're ministers of
righteousness. They don't speak about imputed
righteousness and they do not speak about imparted righteousness
either. The fact that Those that the
Lord saves, He gives a new nature. They're born of the Spirit of
God, have a new spirit, new man, created in righteousness and
true holiness. But they're ministers of righteousness. Look above this in that same
chapter, verse three. Paul writing to this church. Now, here's a church that was
founded by an apostle. I mean, they had the best preaching
that any church has ever had, the apostle Paul, along with
other men who came there. Paul said, but I fear, I fear. lest by any means, as the serpent
beguiled Eve through his fertility, so your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity, and that word simplicity here means the
singleness, lest your minds be corrupted
from the singleness that is in Christ. When Paul told this church
in his first letter, for I determined not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The singleness that is in Christ. What did he preach? He preached
Christ. That's what he preached. Every
time he had an opportunity, this is what he preached. He preached
Christ. People say, well, I get tired of that message. Something
wrong with you, not the message. No, he preached Christ, lifted
up Christ, declared the glory of Christ, his person, his work,
his accomplishment, who he is, why he came, where he is. Not some defeated, effeminate
type of person, no. The God-man, the only mediator
between God and man. Paul said, I'm afraid. I'm afraid, as Satan beguiled
Eve, that you too are being beguiled from the singleness that is in
Christ. Notice verse four, for if he
that cometh preacheth another Jesus, Is there another Jesus? Oh yeah, oh yeah. Pastor was invited to preach
at a Bible conference years ago, and the pastor who invited him
said, now we don't want any controversy, just preach Jesus. And he wrote
back and said, which Jesus? Which Jesus? Oh, there are many
Jesuses being preached. Or another spirit. You receive
another spirit other than God, the Holy Spirit. Or another gospel. And yet Paul
told the Galatians, there's not another gospel. Men come, and
if they preach another gospel, he said, let them be accursed.
But he said, really, there's not another gospel. The word
gospel means good news, doesn't it? Good tidings. And I tell
you, if a man comes preaching a message that tells you what
you've got to do, and you are dead in trespasses and sins,
how in the world can that be good news? But the good news
is Christ came and did for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Now, I want to spend a little
time on my second point here. False prophets may be known by
their fruits. That's what our Lord says here.
You may know them. You will know them. You shall
know them. by their fruits. I want us to
consider their fruits under these three headings. First of all,
their message. Their message. And I have only
time to consider a few questions about a prophet's message, but
here are a few things that come to my mind. Does Their message, when you
hear a man preach, and listen, train yourself, please train
yourself to listen to what he is saying and not so much how
he says it. Some people are taken in by great
orators. Listen to what he's saying. Focus
in on what he says. Does his message Give all the
glory to God in creation, in providence, and in salvation. Not just most of the glory, not
just 99.9% of the glory, but all the glory. It should, if
he's sent of God, it should give all the glory to God because
you see, Only true and living God, the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ has declared this. He will not give his glory
to another. In Isaiah chapter 42 in verse
8, he said, I am the Lord. That is my name and my glory
will I not give to another. As a man speak about God trying
to do certain things and wanting to do certain things, but only
if men will allow it. You know, there's always been
this teaching, I think it's called dualism. Dualism. You've got one power, God. Another power, Satan. And it
seems that they're in a duel. Will the good overcome the evil? Will the evil overcome the good? And you see this one who decides
the arbiter turns out to be man. Turns out to be man. What man
will allow God to do or not allow God to do. Does a man's message give all
the glory to God? Speak of him who said, as I have thought, so shall it
come to pass. And as I have purposed, so shall
it stand. God gets all the glory in creation. There was a point, there had
been no time before, Time began when God created the heavens
and the earth. In the beginning, for there to
be time, there must be change. You look at the clock and it
goes tick, tick, tick, tick. To be time, there must be change. And God is immutable. Never any
change. And there must be a finite mind
to observe the change for there to be time. And in the beginning,
God created the heavens and the earth. We don't accept this idea
of theistic evolution, of evolution in any way. No, God, you read
about it in Genesis chapter one, in Genesis chapter two, and every
day of creation, God looked upon what he had created and he pronounced
it good. Had to be good, didn't it? Came
from him, good God. Providence is God's work. He worketh all things, the scripture
says, after the counsel of his own will. And salvation, we know, is God's
work. Someone said, men are saved by choice. Absolutely. Absolutely. God's choice. Well, that's not the way they
meant it. But that's the truth of the matter. Men are saved
by choice, God's choice. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ before the world began,
according as he hath chosen us in him. God hath not appointed
us unto wrath, but to obtain salvation. Man should glorify the Father's
work in salvation, the Son's work in salvation, the Holy Spirit's
work in salvation, the Father planned Eternal Son of God became
incarnate and redeemed, purchased His church, and the Holy Spirit
applies salvation to all of God's covenant people. I fear sometimes
that we do not recognize as we should the work of God, the Holy
Spirit, because apart from His work, no one would ever be saved. Maybe that's the way it should
be because he said when our Lord said when he has come, he shall
glorify me. He shall glorify me. None would be saved without election. None would be saved without blood
redemption. And none would be saved without
Holy Spirit regeneration. What the old preachers say, every
message should contain the three R's, ruined by the fall, redeemed
by the blood, regenerated by the spirit. Does their message proclaim the
deity of the Lord Jesus Christ? Was he only a good man, a good
teacher? That's the way Nicodemus approached
him, wasn't it? Good master. We read that earlier,
John chapter, good master, good teacher. We know that thou art
a teacher come from God, for no man could do these miracles
that thou doest except God be with him. Nicodemus, you've got
to say more than that about me. It wasn't that God was with him,
it is that he is God. He is God. Does their message clearly state
what the word of God says? That he appeared, he was manifested
to destroy, destroy the works of the devil. Look with me to
1 John 3, just a moment. 1 John 3 and verse 8. John said here in 1 John 3 in
verse 8, he that committeth sin is of the devil, for the devil
sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, you want to
know why he came into this world? Here it is. For this purpose,
the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works
of the devil. Now, did he do it or not? Did
he do it or not? Was he successful or not? You say, well, what are the works
of the devil? Well, death for one thing, eternal
death. He came into this world to destroy
the works of the devil. And when he walked out of that
grave three days after his crucifixion, he defeated death, didn't he? He destroyed the works of the
devil. Sin, that's the work of the devil. He tempted our parents with sin. There's so much here I've got
to go on, but one thing I wanted to especially not skip over. Does their message stain the
pride of man? Does it stain the pride of man? You say, preacher, where are
you getting that from the Bible? From the Bible? When Solomon
dedicated the temple, beautiful, elaborate temple, and prayer
was offered, part of that prayer was this. They said, what prayer
and supplication so ever be made by any man or by all the people
Israel? Now listen. which shall know
every man the plague of his own heart." You know what a plague is? We
all do. We've all heard of plagues. We're
afraid of plagues. Plagues have wiped out, decimated
countries, and yet we've got a plague. In our heart, that's
the way we come into this world, alienated, enmity with God, a
heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. There's a man's message. Does
he labor? Does he labor to show men and
women why we need a savior? That by nature, we are depraved. That doesn't mean that we are
all as bad as we could be, thank God. But we're as worse off as
we possibly could be. We've got a mind that's blinded.
We have affections that love ourself and our will is set against
God. One of the wonderful promises
of the new covenant is a new heart. Will I give them? Does his message, I've got to
say this, does a man's message while declaring the absolute
sovereignty of God insist upon man's responsibility? Does it? While he insists upon
the sovereignty of God, does he also insist upon man's responsibility? That men and women are responsible
to God, responsible to repent, responsible to believe the gospel. You say, well, what can a man
do? A lost man, what can a lost man do? I tell you, there's several
things a lost man can do. He can buy himself a Bible. He
can start to read the Bible, the word of God. He can ask God,
he can pray and ask the Lord to reveal himself to him. He
can seek out a place where the gospel is proclaimed. He's responsible. And does his message, Does his message proclaim hope
to the vilest of the vile? Does it hold out hope to the
vilest of the vile? Does he love to sing, come you
sinners lost and helpless, Jesus' blood can make you clean. For he saved the worst among
you when he saved a wretch like me. And I know, yes I know, Jesus'
blood can make the vilest sinner whole. Yes, I know. Yes, I know. Jesus' blood can
make the vilest sinner clean. Does his message hold out hope
to the vilest of the vile? Well, you shall know them by
their fruits, by their message. Let me give you these last two
things. First of all, Or secondly, you shall know them by their
lifestyle, by their lifestyle, the fruit of their life. It so
happened the other day when I was preparing this, the notes for
this message, I stopped for lunch and I started reading something
on the news and, and I read this and I, this pastor, He took his family to Cancun
on a three-day trip and charged the church $150,000. Now, I've
been to Cancun. I was there years ago, about
50 years ago. And my first thought was, how
in the world could anyone spend $150,000 in three days? but to charge that to the church,
and they paid it. You shall know them by their
fruits. Paul was able to write to young
Timothy and tell him, thou hast fully, Timothy, you have fully
known my doctrine, my manner of life, my purpose, my faith,
my long suffering, my love, The persecutions and afflictions
which I've known, you have fully known these things. I've known
a few preachers in my life, quite a few. Most of them sovereign
grace preachers, thank the Lord. But the ones I've known have
been men who have lived a very modest lifestyle. In fact, most
of them would have paid the congregation to let them preach, if that's
what it had taken. You know, the Lord said, the
hireling, the hireling fleeth when he sees the wolf coming.
I prayed many times over the years, Lord, don't let me be
an hireling. What could be worse than being
a hireling? And number three, their fruit
must include their converts, those who are saved or called
under their ministry, for the most part, will be those who
adorn with their lives, with their conversation, they will
adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. Beware of false prophets. May the Lord bless His word.